As Singapore marks the 100th anniversary of Lee Kuan Yew’s birth, former veteran newspaper editor Han Fook Kwang – who authored several books on the late founding Prime Minister – reflects on Mr Lee’s enduring vision for the country.
, the founding Prime Minister of Singapore, was once asked how he would like to be remembered in history, he replied in typical fashion that he would be dead by then and it would not matter to him.But he was concerned about Singapore’s future and in his later years he wrote and agreed to be interviewed extensively on what was needed to ensure it could continue to thrive and prosper.
He had strong views about each of these and all of them were important in shaping Singapore’s development through the years.Singapore is no longer the same countryMeritocracy isn’t as simple as just choosing the best for the job. What if the best are perceived to have had an unfair advantage over others because they had wealthier parents able to give them a head start in life?
“We should grow as fast as we can sustain that growth. If we can make that growth and we choose not to, then we are stupid … We get slow growth and we will have fewer jobs and lower pay, less this, less that, less everything,” he said. Perhaps the simplest of his ideas was on leadership. A country needs the best to govern, so go out and get them, and pay them well to make it an attractive proposition.
Their raw edges may have been refined and the policies associated with them changed to take into account changing circumstances and the needs and expectations of the people.
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