Lee Kuan Yew

I am preparing for a trip to Singapore later this month-- my first time there. So I read a short history of this tiny nation-state to get some background. Anthony Oei's What If There Had Been No Lee Kuan Yew? is a sympathetic history of Lee's rise to power and rule over Singapore for nearly 40 years.

Extremely brief overview: Singapore sits on the tip of the Malaysian penninsula, and the two countries have always been intimately linked. During the colonial period, Singapore became a British colony. They considered it strategic both as a port/trade city and a military base. Although the British were not harsh rulers, the Singaporeans found them arrogant.

However, the only thing that proved worse than British rule was Japanese occupation. Singapore fell to the Japanese in just three weeks during WWII. (So much for being a strong military outpost.) They instituted martial law, which included killing people who didn't obey the increasingly oppressive rules.

It was almost a relief to get the British back after WWII, but not surprisingly, a strong anti-colonialist movement began. It was an ungainly alliance of several competing political interests, which agreed to work together for the common purpose of ejecting the British and setting up self-rule, possibly including union with Malaysia.

To make a long story short, the ultimate victors were the People's Action Party (PAP) led by the young, British-educated lawyer, Lee Kuan Yew. He assumed power and ended up breaking the alliance with the Communists, having decided that their interests no longer aligned. Remember that this was the mid-50's, the height of the Cold War. It mattered a lot whether you were even remotely associated with Communists.

There was a brief period of union with Malaysia, but the alliance did not work out. It was a complex situation. Some worried about the high proportion of Chinese in Singapore compared to Malaysia proper (the Communist threat). The two countries had been on different paths for a while, and it was not clear that it was the right time to unite. The end result was that the countries agreed to separate again after just a few years. Lee cried when he made the announcement; it had been a lifelong dream to be one with Malaysia. (The author, Oei, portrays this segment of history as tragic. In contrast, a Taiwanese friend of mine quipped, "Oh yeah-- Malaysia threw Singapore out.")

After that, Lee concentrated on building Singapore into a more modern and wealthy state. He was remarkably successful. There were costs-- tough rules, heavy government control, etc. But on the whole, Lee qualifies as an archtypical "benign dictator." Theoretically, the best form of government.

[Actually, I am not sure quite how the political system works. There are elections and multiple political parties. And I don't think people are pressured into voting for the guys in power through sham elections. And yet, Lee retained nearly complete power through seven elections. Could it really be that he was so effective that people didn't want to vote him out? Also, I'm not sure there are any Constitutionally-protected rights for the people, or even that elections are guaranteed to occur at certain intervals. So in that sense, it is a dictatorship.]

In an amazing move for a dictator, Lee stepped down peacefully from office, having carefully groomed a successor. He now lives among his people as a normal citizen. I think he is still alive-- he should be 83 now.

I found some information on Wikipedia, also:

After leading the PAP in seven victorious elections, Lee stepped down on 28 November 1990, handing over the prime minister position to Goh Chok Tong. He was then the longest serving Prime Minister ever.

This leadership transition was meticulously planned and executed. The recruitment and grooming for the second generation leaders took place as early as 1970s. In the 1980s, Goh and the younger leaders started to assume important cabinet positions. Prior to the official transition, all other first generation leaders (the "old guards") were retired, including Goh Keng Swee, S. Rajaratnam and Toh Chin Chye. Being so thoroughly planned, the transition was quite a non-event in Singapore, even though it was the first leadership transition since independence. By stepping down when he was still mentally alert and in good health, Lee set himself apart from other strong contemporary Asian leaders such as Mao Zedong, Suharto, Ferdinand Marcos, and Ne Win, who had stayed in power for too long and left their countries in disarray.

As Goh Chok Tong became the head of government, Lee remained in the cabinet with a non-executive position of Senior Minister and played a role he described as advisory. In public, Lee would refer to Goh as "my Prime Minister", in deference to Goh's authority. Nonetheless, Lee's opinions still carry much weight with the public and in the cabinet. He continues to wield enormous influence in the country and is ready to use it when necessary. As he said in a 1988 National Day rally:

"Even from my sick bed, even if you are going to lower me into the grave and I feel something is going wrong, I will get up."

Lee subsequently stepped down as the Secretary-General of the PAP and was succeeded by Goh Chok Tong in November 1992.

Lee refrained from official dealings with all ASEAN governments, including Malaysia, so as not to cross lines with his successor, Goh Chok Tong. He played a major role, however, with regard to the economy, such as with the agreement of the transfer of public-administration software for the development and management of Suzhou's Industrial Park with then Vice-president Li Lanqing on February 26, 1994.

Interestingly, Goh also chose to step down. He transferred power to Lee Kuan Yew's son:

On 12 August 2004 Goh Chok Tong stepped down in favour of Lee's eldest son, Lee Hsien Loong. Goh became the Senior Minister and Lee Kuan Yew assumed a new cabinet position of Minister Mentor.

My aunt and uncle have been to Singapore. Apparently seeing the way people live there caused my aunt to comment on how much can get done when politicians aren't spending the majority of their time and money trying to get re-elected. Of course there are downsides to that, but it's worth pondering. For the case of Singapore-- a small, highly culturally-diverse nation-state-- this form of government has worked well for half a century. Not bad.

According to people I know who have visited Singapore, people there have plenty to eat, can get a job, and are generally happy. And they are allowed to leave if they aren't happy. Sounds pretty good.

I look forward to seeing for myself what it is like.