Lee Kuan Yew (1923–2015) was the first prime minister of Singapore from 1959 to 1990. A founding member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), he is often credited for transforming Singapore from a third-world to a first-world country. He was known for practising political pragmatism in his governance of Singapore, but has been criticised for using authoritarian and heavy-handed policies. However, others argue his actions as having been necessary for the country's early development, and that he was a benevolent dictator. His philosophy is considered by some to be a Third Way one.Lee Kuan Yew The Grand Master's Insights on China, the United States, and the World. MIT Press. 2013. p. 123. Lee was elected prime minister of Singapore for 31 years, making him the longest-serving prime minister in the world at the time.

Many world leaders have affirmed Lee's political knowledge as being insightful. Such supporters include former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Margaret Thatcher, who remarked that Lee was "never wrong", and former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. Former President of the United States Barack Obama stated that he "personally appreciated [Lee's] wisdom." Former Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe stated that Lee was "one of the greatest leaders of modern times that Asia has ever produced." Lee himself expressed admiration for Chinese leaders like Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping during interviews and speeches.

Foreign policy

Malaysia Lee initially believed that Singapore and Malaya were culturally, politically, economically, and socially similar, stating that "my generation had always believed that Singapore and Malaya were one". This led him to campaign for merger with Malaya from 1959 to 1963, including delivering a series of radio talks from 13 September to 9 October in 1961 defending the concept of merger, later dubbed the Battle for Merger. Subsequently, however, racial tensions between the ethnic Chinese and Malays led Lee to announce Singapore's separation from Malaysia on 9 August 1965, citing Malaysian prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman's statement that "Singapore had to leave Malaysia or there would be bloodshed". Lee said that this was "a moment of anguish" for him because "all my life... I have believed in merger and the unity of these two territories. You know, it's a people, connected by geography, economics, and ties of kinship".

Since 1965, Lee criticised Malaysia's race-based policies such as the enshrinement of Malay privileges, which he argues has "place[d] the country at a disadvantage", citing the country's failure to retain Malaysian Chinese businesspeople and talent. Lee wrote that "Singapore and Malaysia have chosen two entirely different ways of organising our societies", and in 2013 argued that the coexistence of both states "separately but amicably" was the inevitable course of their relations.

Hong Kong Lee believed that the Sino-British Joint Declaration signed in 1984 was the best agreement possible for Hong Kong. Lee said Hong Kongers had to come to terms with the reality that there would be "nothing to stop Beijing from doing what it wanted" after the 1997 handover. He advised British diplomats stationed in Singapore in July 1989 following the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre that Beijing would reject any assertion of a separate and democratically based Hong Kong identity. In his memoir, From Third World to First: The Singapore Story, he stated that there was a "wide and deep gap" between what Hong Kong people wanted and expectations of China's leaders. He reinforced this view in One Man's View of the World when he stated that, in contrast to the Hong Kong people, "I don't believe the Chinese people themselves believe that with 1.3 billion people you can have one man, one vote for a president".

Europe Lee observed that the United Kingdom wanted a European Union more focused on the economic aspect of the single market, and not as a political integration project. Lee was also pessimistic about the euro and the European Union when he was interviewed for One Man's View of the World, stating that without real fiscal integration, the euro was doomed, and that without deeper integration into a United States of Europe, "Europe will be reduced to the role of supporting actor". Lee added that the EU was likely to fail because of "too fast an enlargement" and that the euro in its "present form" cannot be saved because “you cannot have monetary integration without fiscal integration”.

Leaked diplomatic cables In leaked diplomatic cables to the US, Lee described the North Korean regime as "psychopathic", described then Vice-President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping as a "princeling" and expressed his belief that the Japanese government may develop nuclear technologies in the future.

Vietnam Lee initially supported the Vietnam War. Regarding the Fall of Saigon Lee expressed "astonishment and alarm at the rapidity with which the situation fell apart" He remarked that "the battle was not fought in Vietnam alone; it was fought in Washington". He would later express more critical attitudes to the war saying America "made a mess" out of the war. In 1967 he said "Let us hope that all countries persevere and strive for a fair solution to this tragic conflict in Vietnam, so that the enormous sacrifices that have been and are still being made, will be worthwhile—namely by securing a more peaceful Asia, where both the non-communist and communist parts of it learn to live with each other, and to leave each other’s political systems alone".

