Singapore After Lee Kuan Yew

This book addresses key questions about how Singapore is likely to develop going forward, what are the key challenges facing the state, and how is the government going to deal with these matters. The book shows how important Lee Kuan Yew and subsequent individual leaders have been in shaping Singapore, and goes on to consider specific new challenges, including rapid population growth, migration and a changing population mix, the rise of China and possible shifts in the regional balance of power, and anxieties about the economy and an increasing global backlash against the neo-liberal free trade regime. It considers key areas of economic policy, social policy, and foreign policy, and explores the changing nature of governance. It also examines the Singapore government's effort to contain the COVID-19 outbreak. Overall, the book provides a concise, comprehensive assessment of the current state of Singapore and its likely future direction.

This book provides a detailed analysis of how governance in Singapore has evolved since independence to become what it is today, and what its prospects might be in a post-Lee Kuan Yew future. Firstly, it discusses the question of political leadership, electoral dominance and legislative monopoly in Singapore’s one-party dominant system and the system’s durability. Secondly, it tracks developments in Singapore’s public administration, critically analysing the formation and transformation of meritocracy and pragmatism, two key components of the state ideology. Thirdly, it discusses developments within civil society, focusing in particular on issues related to patriarchy and feminism, hetero-normativity and gay activism, immigration and migrant worker exploitation, and the contest over history and national narratives in academia, the media and the arts. Fourthly, it discusses the PAP government’s efforts to connect with the public, including its national public engagement exercises that can be interpreted as a subtler approach to social and political control. In increasingly complex conditions, the state struggles to maintain its hegemony while securing a pre-eminent position in the global economic order. Tan demonstrates how trends in these four areas converge in ways that signal plausible futures for a post-LKY Singapore.

Specially tailored edition to complement the study of Singapore’s history. This student edition of The Singapore Story is a shortened version of the original edition of The Singapore Story, the first volume of Lee Kuan Yew’s memoirs published in 2008. It covers all the significant moments in the life of Singapore’s first prime minister, in his own words, and dispenses with passages that do not directly concern Singapore

This facsimile edition of Alex Josey’s Lee Kuan Yew: The Crucial Years (1968) contains practically everything that Singapore’s first prime minister had said politically since his student days at Cambridge right up to his speeches at the 1971 Commonwealth Prime Minister’s Conference held in Singapore. More than a political biography of a remarkable Asian statesman, this indispensable volume shows how Lee successfully created an independent multiracial nation while tackling and solving problems which confront all developing states. The account ends in 1970 when Singapore was faced with the gloomy prospect of the withdrawal of British troops in 1971, and the necessity of creating, almost overnight, a credible Singapore defence force.

This book provides a detailed analysis of how governance in Singapore has evolved since independence to become what it is today, and what its prospects might be in a post-Lee Kuan Yew future. Firstly, it discusses the question of political leadership, electoral dominance and legislative monopoly in Singapore’s one-party dominant system and the system’s durability. Secondly, it tracks developments in Singapore’s public administration, critically analysing the formation and transformation of meritocracy and pragmatism, two key components of the state ideology. Thirdly, it discusses developments within civil society, focusing in particular on issues related to patriarchy and feminism, hetero-normativity and gay activism, immigration and migrant worker exploitation, and the contest over history and national narratives in academia, the media and the arts. Fourthly, it discusses the PAP government’s efforts to connect with the public, including its national public engagement exercises that can be interpreted as a subtler approach to social and political control. In increasingly complex conditions, the state struggles to maintain its hegemony while securing a pre-eminent position in the global economic order. Tan demonstrates how trends in these four areas converge in ways that signal plausible futures for a post-LKY Singapore.

The Singapore Story is the first volume of the memoirs of Lee Kuan Yew, the man who planted the island state of Singapore firmly on the map of the world. It was first published in 1999. In intimate detail, Lee recounts the battles against colonialists, communists and communalists that led to Singapore’s independence. With consummate political skill, he countered adversaries, sometimes enlisting their help, at others opposing them, in the single-minded pursuit of Singapore’s interests. We read how he led striking unionists against the colonial government, how over tea and golf he fostered ties with key players in Britain and Malaya, of secret midnight meetings in badly lit rooms, drinking warm Anchor beer with a communist underground leader, of his purposeful forging of an alliance with communists to gain the support of the Chinese-educated masses. Readers will find inspiration in his tenacity as he fought for the people’s hearts and minds against first the communists and later the communalists – in parliament, on the streets and through the media. Drawing on unpublished Cabinet papers, archives in Singapore, Britain, Australia, New Zealand and the United States, as well as personal correspondence, he gives us a vivid picture of how others viewed him: determined (“Lee will bluff, bully and blackmail up to the eleventh hour”), motivated (“Choo knew I sweated blood to master Hokkien”), ambitious (“He would think himself as legitimate as I was to be the leader of Malaya”), dangerous (“Crush Lee! Put him inside”). It is a sometimes controversial yet strangely consistent portrait of this Asian statesman. These experiences and his dealings with the political leaders were to shape his views and policies, which have had a major impact on Singapore and the region.

Up Close with Lee Kuan Yew gathers some of the vivid memories of 37 people who have worked or interacted closely with Lee Kuan Yew in some way or other, from when he was at Raffles College in 1941 right up to his demise in 2015. Among these are his 13 Principal Private Secretaries and Special Assistants, and Mdm Yeong Yoon Ying, his Press Secretary of over 20 years. The others include former President S.R. Nathan, Puan Noor Aishah who is the widow of President Yusof Ishak, former Chief Justice Yong Pung How, and friends such as Robert Kuok from his Raffles College days. This book captures an unvarnished look at what it was like to interact with the serious and no nonsense Mr Lee, both at work and outside of work. Contributing authors: Robert Kuok, Yong Pung How, Othman Wok, Puan Noor Aishah, S.R. Nathan, J.Y. Pillay, Lim Chin Beng, Wee Cho Yaw, Chn’g Jit Koon, Sidek Saniff, Philip Yeo, Jennie Chua, Liew Mun Leong , Lim Siong Guan, Jagjeet Singh, Ng Kok Song, Lam Chuan Leong, Bilahari Kausikan, Stephen Lee, Li Ka-shing, Tan Guong Ching, Dr S. Vasoo, Moses Lee, Ho Meng Kit, Yatiman Yusof, Yeong Yoon Ying, Alan Chan, Peter Seah, Heng Swee Keat, Leo Yip, Andrew Tan, Peter Tan, Cheng Wai Keung, Lee Seow Hiang, Chee Hong Tat, Anthony Tan, Lim Teck Kiat