Lee Kuan Yew

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lee Kuan Yew (2002)

Lee Kuan Yew ( Chinese  李光耀 , Pinyin Lǐ Guāngyào , Lee Kwan-Yew or Harry Lee; born Harry Lee Kuan Yew ; born  September 16, 1923 in Singapore ; † March 23, 2015 ibid) was a politician in the Republic of Singapore. He was the first Prime Minister of the city-state of Singapore and held this office from 1959 to 1990. From 1990 to 2004 he was a senior minister in the cabinet of his successor Goh Chok Tong . In the cabinet of his son Lee Hsien Loong , the third Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore, he was Minister Mentor from 2004 to 2011 ; this post was specially created for him. After his ruling People's Action Party (PAP) achieved the worst result since 1963 in the 2011 general election , Lee retired from government after 52 years.

Life

Early Life and Japanese Occupation (1923-1945)

Lee attended Telok Kurau Elementary School, the Raffles Institution, and Raffles College. He had to interrupt his studies from 1942 to 1945 because of the Japanese occupation of Singapore . During this time he operated the black market in glue made from tapioca , which was called stifkas . With his knowledge of the English, Chinese and Japanese languages, which he had learned in 1942, he transcribed Allied radio messages for the Japanese from 1943 to 1944.

Post-war period (1945 to 1951)

After the war he attended the London School of Economics for a short time before moving to Fitzwilliam College in Cambridge. In 1949 he returned to Singapore and worked as a lawyer.

Lee married his wife Kwa Geok Choo († October 2, 2010) on September 30, 1950. They have three children: two sons and a daughter. His eldest son is Lee Hsien Loong .

Early political career (1951 to 1959)

Lee's first experience of Singaporean politics was his role as an electoral officer for his party leader John Laycock under the banner of the pro-British Progressive Party in the 1951 city council elections. However, Lee recognized that the party was unable to mobilize the masses, especially at the Chinese-speaking working class. This became particularly important when the Rendel Constitution granted the right to vote to all Singapore-born residents. As a result, the proportion of Chinese voters increased. His breakthrough came when he was serving as legal advisor to the labor and student union.

Time as Prime Minister (1959 to 1990)

The following important information is missing from this article or section:
There is no comment on his policy as the first statesman in Singapore from 1965 to 1990
Help Wikipedia by researching and pasting it .

Self-government and formation of the People's Action Party (1959 to 1963)

In the parliamentary elections in Singapore on May 30, 1959, the PAP won 43 out of 51 seats. Singapore achieved self-government in all state affairs except defense and foreign policy. Lee became Prime Minister on June 5, 1959.

After achieving partial independence from the British, Lee faced many problems in the areas of education, housing and unemployment.

A key experience was a no-confidence vote in parliament, in which 13 members of the PAP changed parties and did not vote on July 21, 1961. Together with six left-wing MPs, they formed a new party called Barisan Sosialis (Socialist Front) . As a result of these party-political hikes, the majority of the PAP shrank to one seat, the distribution of seats was 26 to 25 for the ruling party. This event is in Singapore under the name The Big Split 1961 (The deep rift 1961) known.

In 1961 the PAP had suffered two by-election defeats. Lee's government was almost broken until the referendum came on the merger issue with Malaysia and it was viewed as a vote of confidence in the government. The result was an approval of the merger.

Merger with Malaysia and subsequent separation (1963 to 1965)

After the Malaysian Prime Minister, Abdul Rahman , proposed the formation of a federation comprising the Malay Federation, Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak in 1961, Lee began campaigning for an alliance with Malaysia to end British colonial rule. A referendum was held on September 1, 1962.

On September 16, 1963, Singapore became part of the Federation. This merger was short-lived. The Malaysian federal government, led by UMNO, feared the Chinese majority in Singapore and the political competition of the PAP in Malaysia. Lee strongly opposed the Bumiputra policy, which favored the ethnic Malays.

Race riots broke out in Singapore in 1964, including on Muhammad's birthday on July 21st. 23 people died and hundreds were injured. It is still not fully understood how the unrest came about.
Cars and shops were set on fire during riots in September 1964. Tunku Abdul Rahman and Lee Kuan Yew publicly called for calm.

Malaysian Prime Minister Abdul Rahman decided to exclude Singapore from Malaysia. Lee tried unsuccessfully to reach a compromise. Ultimately, Goh Keng convinced Swee Lee that the spin-off had to be considered final. Lee signed an agreement on September 7, 1965 that regulated post-secession relations with Malaysia in order to achieve cooperation in political fields such as trade and common defense.

