The Singapore Story: Memoirs of Lee Kuan Yew

Rating:
Summary: A Great Chinese Leader that build a Great Nation
Review: "Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew is one of the brightest, ablest men I have ever met. The Singapore Story is a must read for people interested in a true Asian success story. From this book we also learn a lot about the thinking of one of this century's truly visionary statesmen." -- George Bush

A comment by George Bush caught my eyes about this book. It is no doubt a great book and a must read for all races...

Rating:
Summary: A Great Chinese Leader that build a Great Nation
Review: "Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew is one of the brightest, ablest men I have ever met. The Singapore Story is a must read for people interested in a true Asian success story. From this book we also learn a lot about the thinking of one of this century's truly visionary statesmen." -- George Bush

A comment by George Bush caught my eyes about this book. It is no doubt a great book and a must read for all races...

Rating:
Summary: Great book!
Review: A biography of how a great hero ushered his country to economic boost and well being of its nation.

Rating:
Summary: Gripping tale
Review: A simple and concise history of the nation-state, my original home. A handbook for building a nation-state, or any other
multi-cultural organization. In this volume, LKY provides insight into his decision making, but does not spend much time reflecting upon his deepest motivations/expectations. The rationalizations are kept on an even-keel, and the text has a bit of a grade-school history text feel to it.

I'm looking forward to the 2nd volume. It would probably be too much for LKY to describe his deepest rationalizations, his actions speak louder than his words. I would have liked to have understood the role of his wife and children more.

Rating:
Summary: A wonderful leader on the building of a Wonderful Nation
Review: A wonderful book relating the building of Singapore through the life encounters of Mr. Lee Kuan Yew, giving people a insight into the building of Singapore. This book is already into its 5th reprint. Waiting for Volume 2

Rating:
Summary: Theme from Harry's Game
Review: Alright, the title was just to get your attention. Although LKY did recall his own childhood caning at the hands of his school master with a little too much relish. That said, the Singapore story is indeed a fascinating one - and in this book LKY did an excellent job of telling his account of that story. With everyone from Margaret Thatcher and George Bush to - somewhat unexpectedly - John Chambers (Cisco CEO) and Scott McNealy (SunMicro CEO) genuflecting in Lee's direction from the dust jackets, there's no need for me to rehash his greatness. Instead, I will try to stay on the critical side of things.

This book is the first in a 2 volume set covering the years from LKY's childhood to 1965, when Singapore was expelled from the Malaysian federation. The book is structured chronologically, thereby giving a very coherent narrative of the years in question. In contrast the 2nd volume of the set is organized into "thematic discussions" from which the reader must piece together the exact sequence of events. The second volume reads a bit like a political testament and will not surprise anyone already knowledgeable about modern Singapore and LKY's many pronouncements. Personally I find this volume to be more interesting because of the many insights that it provided into LKY's mind.

LKY's prose is much like the man himself - factual, direct, sometimes witty, always to the point. Eloquent rhetoric is not his forte, and his lawyerly obsession with details can be tedious at times. One also wishes that Mr Lee had been more reflective on his personal motivations and beliefs, or at least provided more analytical insights into the events and people that he described. Nonetheless, it's a good and often gripping read, and one must simply accept that LKY is not a man to commit acts of introspection in public too often.

What emerges from these pages is how much LKY's political philosophy, and therefore the Shape of modern Singapore, has been mould by his experience as a young man. Lee himself admitted that the 3 years he spent under Japanese occupation were the most influential of his life. From those years he learned about the exercise of raw power, the link between adaptability and survival, not to mention the deterring effects of harsh punishments on crime. (He noted - a little admiringly perhaps - that one could always leave the door open at night under Japanese occupation. The penalty for burglary seems to have been having your head displayed on a stake in a public square.) As one of the best students in Singapore he easily gained admission to Cambridge after the war and spent several happy years as a law student in England. The occasional racism he encountered did not affect him much. On the other had he was so impressed by the Labor welfare state that he remained a Fabian socialist till the 70's. He never did like the Communists though. As the scion of a prominent (though bankrupted by the Depression) family he instinctively disliked the rabble-rousing tactics of the Communists, though his aversion did not prevent him from forming a united front with the Communist MCP in the fight against British colonialism. It should be noted that once self-rule has been achieved, he was not above using the British to clamp down on his MCP allies.

To his credit, the savagery that he witnessed as a young man did not seem to have rubbed off on him. Though often harsh and always Machiavellian, Lee was never bloody, and seldom brutal. In many regards he was a true visionary. Born Chinese, raised among Malays, and educated by the British, he envisioned a multi-racial, multi-cultural nation long before it was politically correct. The rejection of that vision by Malaysia is probably the greatest disappointment of his life. In economic matters, he was that rare breed with the heart of a socialist and the mind of a free-market capitalist - again, long before such notions became the IMF orthodoxy. In political matters, however, he never did seem to move beyond the siege mentality of the early days of independence and never could leave behind the shadows of the Japanese occupiers and Communist subversives. He never grasped the importance of building institutions larger than himself and learned to appreciate the value of an open, competitive political culture. In his book LKY took great pleasure in ridiculing those conservative "King's Chinese" who were born under British rule and could not imagine anything otherwise. It's ironic that in the not too distant future, books may appear ridiculing him as someone born fighting subversives and cannot imagine a world at peace.

