Lee Kuan Yew
Singapore's first prime minister
Lee Kuan Yew led Singapore as its first prime minister from 1959 to 1990. His books include From Third World to First.
2 summaries 37 min of listening
Singaporean Born 1923 in Singapore, Singapore Died 2015
About Lee Kuan Yew
Lee Kuan Yew was born in Singapore on 16 September 1923 and died on 23 March 2015. He studied law at Cambridge, qualified as a barrister at Middle Temple in 1950, and then worked as a lawyer in Singapore. In 1954 he co-founded the People's Action Party, and he served as its secretary-general until 1992. He became prime minister in 1959, and Singapore became independent in 1965 after separating from Malaysia. After stepping down as prime minister in 1990, he stayed in the Cabinet, first as senior minister and later as minister mentor, until 2011. The National University of Singapore has a public policy school named in his honor, the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.