The failed merger was a severe blow to Lee. He believed the federation was vital to Singapore, which has no significant resources. During a television appearance, among other things, said:

“It's a painful moment for me. In all of my life, in all of my adult life, I have believed in the merging and unity of two territories. Now I declare, Lee Kuan Yew, Prime Minister of Singapore, and I declare on behalf of the people and the government of Singapore that from this day on, the ninth day of August in the year nineteen sixty-five, Singapore will forever be a sovereign, democratic and independent state , based on the principles of freedom and justice and the constant pursuit of the well-being and happiness of the people in a very simple society. "

On August 9, 1965, the Malaysian Parliament passed a resolution to make the secession of Singapore from the Malay Federation official. Singapore had few resources, the water comes mainly from Malaysia and the defense force was very limited, which was a major challenge for the Singaporean government under Lee.

After serving as Prime Minister (from 1990)

On November 28, 1990, Lee Kuan Yew resigned and was succeeded by Goh Chok Tong . At the time, at 31 years in office, he was the longest-serving Prime Minister in the world. This was the first change of power since Singapore gained independence in 1965. Lee remained in the cabinet as Senior Minister and held that office until 2004, when Goh Chok Tong became the next Senior Minister.

Meeting in February 2000 with the then US Secretary of Defense William Cohen (right) and the Ambassador of Singapore to the US Chan Heng Chee (left)

From August 2004 he was Minister Mentor, an office created especially for him.

Even in old age he refused to retire. When asked if someone told him that he was no longer needed, he replied:

“You don't have to tell me. I can feel it. "

“You don't have to tell me. I can feel it."

After the 2011 general election, Lee stepped down from the cabinet post. He died of pneumonia on March 23, 2015, at the age of 91 in Singapore General Hospital .

Controversy

Statements on democracy and Islam

Lee Kuan Yew contributed a particularly concise statement to the debate about the importance of democracy in the process of social development. In 1962 he confidently expressed the opinion that as an absolute ruler he could make far better decisions than democratic institutions:

"If I were in authority in Singapore indefinitely without having to ask those who are being governed whether they like what is being done, then, I have not the slightest doubt that I could govern much more effectively in their own interests."

"If I had absolute power in Singapore and didn't have to ask the citizens represented whether they like what is being done, then I could undoubtedly govern much more effectively in their interests."

Because the Republic of Singapore actually showed the highest growth rates in the world in the three decades under his leadership, advocates of “Asian values” like to refer to Lee.

The quote also comes from him:

"An excess of democracy leads to conditions without discipline and order that damage development."

In light of the Singapore parliamentary elections in 2011, he said:

"This generation has no idea of ​​the past and thinks anyone can take over the helm."

In his book Hard Truths to Keep Singapore Going 2011 published by Straits Times Press, Lee Kuan Yew strongly questioned the ability of Islam to integrate into Singaporean society :

“I think we were progressing very nicely until the surge of Islam came, and if you asked me for my observations, the other communities have easier integration - friends, inter-marriages and so on - than Muslims… I would say, today, we can integrate all religions and races, except Islam. "

“I think we made pretty good progress until the wave of Islam hit us. If you ask me for my observations, then I think that other social groups accept integration more easily than Muslims, for example with regard to friendships, interdenominational marriages, etc. I would say today that we can integrate all religions and races except Islam . "

A short time later, however, Lee himself withdrew the last quotation on the ability of Islam to integrate as "outdated".

In 2011, Wikileaks published diplomatic cables attributing controversial statements about Islam to Lee Kuan Yew. Wikileaks quoted Lee Kuan Yew, who called Islam a "poisonous religion". Lee put the statement into perspective by saying:

“I talked about extremist terrorists like Jemaah Islamiyah and jihadist preachers who were brainwashing them. They are relentless to bring down others who disagree with them. So their Islam is a perverted version that the overwhelming majority of Muslims in Singapore do not subscribe to. "

Devan Nair

Devan Nair , the third president of Singapore from October 23, 1981 to March 28, 1985, said in an interview with Globe and Mail that Lee's methods “sue his political opponents to the point of financial ruin or irrelevance to displace ”represents a suspension of political rights. Nair also said that Lee is "becoming more and more of a self-righteous know-it-all" surrounded by ministerial front men. Based on such statements, Lee sued him, and Nair counterclaimed. Lee moved to dismiss the counterclaim because Nair's counterclaim had no basis. However, a higher court rejected Lee's application. The court also countered Lee that he had abused the process. Nair acted on a legal basis.

