The book authored by senior journalists of The Strait Times namely Han Fook Kwang, Warren Fernandez and Sumiko Tan is about Singapore’s founding father, Lee Kuan Yew. Lee has come to be known as one of the world’s most respected statesmen, the man who brought social and economic transformation to the island republic of Singapore for over five (5) decades.
A short description about Lee Kuan Yew: Lee was born in 1923, the first prime minister of Singapore. He was born to a wealthy Chinese family, studied at Cambridge England and was admitted to the English bar in 1950. After his return he became a popular nationalist leader, and in 1954 he formed the People's Action Party. Lee was a member of the delegation that negotiated Singapore's independence from the British in 1956-58. After his party's victory in the subsequent elections, he became prime minister in 1959. Lee brought Singapore into the Federation of Malaysia in 1963, but Malay fear of Chinese domination forced Singapore to withdraw in 1965. Under his increasingly restrictive rule, the city-state became a center of international trade and relative prosperity in Asia. He resigned as prime minister in November 1990, but retained his leadership of the ruling People's Action Party.
Although there were several books written about Singapore’s Senior Minister, the book entitled Lee Kuan Yew: The Man and His Ideas (1998) is his first authorized biography. The book is divided into four (4) topics namely: The making of a politician; Ideas that made a nation; The man behind the ideas; and In his own words: selected speeches and interviews.
The book is based on Lee’s own memoirs, excerpt on exclusive interviews with Lee Kuan Yew, his life and ideas, from his early political awakening in Cambridge up to his present position as an elder statesman who is widely sought after for his views on international affairs. From being an anti-colonial rabble rouser to a state