United States Lee Kuan Yew described the United States as a highly individualistic and entrepreneurial society, whose culture both fueled its success and created structural challenges. He argued that Americans “glorify the individual,” encouraging innovation, risk-taking, and creativity, Lee also emphasized that American individualism underpinned a distinctive entrepreneurial culture:

"Finally, America has a culture that celebrates those who strike out on their own. When they succeed, they are admired as talented entrepreneurs… When they fail, it is accepted as a natural intermediate stage… so they pick themselves up and start afresh.”

—excerpt of One Man’s View of the World written by Lee Kwan Yew, 2013.

He contrasted this with the more class-bound society of United Kingdom, arguing that Britain’s historical emphasis on hierarchy and established status limited the commercialization of innovation despite its scientific achievements. In his view, the United States, as a “frontier society” without rigid class barriers, fostered a strong drive to create wealth and new enterprises. This combination of entrepreneurial dynamism and weaker social cohesion, he argued, defined both the strengths and weaknesses of the American cultural model.

At the same time, he linked aspects of American individualism to social problems, including gun violence associated with the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, remarking that in Asian systems students “do not bring handguns to school,” which he used to highlight differences in discipline and social order.

Domestic policy Economics Lee was influenced by the Fabian Society during his studies in the UK; years after returning to Singapore he continued to subscribe to their magazines and newspapers.

Lee believed that balance was needed in economic policy - "A society to be successful must maintain a balance between nurturing excellence and encouraging the average to improve". Lee stated that there must be both "cooperation and competition between people" which he asserted was a middle way between communism which relied too much on cooperation, and American capitalism which he considered to rely too much on competition.

Regarding the welfare state Lee was critical. He thought it promoted inexertion and dependency - "The principle is that you must work. We are not going to pay you for lying around". He described Singapore as a "fair, not welfare, society". Welfare states were said to harm competition and economic growth by creating a reliance on others instead of self-reliance and hard work.

Democracy Lee did not believe that "democracy necessarily leads to development" and that "the exuberance of democracy leads to undisciplined and disorderly conditions which are inimical to development".

So when people say, 'Oh, ask the people!' It's childish rubbish. We are leaders. We know the consequences. You mean that ice-water man knows the consequences of his vote? They say people can think for themselves? Do you honestly believe that the chap who can't pass primary six knows the consequences of his choice when he answers a question viscerally on language, culture and religion? —Lee Kuan Yew, 1998. Lee was an outspoken critic of Western ideals of democracy, stating that "with a few exceptions, democracy has not brought good government to developing countries." He argued that in states such as China, the concept of democracy was simply "not workable", because of the large population size that had to be canvassed, while in India, the results of democracy "have not been spectacular". He believed in the state interference of the media and personal lives of citizens. He has been criticised for using his political power to wage lawsuits to bankrupt and imprison his political opponents, as in the case of J. B. Jeyaretnam and Chee Soon Juan. Francis Seow, the former solicitor-general of Singapore, has described Lee as such:[T]he prime minister uses the courts… to intimidate, bankrupt, or cripple the political opposition. Distinguishing himself in a caseful of legal suits commenced against dissidents and detractors for alleged defamation…, he has won them all.

Press Regarding the press Lee remarked that "freedom of the news media must be subordinated to the overriding needs of Singapore, and to the primacy of purpose of an elected government."Tey, Tsun Hang. “Confining the Freedom of the Press in Singapore: A ‘Pragmatic’ Press for ‘Nation-Building’?” Human Rights Quarterly, vol. 30, no. 4, 2008, pp. 876–905. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/20486715 Lee's views on the press were shaped by his early experiences in Malayan and Singaporean politics, as a result of which he developed a pessimistic view of the press, declaring that "the freedom of the press was the freedom of its owners to advance their personal and class interests" in contrast to the press' claims that they were "the defender of truth and freedom of speech".

Lee was critical of Western notions of the press. He said "I do not subscribe to the Western practice that allows a wealthy press baron to decide what voters should read day after day". As such he made it law that no person shall own a controlling interest in a newspaper. He also spoke critically of applying the "American concept of the 'marketplace of ideas'" to Singapore, as due to Singapore's ethnic and religious diversity this principle had often led to "riots and bloodshed".

Lee opposed the influence of foreign news media on Singapore, foreign media were allowed in Singapore "in order to report Singapore to their fellow countrymen" but they cannot be allowed to become "that of invigilator, adversary and inquisitor of the administration". He allowed the selling of foreign newspapers in Singapore so that Singaporeans "can know what foreigners are reading about us" but was critical of their influence, believing they could "radically change the nature of Singaporean society".

Race