The Far Eastern Economic Review (FEER) case

On September 24, 2008, the Singapore Supreme Court ruled that Far Eastern Economic Review magazine defamed Lee Kuan Yew and his son, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong . The court referred to the FEER article Singapore's 'Martyr': Chee Soon Juan , (Singapore's Martyrs: Chee Soon Juan) :

“Lee Kuan Yew has been running and continues to run Singapore in the same corrupt manner as Durai operated NKF (Remark: National Kidney Foundation, see NKF scandal ) and he has been using libel actions to suppress those who would question to avoid exposure of his corruption. "

"Lee Kuan Yew ruled and governed Singapore continues in the same corrupt manner as Durai NKF (Note .: National Kidney Foundation, see NKF scandal ) operation, and he uses libel actions to suppress those who question him about the disclosure of his corruption to prevent."

The court sentenced the magazine to pay damages to the plaintiffs, whereupon it had to file for bankruptcy.

reception

In a statement on the occasion of his death, US President Barack Obama described Lee Kuan Yew as “a giant of history that future generations will remember as the father of modern Singapore and one of the great strategists in Asia”. Former British Prime Minister John Major praised him as “the architect of modern Singapore who made it from a small island nation to the thriving, competitive state it is today […] Few have left their country a better legacy than Lee Kuan Yew , and we will probably not see someone like him again. "

Former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher had previously stated that there is no head of government in the world whom she admires more than Lee Kuan Yew - for the clarity of his convictions, the directness of his language and his vision of the way forward. In the 1960s, then British Foreign Secretary George Brown had described him as "the damn best Englishman east of Suez ".

Manfred Rist gave a differentiated assessment of his work in the Neue Zürcher Zeitung :

“Lee leaves behind a life's work that is second to none. Under his authoritarian and at the same time far-sighted leadership, the city-state, which became independent in 1965, catapulted itself into an industrial nation whose standard of living is now among the highest in the world. The former British crown colony was never a model for democracy. Singapore is still not today. […] Lee relied on elites, not on the voice of the people, on decisions, not on consultations. He wanted political stability and predictability as well as economic development. "

literature

  • Michael D. Barr: Lee Kuan Yew: The Beliefs Behind the Man. Georgetown University Press, Washington DC 2000, ISBN 978-0-87840-816-0
  • Alex Josey: Lee Kuan Yew - The Crucial Years. Times Books International, Singapore / Kuala Lumpur 1980, ISBN 978-981-204-448-8
  • Kwang, Han Fook, Warren Fernandez, Sumiko Tan: Lee Kuan Yew: The Man and His Ideas. Singapore Press Holdings, Singapore, 1998, ISBN 978-981-204-049-7
  • James Minchin: No Man is an Island. A Study of Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew. Allen & Unwin, Sydney 1987, ISBN 978-0-86861-906-4
  • Klaus-Georg Riegel: Inventing Asian Traditions: The Controversy between Lee Kuan Yew and Kim Dae Jung . In: Development and Society 29, 1, 2000, pp. 75-96.
  • Helmut Schmidt: Turn of the century: Conversations with Lee Kuan Yew, Jimmy Carter, Shimon Peres, Valery Giscard d'Estaing, Ralf Dahrendorf, Michail Gorbatschow, Rainer Barzel, Helmut Kohl and Henning Voscherau. Siedler, Berlin, 1998, ISBN 3-88680-649-9
  • Lee Kuan Yew: From Third World to First. The Singapore Story: 1965-2000. Memoirs. Times Publishing, Singapore 2000, ISBN 981-204-984-3 .

Web links

Commons : Lee Kuan Yew  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files
Wikiquote: Lee Kuan Yew  - Quotes

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Christoph Giesen: Singapore: The founder of the state resigns. The explosive legacy of Methuselah . Süddeutsche.de, May 25, 2011.
  2. ^ Jeff Ooi (2005): Perils of the sitting duck . Archived from the original on November 25, 2005. Retrieved November 6, 2005.
  3. ↑ a b Terry McCarthy: Lee Kuan Yew . Time Asia , Hong Kong, August 23, 1999.
  4. ^ MGG Pillai: Did Lee Kuan Yew want Singapore ejected from Malaysia? . In: Malaysia Today , November 1, 2005. Archived from the original on October 13, 2007. 
  5. ^ The Cabinet - Mr. LEE Kuan Yew . ( Memento of November 1, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Government of Singapore, June 21, 2006, as of 2005; accessed on March 23, 2015.
  6. ^ Official results of the parliamentary elections of 1959 from the Singaporean electoral authority
  7. ↑ Hoe Yeen Nie: State of Singapore came into being 50 years ago on 3 June . In: Channel News Asia , June 2, 2009. Retrieved March 24, 2010. 
  8. ↑ see also en: Singaporean integration referendum, 1962
  9. ↑ Steven Erlanger: New Leader takes Singapore's helmet . The New York Times , November 29, 1990
  10. ^ The Cabinet - Mr. Lee Kuan Yew . ( Memento of October 5, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Singapore government website; accessed on March 23, 2015.
  11. ↑ Tim Luard: Lee Kuan Yew staying on at 80 . BBC News , September 16, 2003; Retrieved February 26, 2010
  12. ↑ Rachel Harvey: Singapore founding father Lee Kuan Yew resigns . BBC News, May 14, 2011.
  13. ↑ Seth Mydans: Lee Kuan Yew, Founding Father and First Premier of Singapore, Dies at 91. In: The New York Times of March 22, 2015 (accessed March 22, 2015).
  14. ↑ Till Fähnders: Singapore's state founder dead: The authoritarian Confucian . faz.net , March 23, 2015.
  15. ↑ Markus Breuer: The World Bank and its approach to combating global poverty . Chemnitz University of Technology, Chemnitz 2007, ISBN 978-3-638-80378-6 , p. 30
  16. ^ Nicola Glass: Parliamentary elections in Singapore: Opposition on the rise thanks to the Internet . taz , May 6, 2011; Retrieved October 13, 2012
  17. ↑ Frank Brandmaier: Lee Kuan Yew: "He persecutes her mercilessly - in court" . Stern.de , September 15, 2003; Retrieved October 12, 2011
  18. ↑ MM Lee: “I stand corrected” . ( Memento of March 28, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) AsiaOne, March 8, 2011; Retrieved March 22, 2015.
    On Muslim integration . Quarant Online, January 31, 2011, accessed March 22, 2015. From: The Straits Times , January 26, 2011.
  19. ↑ With the comment: "Ministers and MPs (members of parliament), both Malay and non-Malay, have since told me that Singapore [Muslim] Malays have indeed made special efforts to integrate with the other communities, especially since 9/11, and that my call is out of date ", in: " Singapore's Founding Father Admits Comments on Muslim Non-Integration 'Out of Date' " , IslamToday, March 8, 2011, accessed on Aug. 29, 2018
  20. ^ Graham Tillett Allison, Robert Dean Blackwill , Ali Wyne: Lee Kuan Yew: the grand master's insights on China, the United States, and the world / interviews and selections by Graham Allison and Robert D. Blackwill . MIT Press, Cambridge (Massachusetts), 2012; ISBN 978-0-262-01912-5 ; P. 26
  21. ↑ Lee v. Globe and Mail (2001), 6 CPC (5th) 354 (Ont.SCJ)
  22. ↑ Editor 'defamed' Singapore leader . BBC News Online, London, September 24, 2008.
  23. ^ Statement by the President on the Death of Lee Kuan Yew . The White House: Office of the Press Secretary, March 22, 2015.
  24. ↑ "He was the architect of modern Singapore, and led the way in changing it from a small island country in Malaysia to the thriving, competitive state that it is today, [...] Few men left a better legacy to their nation than Lee Kuan Yew, and we may not see his like again. " PM pays tribute to Lee Kuan Yew . Press Association - Article in Daily Mail , March 22, 2015
  25. ↑ Kevin Rawlinson, Kirsten Han: Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew, 'a true giant of history', dies aged 91 . The Guardian , March 22, 2015
  26. ↑ Commander of his stage: Lee Kuan Yew . The Economist , March 22, 2015
  27. ↑ Manfred Rist: Obituary for Lee Kuan Yew: Foundation and building of a nation as a life's work . Neue Zürcher Zeitung , March 22, 2015
personal data
SURNAME Lee Kuan Yew
ALTERNATIVE NAMES 李光耀; Lee Kwan-Yew; Harry Lee; Lǐ Guāngyào (Pinyin)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Singaporean politician
DATE OF BIRTH September 16, 1923
PLACE OF BIRTH Singapore
DATE OF DEATH March 23, 2015
Place of death Singapore