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Lee Kuan Yew: Decreed that some freedoms had to be
sacrificed
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Lee Kuan Yew, the statesman who
transformed Singapore from a small port city into a wealthy global hub, has
died at the age of 91. The city-state's prime minister for
31 years, he was widely respected as the architect of Singapore's prosperity. But he was criticized for his iron
grip on power. Under him freedom of speech was tightly restricted and political
opponents were targeted by the courts.
A state funeral will be held on 29
March, after a week of mourning.
BBC reports:
In an emotional televised address,
his son Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong paid tribute to him.
"He fought for our
independence, built a nation where there was none, and made us proud to be
Singaporeans. We won't see another man like him."
Mr Lee oversaw Singapore's
independence from Britain and separation from Malaysia. His death was announced
early on Monday. He had been in hospital for several weeks with pneumonia and
was on life support.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon
said he was "deeply saddened" by Mr Lee's death. US President Barack
Obama described him as a "giant of history". The Chinese foreign
ministry called him "a uniquely influential statesman in Asia".
'Lifetime of building'
In Singapore, a steady stream of
people arrived at the hospital and the Istana, the prime minister's office, to
offer their condolences.
A charismatic figure, Mr Lee
co-founded the People's Action Party (PAP), which has governed Singapore since
1959, and was its first prime minister.
The Cambridge-educated lawyer led
Singapore through merger with, and then separation from, Malaysia.
Speaking after the split in 1965, he
pledged to build a meritocratic, multi-racial nation. But tiny Singapore - with
no natural resources - needed a new economic model.
"We knew that if we were just
like our neighbours, we would die," Mr Lee told the New York Times in
2007.
"We had to produce something
which is different and better than what they have."
As the long wait for the inevitable
continued, the floral tributes piled up right outside the city-state's main
hospital, often laid by tearful, older Singaporeans who truly see this
sharp-tongued, tough-minded man as a father figure.
And while there were many
affectionate comments from well-wishers, there was still some fear of this
extraordinary leader, who has dominated Singapore for the whole of its
independent existence, and once threatened to rise from the grave if he saw
things happening that he did not like.
For all of its impressive successes,
this is still a country with Lee Kuan Yew's imprint visible everywhere. He was
unapologetic about the repressive measures he used to impose order, and
unapologetic about believing his prescriptions alone were the right ones.
No-one is quite sure what direction Singapore will now take without him.
Mr Lee set about creating a highly
educated work force fluent in English, and reached out to foreign investors to
turn Singapore into a manufacturing hub.
The city-state grew wealthy and
later developed into a major financial centre.
But building a nation came with
tight controls - and one of Mr Lee's legacies was a clampdown on the press,
tight restrictions that remain in place today.
Dissent - and political opponents -
were ruthlessly quashed. Today, Mr Lee's PAP remains firmly in control. There
are currently six opposition lawmakers in parliament.
Other measures, such as corporal
punishment, a ban on chewing gum and the government's foray into matchmaking
for Singapore's brightest - to create smarter babies - led to perceptions of
excessive state interference.
But Mr Lee remained unmoved.
"Whoever governs Singapore must have that
iron in him. Or give it up," he told a rally in 1980. "I've spent a
whole lifetime building this and as long as I'm in charge, nobody is going to
knock it down."
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