Chong En Qing (Biography on Lee Kuan Yew)

Mr Lee Kuan Yew was born in 16 September 1923. His birthplace is in Singapore. He is best known as the first prime minister of modern Singapore.

Mr Lee led Singapore to independence and served as its first prime minister. He was regularly re-elected from 1959 until he stepped down in 1990. He was educated in England, and under his guidance Singapore became a financial and industrial powerhouse despite a lack of abundant natural resources. Mr Lee ruled with ultimate authority, and his zeal for law and order was legendary. In 1990 he stepped down though he remained in the cabinet as senior minister and was succeeded as prime minister by Goh Chok Tong. He was prime minister of Singapore (1959 – 1990). He was born to a wealthy Chinese family, studied at the University of Cambridge and became a lawyer and a socialist. He worked as a legal adviser to labour unions and won election to Singapore's legislative council in 1955, while the country was still a British crown colony. He helped Singapore achieve self-government and, running as an anticolonialist and anticommunist, was elected prime minister in 1959. His numerous reforms included the emancipation of women. He briefly entered Singapore in the Federation of Malaysia (1963 – 1965); on its withdrawal, Singapore became a sovereign state. Mr Lee industrialized the country and made Singapore the most prosperous nation in Southeast Asia. He achieved both labour peace and a rising standard of living for workers, though his mildly authoritarian government at times infringed on civil liberties.

In his memoirs, Lee refers to his immigrant background as a fourth-generation Chinese Singaporean: his Hakka great-grandfather, Lee Bok Boon (born 1846), emigrated from the Dapu county of Guangdong province to the Straits Settlements in 1862. His mother Chua Jim Neo was a Hokkien Nyonya.
The eldest child of Lee Chin Koon and Chua Jim Neo, Lee Kuan Yew was born at 92 Kampong Java Road in Singapore, in a large and airy bungalow. As a child he was strongly influenced by British culture, due in part to his grandfather, Lee Hoon Leong, who had given his sons an English education. His grandfather gave him the name "Harry" in addition to his Chinese name (given by his father) Kuan Yew. He was mostly known as "Harry Lee" for his first 30 or so years, and still is to his friends in the West and to many close friends and family. He started using his Chinese name after entering politics. His name is sometimes cited as Harry Lee Kuan Yew, although this first name is seldom used in official settings.