There's a fine line separating the great administrator and the truly visionary leader. For more than 40 years LKY has straddled that line. Unfortunately for himself and Singapore, he never did manage to bring his other foot across.

Rating:
Summary: Surprisingly exciting tale - and the fetish of caning
Review: Alright, the title was just to get your attention. Although LKY did recall his own childhood caning at the hands of his school master with a little too much relish. That said, the Singapore story is indeed a fascinating one - and in this book LKY did an excellent job of telling his account of that story. With everyone from Margaret Thatcher and George Bush to - somewhat unexpectedly - John Chambers (Cisco CEO) and Scott McNealy (SunMicro CEO) genuflecting in Lee's direction from the dust jackets, there's no need for me to rehash his greatness. Instead, I will try to stay on the critical side of things.

This book is the first in a 2 volume set covering the years from LKY's childhood to 1965, when Singapore was expelled from the Malaysian federation. The book is structured chronologically, thereby giving a very coherent narrative of the years in question. In contrast the 2nd volume of the set is organized into "thematic discussions" from which the reader must piece together the exact sequence of events. The second volume reads a bit like a political testament and will not surprise anyone already knowledgeable about modern Singapore and LKY's many pronouncements. Personally I find this volume to be more interesting because of the many insights that it provided into LKY's mind.

LKY's prose is much like the man himself - factual, direct, sometimes witty, always to the point. Eloquent rhetoric is not his forte, and his lawyerly obsession with details can be tedious at times. One also wishes that Mr Lee had been more reflective on his personal motivations and beliefs, or at least provided more analytical insights into the events and people that he described. Nonetheless, it's a good and often gripping read, and one must simply accept that LKY is not a man to commit acts of introspection in public too often.

What emerges from these pages is how much LKY's political philosophy, and therefore the Shape of modern Singapore, has been mould by his experience as a young man. Lee himself admitted that the 3 years he spent under Japanese occupation were the most influential of his life. From those years he learned about the exercise of raw power, the link between adaptability and survival, not to mention the deterring effects of harsh punishments on crime. (He noted - a little admiringly perhaps - that one could always leave the door open at night under Japanese occupation. The penalty for burglary seems to have been having your head displayed on a stake in a public square.) As one of the best students in Singapore he easily gained admission to Cambridge after the war and spent several happy years as a law student in England. The occasional racism he encountered did not affect him much. On the other had he was so impressed by the Labor welfare state that he remained a Fabian socialist till the 70's. He never did like the Communists though. As the scion of a prominent (though bankrupted by the Depression) family he instinctively disliked the rabble-rousing tactics of the Communists, though his aversion did not prevent him from forming a united front with the Communist MCP in the fight against British colonialism. It should be noted that once self-rule has been achieved, he was not above using the British to clamp down on his MCP allies.

To his credit, the savagery that he witnessed as a young man did not seem to have rubbed off on him. Though often harsh and always Machiavellian, Lee was never bloody, and seldom brutal. In many regards he was a true visionary. Born Chinese, raised among Malays, and educated by the British, he envisioned a multi-racial, multi-cultural nation long before it was politically correct. The rejection of that vision by Malaysia is probably the greatest disappointment of his life. In economic matters, he was that rare breed with the heart of a socialist and the mind of a free-market capitalist - again, long before such notions became the IMF orthodoxy. In political matters, however, he never did seem to move beyond the siege mentality of the early days of independence and never could leave behind the shadows of the Japanese occupiers and Communist subversives. He never grasped the importance of building institutions larger than himself and learned to appreciate the value of an open, competitive political culture. In his book LKY took great pleasure in ridiculing those conservative "King's Chinese" who were born under British rule and could not imagine anything otherwise. It's ironic that in the not too distant future, books may appear ridiculing him as someone born fighting subversives and cannot imagine a world at peace.

There's a fine line separating the great administrator and the truly visionary leader. For more than 40 years LKY has straddled that line. Unfortunately for himself and Singapore, he never did manage to bring his other foot across.

Rating:
Summary: Surprisingly candid, informative, and provacative
Review: As an American who has spent years living in Singapore, I cautiosly read Lee Kuan Yew's book. I expected a tome of self-congratulatory hogwash, but I was rewarded with a candid, sometimes brutally honest, story of the making of a country. Whether you love him or hate him, Lee Kuan Yew is the only person who could write the definative story of the making of this marvelous Republic called Singapore. It is well written, with careful insights, amazing stories of courage and self sacrifice, and a good bit of humor. I highly reccomend it.

Rating:
Summary: The Man Who Made Singapore a Success
Review: Being voted as one of the most influential Asian leaders, itproves that Mr Lee has been a respected leader to one and all. Thebook goes into details the hardships faced by Singapore when it tried to gain self-rule and the serious corruption in the government then. At the same time, he added humour in it and tells us more of his adolescence and marriage life. I really anticipate the second volume to be published soon as it will offer deeper insight to how this influential man would transform a tiny "red dot" on the world map to a nation which made its mark on the international stage within just a few decades.

Rating:
Summary: History By The History Maker
Review: Brilliantly written in a style that appeals to all. And what makes it even more interesting is that much of the facts lay hidden for so long. Now, for the first time, the world knows how, Singapore and Malaya beat the communists. In fact, Mr Lee Kuan Yew is in every way a general in the likes of Rommel, MacArthur or Patton...but on a different battlefield altogether. A must reading for all..young or old.