Confirmation of Lee Kuan Yew's death came
from his son, the current Prime Minister of
Singapore
Lee became Prime Minister in 1959
Lee voluntarily stepped down as Prime Minister
in 1990, the first Asian strongman to do so
(CNN)— Lee Kuan Yew, the first prime minister of
Singapore and the man credited with
transforming the mosquito-ridden colonial
trading post into a prosperous financial center
with clean streets, shimmering skyscrapers and a
stable government, died early Monday at the age
of 91, according to a statement released by the
office of Singapore's current Prime Minister and
Lee's son, Lee Hsien Loong.
Lee had been hospitalized since February 5 with
pneumonia.
Born in 1923, Lee became Prime Minister in 1959
when Singapore, a tiny spit of land with no
natural resources and a polyglot population of
Chinese, Malays and Indians, was still British
territory and beset by riots and unrest.
He presided over Singapore's bitter split from
Malaysia in 1965 and molded the independent
country into the global economic powerhouse it
is today. "I was trying to create, in a third-world
situation, a first-world oasis," Lee told CNN in
2008.
Lee's thinking also had an international impact.
His brand of capitalism -- which stresses the
role of government rather than the free hand of
the market -- has provided a blueprint for
China's landmark economic reforms.
But Lee was also a divisive figure, attracting
criticism for stifling media freedom and for the
harsh treatment of political opponents.
In 2013, protests over plans to allow more
immigrants into the city-state indicated growing
unease among Singaporeans about the vision of
the country set forth by the People's Action
Party -- the party co-founded by Lee that has
ruled Singapore for five decades.
Lee voluntarily stepped down as Prime Minister
in 1990, the first Asian strongman to do so.
However, he played a role in the country's
Cabinet until 2011 when his eldest son, Lee
Hsien Loong, was elected for a second term as
prime minister.
The elder Lee retained his influence around the
world. "This is one of the legendary figures of
Asia in the 20th and 21st centuries," U.S.
President Barack Obama said during a meeting
with Lee at the White House in October 2009.
"He is somebody who helped to trigger the Asian
economic miracle," Obama added.
But there were indications Lee's health had been
slipping in recent years.
In 2010 he was admitted to the hospital with a
chest infection and in early 2013, Lee -- then 89
-- was hospitalized and treated treated for
"stroke-like symptoms."
He was again admitted to the hospital on
February 5 for severe pneumonia and more than
six weeks later remained on a ventilator.
A fourth-generation Singaporean, Lee's family
originally emigrated from southern China.
A bright student, he gained a place in the city's
elite Raffles Institution and went on to study law
at Fitzwilliam College at Cambridge.
He attributed his decision to go into politics to
his experiences during the Japanese occupation
of Singapore.
"I learned how people survived and how people
had to submit because you need to eat and your
family needs to live, so I learned the meaning of
power," he told CNN in 2002 .
The city Lee took control of in 1959 was still
recovering from the ravages of war and could not
have been more different from today's
Singapore. However, Lee told CNN he had no
"great vision of transformation."
He concentrated on attracting investment and
creating jobs; first finding a successful niche in
electronics manufacturing by touting Singapore
as an alternative to Hong Kong, which he said
was in turmoil due to the Cultural Revolution in
China.
While Lee has been lauded for his economic
accomplishments, he also created a Singapore
bound by stringent laws and regulations that
dictated most, if not all, aspects of society --
including media and political freedoms,
censorship and even the selling of chewing gum.
The country ranks 150th in Reporters Without
Borders' 2014 Media Freedom Index, putting it
just above the Democratic Republic of Congo,
Mexico and Iraq.
The New York Times, The Economist, the
International Herald Tribune and the Asian Wall
Street Journal have all been targeted with the
"judicial harassment" employed by the Lee
family, according to the media watchdog .
In a 2014 article for CNN , opposition politician
Dr. Chee Soon Juan criticized Singapore's
authoritarian system, blaming a lack of
dissenting views for economic inequality and
worsening working conditions.
"The ranks of the opposition, civil society and
labor movement have been decimated in the last
50 years through imprisonment without trial and
criminal prosecution, and nearly every
newspaper, TV channel and radio station is
owned and run by the state," Chee said.
But in a 2008 interview with CNN's Fareed
Zakaria, Lee rebuffed charges that Singapore was
too domineering or coercive a state.
"I want social peace and stability within the
country. I am not following any prescription
given to me by any theoretician on democracy,"
he said.
While Lee is likely to be remembered with
affection and pride by many Singaporeans, a
younger generation, with no memory of the
poverty and violence that marked the country's
birth, is questioning the Lee dynasty's control of
Singaporean politics and pushing for greater
democracy.
In 2011, the People's Action Party lost six seats
to the opposition, prompting Lee, then the
party's "minister mentor" and another former
prime minister, Goh Chok Tong, to resign.
In a joint letter to parliament, the two explained
they "decided to leave the Cabinet and have a
completely younger team of ministers to connect
to and engage with this young generation in
shaping the future of our Singapore."
How Singapore copes with these democratic
demands will be key to its success in its second
half-century, but those demands are unlikely to
detract from Lee's achievements in its first 50
years. In 2010, Time magazine listed Lee as one
of world's 100 most influential people.
"The mark of a great leader is to take his society
from where it is to where it has never been,"
wrote former U.S. Secretary of State Henry
Kissinger in the article on Lee. "There is no
better strategic thinker in the world today."

edition.cnn.com/2015/03/22/asia/singapore-lee-kuan-yew-obit/index.html

Well I think if Nigeria had allowed Bahari to rule like this guy did whether dictator or not for least 10 years Nigeria could now be like Singapore. Sometimes you need to look at the heart of a man and the vision for his country.

The guy although he was a dictator achieved what many democratic president would never achieve in their life times. And his people although they hated him then love him now for it.

Sometimes I struggle to believe in total democracy it is an Utopia. Even America is not a total democracy it is more tilted to authoritarian state. If anyone want to achieve a lot some form of authoritarian rule is very important. Democracy can be chaotic and some people are just not meant for it.

Most Muslim countries were more developed with healthy economic and developmental growths. Even the worst corrupt dictator in Africa built his country better the so called democratic leader who is ruling now. But i really hated his greed.

SAI BABA!

This paragraph is my favourite in this article

"Lee's thinking also had an international impact.
His brand of capitalism -- which stresses the
role of government rather than the free hand of
the market -- has provided a blueprint for
China's landmark economic reforms."

We Nigerians are always fond of saying government has no business in business and everything should be privatised even if the buyers are the thieves that have destroyed our nation. How clueless can we be?

My brothers and sisters just read this next part

'But in a 2008 interview with CNN's Fareed
Zakaria, Lee rebuffed charges that Singapore was
too domineering or coercive a state.
"I want social peace and stability within the
country. I am not following any prescription
given to me by any theoretician on democracy,"'

Rather than copying the west and following world bank theories, this great transformer choose his own path and led his country from a mosquito ridden colonial post into prosperous first world nation.

We need change in Nigeria. We need to vote out the ruling party massively to show these politicians (both APC and PDP) that we the people have the power and their policies must benefit us.