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The Big Ideas of Lee Kuan Yew
“Lee Kuan Yew has long stood out as one of the century’s wisest and most consequential Asian leaders. This book, collecting accounts from close associates who joined him in building a new nation, makes an important contribution to the understanding of Lee Kuan Yew’s achievement.” - Henry A. Kissinger, former US Secretary of State
Lee Kuan Yew was born in 1923, a time when Singapore was under British rule. After experiencing the Japanese Occupation of Singapore, he travelled to England to study Law. Mr Lee’s legal career in Singapore was marked by increasing political involvement. Together with a group of like-minded individuals, he formed the People’s Action Party (PAP) in 1954. Following the PAP’s victory in the 1959 Legislative Assembly general elections, Mr Lee became the first Prime Minister of Singapore, at the age of 35. He held this position until 1990. After stepping down from the premiership, he remained in the Cabinet until 2011, serving as Senior Minister and subsequently as Minister Mentor.
Mr Lee oversaw Singapore’s transformation from a Third World country to a First World country. This remarkable achievement has long prompted admiration and debate. This volume makes a distinctive contribution to our understanding of Mr Lee’s legacy because for the first time the men and women who worked closely with him have come together to discuss his ideas. The resulting essays shed valuable light on a wide range of topics including law and politics, society and economics, and governance and foreign affairs.
Lee Kuan Yew was born in 1923, a time when Singapore was under British rule. After experiencing the Japanese Occupation of Singapore, he travelled to England to study Law. Mr Lee’s legal career in Singapore was marked by increasing political involvement. Together with a group of like-minded individuals, he formed the People’s Action Party (PAP) in 1954. Following the PAP’s victory in the 1959 Legislative Assembly general elections, Mr Lee became the first Prime Minister of Singapore, at the age of 35. He held this position until 1990. After stepping down from the premiership, he remained in the Cabinet until 2011, serving as Senior Minister and subsequently as Minister Mentor.
Mr Lee oversaw Singapore’s transformation from a Third World country to a First World country. This remarkable achievement has long prompted admiration and debate. This volume makes a distinctive contribution to our understanding of Mr Lee’s legacy because for the first time the men and women who worked closely with him have come together to discuss his ideas. The resulting essays shed valuable light on a wide range of topics including law and politics, society and economics, and governance and foreign affairs.
- GenresNonfictionPolitics
196 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 2014
12 people are currently reading
187 people want to read
About the author
Shashi Jayakumar
15 books2 followersSHASHI JAYAKUMAR is a member of the Administrative Service of Singapore and Deputy Head of the Centre of Excellence for National Security at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
May 7, 2015
I was under the impression that I've reviewed Men in White and Hard Truths, but I can't really find them on the blog. Oh well, I know I read them, so when I go back to Singapore next year, perhaps I'll re-read them. Anyway, for those of us that don't have the patience or time to go through all the books about Lee Kuan Yew, there's always The Big Ideas of Lee Kuan Yew.
I picked this book up on the way back to Japan. It seemed interesting, and well, after a week of non-stop narration about his life (incredibly educational, by the way. If I had it during O'Levels, I would have probably brought my combined Humanities score up), I wanted something that was a bit shorter and a bit more about his policies. Hence, this book.
The Big Ideas of Lee Kuan Yew is divided into 5 parts of 2 opinion pieces per part. The first part are the personal reminiscences, but the next four cover "Law and Politics", "Governance", "Society and Economics" and "Foreign Affairs".
My favourite pieces were "Bilingualism: A Never-ending Journey" and the two in "Foreign Affairs", namely "Small State Survival" and "Playing Chess". All were interesting and informative, but these three stood out for a couple of reasons.
The first (and quite possibly largest reason) is purely personal. I like learning languages, and I've went through the bilingual policy by virtue of having grown up in Singapore. When I read the piece, I learnt things I didn't know, like the fact that Mr. Lee was the Minister for Education in 1975 (for four months, which means that he had hands-on experience with the MOE (Ministry of Education). As for the foreign affairs pieces, it's because I used to be in MUN, and so have slightly more interest in things like these.
My favourite story about Mr. Lee and international politics isn't the one by Dr. Kissinger, or any of those in the two foreign chapters (even though the anecdotes about how he worked to help US-China relations was interesting), but the one about his first official visit to China in 1976. In that visit, he was given a pro-China book about the Sino-Indian War of 1962. When told that "this is the correct version of the India-China war", Mr. Lee handed the book back to the then Chinese premier and said, "Mr. Prime Minister, this is your version of the war. There is another version, the Indian version. And in any case, I am from Southeast Asia - it's nothing to do with us." I think he had a lot of guts to do this on his first official meeting.
This book is by no means comprehensive, but if you want a distilled primer of Lee Kuan Yew's policies, I think this is a good book to get.
