Come come dont only see gers pics ..
muz talk serious sometimes ..
Let me start the ball rolling ..
do u all wana noe more abt our dear minister mentor Harry
Lee
Source : http://encyclopedia.laborlawtalk.com/Lee_Kuan_Yew
Lee Kuan Yew (born September 16, 1923)
also known as Lee Kwan-Yew or Harry Lee, was the first Prime
Minister of the Republic of Singapore from 1959 to 1990. He has
remained the most influential politician in Singapore since his
retirement as Prime Minister. Under the administration of
Singapore's second prime minister, Goh Chok Tong, he served as
Senior Minister. He currently serves in the newly-created post of
Minister Mentor under his son Lee Hsien Loong, who became the
nation's third prime minister on August 12, 2004.
Lee Kuan Yew was born in Singapore, where he was educated at Telok
Kurau Primary School, Raffles Institution and Raffles College. His
university education was delayed by World War II and the 19421945
Japanese occupation. Little is known about his wartime activities,
some unconfirmed sources said that he acted as a double agent for
both the British and the Japanese (which is quite unlikely), apart
from the operation of a successful black market business: he
financed the invention of a tapioca-based glue, called Stikfas,
which was sold on the black market1. Having taken up Chinese and
Japanese language lessons since 1942, he was able to work as a
transcriber of Allied wire reports for the Japanese, as well as an
English-language editor for the Japanese Hobudu (a information or
propaganda department) in 1943 and 19442.
After the war, he studied law at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge in
Britain. He returned to Singapore in 1949 to work as a lawyer in
Laycock and Ong, the legal practice of John Laycock, a pioneer of
multiracialism who, together with A.P. Rajah and C.C. Tan, had
founded Singapore's first multiracial club open to Asians.
In 1954, Lee and a group of fellow English-educated, middle-class
men formed the socialist People's Action Party (PAP) to agitate for
self-government for Singapore and an end to British colonialism.
Five years later, in 1959, Lee was elected as the first Prime
Minister of Singapore, replacing the former Chief Minister of
Singapore, David Saul Marshall. He was regularly re-elected in
Singapore's limited democracy until November 1990, when he stepped
down and assumed the post of "Senior Minister" in the government
cabinet in the Goh Chok Tong government. He was once credited in
the Guinness Book of Records as the longest serving Prime Minister,
until the record was broken by Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, the former
Prime Minister of neighbouring Malaysia.
During the three decades in which Lee was in office, Singapore grew
from a Third World country to one of the most developed nations in
the world, despite its small population and lack of natural
resources. He is widely respected by the people of Singapore, and
has often been credited as the architect of its prosperity
(although a significant role was also played by his Deputy Prime
Minister, Dr. Goh Keng Swee, who was in charge of the
economy.)
On the other hand, he has been criticized as an elitist
authoritarian, and even a dictator, for implementing many harsh
policies and suppressing political opposition. For instance, he has
used defamation lawsuits, claimed by critics to have little merit,
to bankrupt political opponents. On one occasion, after a court
ruling in favour of Lee was overturned by the Privy Council, the
right of appeal to the Council was abolished. Also, during his
premiership from 1965 to 1990, he incarcerated Chia Thye Poh, a
former MP of an opposition party, the Barisan Socialis, for 22
years under the Internal Security Act, only to be released in
19893.
Lee was one of the leading advocates of Asian values, though his
interpretation of Asian values is open to debate.
Lee has received a number of state decorations, including the Order
of the Companions of Honour, Knight Grand Cross in the Order of St
Michael and St George, the Freedom of the City of London, the Order
of the Crown of Johore, and the Order of the Rising Sun.
Lee's wife, Kwa Geok Choo, runs a prominent legal firm, Lee &
Lee, and owns the property and investment company Wing Tai. His
sons and daughter have held government and government-linked posts.
His son, Lee Hsien Loong, is currently the Prime Minister and
Finance Minister of Singapore. His daughter, Lee Wei Ling, runs the
National Neurological Institute, while his other son Lee Hsien Yang
manages the telecommunications company SingTel. His
daughter-in-law, Lee Hsien Loong's wife Ho Ching, runs Temasek
Holdings, a prominent holding company with controlling stakes in a
variety of government-linked companies. His nephew-in-law is Wong
Kan Seng, the Minister for Home Affairs. Lee and his son Lee Hsien
Loong also sit on the board of the Government Investment Company
(GIC) of Singapore as Chairman and Vice-Chairman
respectively.
