LEE Kuan Yew, Minister Mentor, Prime Minister’s Office, Republic of Singapore
The Hon. Lee Kuan Yew, former Prime Minister of Singapore, is one of the world‘s most important and enduring political figures. Considered to be the founding father of modern Singapore, he brought prosperity and stability to his country as its leader for more than 30 years. He helped establish the People‘s Action Party (PAP), the governing party in Singapore since it became a sovereign state in 1965. Educated at Fitzwilliam College, University of Cambridge, and the Middle Temple, London, Lee Kuan Yew practised as an Advocate and Solicitor. He co-founded PAP in 1954 and was appointed the party’s Secretary-General, a post which he continued to hold—except for a brief period in 1957—until 1992. Following PAP’s first election victory in 1959, he became Prime Minister and in 1963, one of 15 representatives from Singapore to the Parliament of Malaysia. On the secession of Singapore from the Malaysian Federation in 1965, Lee Kuan Yew became the independent republic’s first Prime Minister and subsequently led his party to win a further six general elections. In November 1990, Lee Kuan Yew resigned from the premiership and was appointed Senior Minister. In August this year he became Minister Mentor to the Government and remains, as ever, a tireless spokesman for Singapore and its future.