Jaynit@jaynitx
>be Lee Kuan Yew
>born 1923 in Singapore
>British colony
>fourth-generation Chinese
>family is wealthy, English-speaking
>top of every class
1942:
>Japanese invasion
>Singapore falls in 7 days
>the British surrender
>"impregnable fortress" — a joke
>you're 18
>watch your colonial masters kneel
>learn something
>white men are not gods
>power is earned, not inherited
occupation:
>survive under Japanese rule
>learn Japanese, work as a translator
>see brutality, corruption, chaos
>nearly get executed in a random roundup
>luck saves you
>or destiny
>you don't forget what powerlessness feels like
1946:
>war ends
>go to Cambridge
>study law
>graduate with double starred first
>top of your class
>marry Kwa Geok Choo
>she graduates top of hers too
>power couple before the term exists
1950:
>return to Singapore
>become a lawyer
>defend unions, fight the British
>anti-colonial firebrand
>the communists want you
>you use them
>they think they're using you
>they're wrong
1954:
>found the People's Action Party
>coalition of English-educated moderates and Chinese communists
>you need their grassroots
>they need your respectability
>temporary alliance
>you both know it
1959:
>PAP wins elections
>you become Prime Minister
>age 35
>Singapore is still British
>poor, dirty, overcrowded
>no resources, no industry
>malaria in the swamps
>you: "we'll fix this"
1963:
>join Malaysia
>Singapore becomes part of the federation
>finally independent from Britain
>but the marriage is bad from day one
>race riots, political clashes
>Malay leaders don't want a Chinese-majority city
>threatening their power
August 9, 1965:
>kicked out of Malaysia
>not independence, expulsion
>you announce it on television
>you cry
>the only time anyone sees you cry
>"for me, it is a moment of anguish"
>you're now leader of a country nobody wanted
>no army, no water, no hinterland
>just a swamp and 2 million people
>survival is not guaranteed
the problem:
>no natural resources
>not even fresh water
>surrounded by hostile neighbors
>communists infiltrating
>racial tensions everywhere
>how do you build a nation from nothing?
the solution:
>human capital
>if you have nothing, invest in people
>education, discipline, meritocracy
>English as the common language
>no corruption, zero tolerance
>pay officials well so they don't steal
>punish harshly when they do
>caning, hanging, no exceptions
>rule of law or rule of the jungle
>you choose law
the economics:
>invite multinationals
>make Singapore the easiest place to do business
>low taxes, stable government, no bullshit
>build infrastructure relentlessly
>airport, port, housing
>public housing for everyone
>home ownership creates stability
>people don't riot when they own property
the authoritarianism:
>no free press
>defamation suits against critics
>opponents bankrupted, jailed, exiled
>chewing gum banned
>long hair on men, suspicious
>you run a tight ship
>too tight, critics say
>but the ship doesn't sink
1970s-80s:
>Singapore transforms
>from third world to first
>GDP per capita explodes
>skyline rises
>slums become towers
>swamp becomes financial hub
>everyone wants to know the secret
>the secret is you
1990:
>step down as Prime Minister
>after 31 years
>but you don't leave
>become Senior Minister
>then Minister Mentor
>shadow over everything
>until you die
the results:
>GDP per capita: higher than the US, UK, Japan
>one of the least corrupt countries on earth
>best airport, best airline, best port
>from fishing village to global city
>in one generation
>your generation
the criticism:
>authoritarian
>no real democracy
>freedom of speech, limited
>you respond: "I'm not interested in being loved. I'm interested in being effective."
>Singapore proves you right
>or proves nothing matters except results
March 23, 2015:
>die at 91
>a million people line the streets
>in the rain
>to watch your funeral procession
>the father of a nation
from Japanese occupation
>to British colonialism
>to Malaysian expulsion
>to building a nation from scratch
Lee Kuan Yew.
the man who turned a swamp into a superpower.
Singapore exists because you refused to let it fail.
