| Biography | Lee Kuan Yew was a Singaporean lawyer and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Singapore between 1959 and 1990, and Secretary-General of the People's Action Party between 1954 and 1992. Lee is widely recognised as the nation's founding father.
Lee was born in Singapore during British colonial rule. During the Japanese occupation, Lee escaped being the victim of a purge, subsequently starting his own businesses while working as an administration service officer for the Japanese propaganda office. After World War II ended, Lee briefly attended the London School of Economics before transferring to Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge to study law, graduating in 1947. He was called to the Bar from the Middle Temple in 1950. Upon his return to Singapore, he practiced as a Advocate and Solicitor whilst campaigning for the British to relinquish their colonial rule.
Lee co-founded the People's Action Party (PAP) in 1954 and won his first seat at the Tanjong Pagar division during the 1955 general election. He became the de facto opposition leader in parliament, to Chief Ministers David Marshall and Lim Yew Hock of the Labour Front. Lee led his party to its first electoral victory in 1959 and was appointed as the state's first prime minister. To attain complete home rule from Britain, Lee campaigned for a merger with other former British territories in a national referendum to form Malaysia in 1963. Racial strife and ideological differences later led to Singapore's expulsion from Malaysia and subsequent independence in 1965, less than two years after the merger.
Lee oversaw Singapore's transformation into a developed country with a high-income economy within his premiership. Lee eschewed populist policies in favour of long-term social and economic planning, championing civic nationalism through meritocracy and multiracialism as governing principles, making English the lingua franca to integrate its immigrant society and to facilitate trade with the world, whilst mandating bilingualism in schools to preserve the students' mother tongue and ethnic identity. Lee stepped down as prime minister in 1990, but remained in the Cabinet under his successors, holding the appointments of Senior Minister until 2004, then Minister Mentor until 2011. |