This review was first posted at Inside the mind of a Bibliophile
I picked this book up on the way back to Japan. It seemed interesting, and well, after a week of non-stop narration about his life (incredibly educational, by the way. If I had it during O'Levels, I would have probably brought my combined Humanities score up), I wanted something that was a bit shorter and a bit more about his policies. Hence, this book.
The Big Ideas of Lee Kuan Yew is divided into 5 parts of 2 opinion pieces per part. The first part are the personal reminiscences, but the next four cover "Law and Politics", "Governance", "Society and Economics" and "Foreign Affairs".
My favourite pieces were "Bilingualism: A Never-ending Journey" and the two in "Foreign Affairs", namely "Small State Survival" and "Playing Chess". All were interesting and informative, but these three stood out for a couple of reasons.
The first (and quite possibly largest reason) is purely personal. I like learning languages, and I've went through the bilingual policy by virtue of having grown up in Singapore. When I read the piece, I learnt things I didn't know, like the fact that Mr. Lee was the Minister for Education in 1975 (for four months, which means that he had hands-on experience with the MOE (Ministry of Education). As for the foreign affairs pieces, it's because I used to be in MUN, and so have slightly more interest in things like these.
My favourite story about Mr. Lee and international politics isn't the one by Dr. Kissinger, or any of those in the two foreign chapters (even though the anecdotes about how he worked to help US-China relations was interesting), but the one about his first official visit to China in 1976. In that visit, he was given a pro-China book about the Sino-Indian War of 1962. When told that "this is the correct version of the India-China war", Mr. Lee handed the book back to the then Chinese premier and said, "Mr. Prime Minister, this is your version of the war. There is another version, the Indian version. And in any case, I am from Southeast Asia - it's nothing to do with us." I think he had a lot of guts to do this on his first official meeting.
This book is by no means comprehensive, but if you want a distilled primer of Lee Kuan Yew's policies, I think this is a good book to get.
This review was first posted at Inside the mind of a Bibliophile
December 4, 2015
This book is a collection of the accounts of key close associates working with Mr Lee to build a new nation Singapore after its separation from Malaya. Of course Singapore will not be where it is today without the strong leadership of Mr Lee. Singapore chose a different political fundamental based on meritocracy which can attribute much of it's success today. The accounts describe Mr Lee as a visionary, pragmatic, hard and passionate leader which readers can reflect through the many situation and circumstances discussed. The book records the pertinent view of Mr Lee in geopolitical situations, crucial matters when forming the new state i.e it's people, culture, language, economy and education which ultimately shapes the Singapore today.
March 22, 2015
Reading the book helped me to appreciate why we had certain things in our system and why certain things were being done a certain way. I also liked how some of the essays were very personal and each person had a special privilege to be working with Mr Lee at some point of their lives.
For those of us who will never have such an opportunity, we get to see it through the essays.
For those of us who will never have such an opportunity, we get to see it through the essays.
April 2, 2015
One of the best book that I have read so far. Encounter of some of Mr. Lee's colleague. They shared the insight of his policy and thought that shaped Singapore today. Topic includes bilingualism, foreign affairs policy, rule of law and Mr. Lee's believe.
October 8, 2021
A simple to understand what shapes Singapore. Brilliant.
November 4, 2017
Remarkable collection of perspectives from people who worked directly with Singapore's founding prime minister.
February 20, 2019
Coming into this book. You sorta know it's going to be a measured gushing of LKYs characteristics of pragmatism, realism and innovation. Throw in a dose of personal warmth experienced first hand and the pedestal of an unreachable legend will perhaps graze the ground for some of us. LKY is undoubtedly one of 20th centurys political giants. All the more when the travails and unknowns of a small state of zero natural resources with potential geographical means are sandwiched with the religiously managed countries of Malaysia and Indonesia. His accomplishments seems all the more surreal. But in this book we get contributions of those who have worked in close proximity with him or contributed to the success of his implemented policies. Whether it was domestic law, foreign policies LKY has strong ideas. He suffers no fools and is loath to be labeled anything other than a Singaporean. One whose heart, spirit and brilliance of mind was put into good use for the country and for the rest of his people. Like him or hate him, he's undeservedly respected even by detractors.
July 13, 2021
An excellent collection of short contributions from women and men who worked with Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore's former Prime Minister for over 30 years. The essays reveal Mr Lee's many fascinating ideas and views on public policy, economics, society and global affairs, filtered through the memories and experiences of those who worked closely with him. For those who do not know much about him and Singapore (and might not have the time to read his long memories), this short book is an excellent introduction to the ideas that guided the leading man behind the successful transformation of Singapore.
June 29, 2022
This is a book about the legendary founding father of Singapore. The book provides many different perspectives of Mr Lee. It shows that the success of Singapore is not any natural cause but results of rigorous thinking and careful implementation. It provides a solid foundation for the next book: "a man's view of the world", written by Mr Lee himself.
September 27, 2021
Book on a visionary, inspirational leader world has witnessed. His words are valid even today especially when we are seeing an escalation in the US-China relations. Wish world had more leaders like him.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews