Singapore -- Economic conditions. |
Singapore -- Social conditions. |
Singapore -- History |
Ciṅkappūr |
Colony of Singapore |
Garden City |
Hsin-chia-pʻo |
Lion City |
Red Dot |
Republic of Singapore |
Republik Singapura |
Singapore City (Singapore) |
Singapore Colony |
Singapore (Singapore) |
Singapour |
Singapur |
Singapura |
Singkhapō |
Tumasik (Singapore) |
Xinjiapo |
Xinjiapo gong he guo |
Xinjiapo Gongheguo |
新加坡 |
新加坡共和国 |
Singapoer |
سنغافورة |
Sanghāfūrah |
Singhāfūrah |
Sinqapur |
Sin-ka-pho |
Сінгапур |
Sinhapur |
Сингапур |
Singgapura |
Σιγκαπούρη |
Sinkapoyrē |
Singapuro |
Singapul |
Sinngapuur |
Singeapór |
싱 oH_o\=oOS |
Singgap'orŭ |
Singafora |
Sinapoa |
סינגפור |
Singapuri |
Sengapou |
Singapūras |
Singapūro Respublika |
Scingapô |
Szingapúr |
Singaporo |
Hingapoa |
シンガ i%]i!<i%k |
Shingapōru |
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Summary
Summary
Few gave tiny Singapore much chance of survival when it was granted independence in 1965. How is it, then, that today the former British colonial trading post is a thriving Asian metropolis with not only the world's number one airline, best airport, and busiest port of trade, but also the world's fourth-highest per capita real income?
The story of that transformation is told here by Singapore's charismatic, controversial founding father, Lee Kuan Yew. Rising from a legacy of divisive colonialism, the devastation of the Second World War, and general poverty and disorder following the withdrawal of foreign forces, Singapore now is hailed as a city of the future. This miraculous history is dramatically recounted by the man who not only lived through it all but who fearlessly forged ahead and brought about most of these changes.
Delving deep into his own meticulous notes, as well as previously unpublished government papers and official records, Lee details the extraordinary efforts it took for an island city-state in Southeast Asia to survive at that time.
Lee explains how he and his cabinet colleagues finished off the communist threat to the fledgling state's security and began the arduous process of nation building: forging basic infrastructural roads through a land that still consisted primarily of swamps, creating an army from a hitherto racially and ideologically divided population, stamping out the last vestiges of colonial-era corruption, providing mass public housing, and establishing a national airline and airport.
In this illuminating account, Lee writes frankly about his trenchant approach to political opponents and his often unorthodox views on human rights, democracy, and inherited intelligence, aiming always "to be correct, not politically correct." Nothing in Singapore escaped his watchful eye: whether choosing shrubs for the greening of the country, restoring the romance of the historic Raffles Hotel, or openly, unabashedly persuading young men to marry women as well educated as themselves. Today's safe, tidy Singapore bears Lee's unmistakable stamp, for which he is unapologetic: "If this is a nanny state, I am proud to have fostered one."
Though Lee's domestic canvas in Singapore was small, his vigor and talent assured him a larger place in world affairs. With inimitable style, he brings history to life with cogent analyses of some of the greatest strategic issues of recent times and reveals how, over the years, he navigated the shifting tides of relations among America, China, and Taiwan, acting as confidant, sounding board, and messenger for them. He also includes candid, sometimes acerbic pen portraits of his political peers, including the indomitable Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan, the poetry-spouting Jiang Zemin, and ideologues George Bush and Deng Xiaoping.
Lee also lifts the veil on his family life and writes tenderly of his wife and stalwart partner, Kwa Geok Choo, and of their pride in their three children -- particularly the eldest son, Hsien Loong, who is now Singapore's deputy prime minister.
For more than three decades, Lee Kuan Yew has been praised and vilified in equal measure, and he has established himself as a force impossible to ignore in Asian and international politics. From Third World to First offers readers a compelling glimpse into this visionary's heart, soul, and mind.
Reviews (2)
Kirkus Review
A political memoirand a playbook for how to start an improbably successful, postage-stamp nation. In 1965, the island of Singapore, a strategically important British naval base with few resources of its own, gained unexpected independence when its Malay neighbors rejected union with Singapores predominantly Chinese population (evidently expecting that it would become a client state of Malaysia or Indonesia). Enter Lee Kuan Yew, a British-trained attorney and politician who made Singapore into a powerful city-state whose every detail (from family planning to education to traffic flow) he micromanaged. Lees authoritarian manner won him both admirers and detractors, as he himself relates in this memoir (which is organized not chronologically but thematically, with sections devoted, for instance, to getting the basics right, dealing with China, and forging alliances with the West), but it appears to have had the desired results, inasmuch as the people of Singapore remain independent, comparatively prosperous, and untroubled by the strife that now troubles the region. (They are, however, evidently not well enough behaved for Lee, who writes that it will take another generation before standards of civic behavior of our people will match the First World infrastructure they now take for granted.) Lees narrative is refreshingly free of the self-congratulatory tone of so many political memoirs; instead, he focuses dispassionately on the hard facts of building a trade economy, fending off the unwanted attentions of rival superpowers, and keeping an eye on the bottom line. His language is unadulterated realpolitik (not for nothing does Henry Kissinger contribute a foreword), and his view of such acts as Chinas suppression of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 is relentlessly practical. But for [Deng Xiaoping], he claims, China would have collapsed as the Soviet Union didwhich might have robbed Singapore of a lucrative market, of course, and thus been catastrophic. Useful reading for those with an informed interest in geopolitics, or for anyone seeking to do business in Singapore.
Booklist Review
Yew is not an endearing figure. He is arrogant, self-righteous, and seems unduly sensitive to criticism by "outsiders" of Singapore's record on human rights. Despite occasional efforts to hide his less-than-pleasant characteristics, they often burst through in his long and often fascinating account of the dramatic transformation of this island nation into a stable and prosperous society. As prime minister for more than three decades, Yew certainly merits credit for Singapore's emergence, and there is much to be learned from his version of his stewardship. This is a detailed and sometimes difficult read, particularly if one lacks a strong grounding in macroeconomics. Still, his description of the difficulties of nation building in a multiethnic society has great value; his efforts to mesh Western concepts of free enterprise with Third World traditions of a "guided economy" may not have universal applicability, but they deserve close scrutiny. This is an essential contribution in efforts to understand why some societies seem so successful in becoming important players in the global economy. --Jay Freeman
Table of Contents
Foreword | p. ix |
Preface | p. xiii |
Acknowledgments | p. xvii |
Part I Getting the Basics Right | p. 1 |
1 Going It Alone | p. 3 |
2 Building an Army from Scratch | p. 11 |
3 Britain Pulls Out | p. 31 |
4 Surviving Without a Hinterland | p. 49 |
5 Creating a Financial Center | p. 71 |
6 Winning Over the Unions | p. 83 |
7 A Fair, Not Welfare, Society | p. 95 |
8 The Communists Self-Destruct | p. 109 |
9 Straddling, the Middle Ground | p. 121 |
10 Nurturing and Attracting Talent | p. 135 |
11 Many Tongues, One Language | p. 145 |
12 Keeping the Government Clean | p. 157 |
13 Greening Singapore | p. 173 |
14 Managing the Media | p. 185 |
15 Conductor of an Orchestra | p. 199 |
Part II In Search of Space--Regional and International | p. 225 |
16 Ups and Downs with Malaysia | p. 227 |
17 Indonesia: From Foe to Friend | p. 259 |
18 Building Ties with Thailand, the Philippines, and Brunei | p. 293 |
19 Vietnam, Myanmar, and Cambodia: Coming to Terms with the Modern World | p. 309 |
20 Asean--Unpromising Start, Promising Future | p. 329 |
21 East Asia in Crisis 1997-1999 | p. 343 |
22 Inside the Commonwealth Club | p. 351 |
23 New Bonds with Britain | p. 373 |
24 Ties with Australia and New Zealand | p. 385 |
25 South Asia's Legends and Leaders | p. 403 |
26 Following Britain into Europe | p. 423 |
27 The Soviet Union--An Empire Implodes | p. 439 |
28 America: The Anticommunist Anchorman | p. 449 |
29 Strategic Accord with the United States | p. 471 |
30 America's New Agenda | p. 487 |
31 Japan: Asia's First Miracle | p. 501 |
32 Lessons from Japan | p. 521 |
33 Korea: At the Crossroads | p. 531 |
34 Hong Kong's Transition | p. 543 |
35 Taiwan: The Other China | p. 559 |
36 China: The Dragon with a Long Tail | p. 573 |
37 Deng Xiaoping's China | p. 595 |
38 China Beyond Beijing | p. 617 |
39 Tiananmen | p. 625 |
40 China: To Be Rich Is Glorious | p. 645 |
Part III Winding Up | p. 661 |
41 Passing the Baton | p. 663 |
42 My Family | p. 675 |
43 Epilogue | p. 685 |
Index | p. 693 |