“From  Third World to First” by Lee Kuan Yew ; Published by Marshall Cavendish  ; Pages  778; Price Rs.2011/-

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The book under review is a sequel to Lee Kuan Yew’s earlier book “ Singapore Story “ and brings up-to-date the history of Singapore’s dramatic rise. In 1965 Singapore was a British naval base, then made part of Malaysia which extruded Singapore because it was not ready to cope with its large Chinese population. With only an area of 640 square kilometers, annual per capita income has grown from less than$ 1000/- at the time of Independence to $ 30,000/- today. It is the high-tech leader of Southeast Asia, the commercial entrepot and the scientific centre. Lee details the extraordinary efforts it took for an island city-state in South-Asia to survive with just a “ razor’s edge “ to manoeuvre in.

Lee  made Singapore into a powerful city-state whose every detail  he micromanaged. His authoritarian manner won him  admirers and detractors, as he himself relates in this memoir. It appears to have had the desired results, inasmuch as the people of Singapore remain independent, comparatively prosperous, and untroubled by the strife that now troubles the region. However,  Lee writes that “it will take another generation before standards of civic behaviour of our people will match the First World infrastructure they now take for granted.”  

  While the first volume is a chronological narrative the present book is devoted to themes. The first Part is on   “ Getting the Basics Right” The second Part is  “In Search of Space-Regional and International”. The concluding  Part is “ Winding Up”. 

 Lee is credited with the vision, courage and determination to push through necessary, at times unpopular, policies to develop Singapore from Third World to First. The first thing Lee did when he took over was build a defence force.  Lee turned to Israel and Switzerland for examples of how a small country should go about defending itself. The next thing he did was ensure the safety and security of the country and provide a stable legal system.Then came  protectionism. He wanted everyone in Singapore employed  and he didn’t want them competing with low-cost Malaysian labor. Singapore specifically protected cars, appliances, consumer electronics and other consumer goods. The protections were all phased out later.

 Lee has used to advantage what Britain left behind: the English language, the legal system, parliamentary government and impartial administration. He  studiously avoided the practices of the welfare state.

The foundations for Singapore’s  financial centre were the rule of law, an independent judiciary, and a stable, competent, and honest government that pursued sound macroeconomic policies, with budget surpluses almost every year. 

 Next, Lee dealt with the press. When Singapore separated from Malaysia, there were some race riots in Singapore. From then on, Lee was wary of the media. He seems to have believed that a totally free media would stir up racial animosity while providing little benefit. A Singapore with a totally free press would have in the best case scenario been plagued by ethnic or racial or religious violence and in the worst case become an actual Communist country. Instead, it became what it is today and everyone is immensely better off.

Lee  ignored criticism and advice from experts and quasi-experts, especially academics in the social and political sciences. He always tried to be correct, not politically correct. The most interesting chapters in the book are Lee’s comparisons between Singapore and other countries. There are two that are significant--- Ceylon and Hong Kong.

  The main reason that Singapore leapt from the Third World to the First was  Lee’s extraordinary fighting spirit and tenacity and  sincerity. He crafted policies based on the situation then and made rational judgements in the interest of the country. Nothing about Singapore escaped Le’s watchful eyes ; whether it is choosing shrubs for roadsides, restoring the romance of the historic Raffles Hotel or persuading young men to marry women as well-educated as themselves!.Today’s safe, tiny Singapore bears his stamp.

Lee brings history to life with his cogent analysis of strategic issues and candid, often acerbic portraits of the people he met—the indestructible  Margaret Thatcher, hearty Ronald Reagan and the poetry-quoting Jiang Zemin.

Lee writes briefly of his family, his wife Kwa Gok Che and their three children, including the elder son, Hsien Long, now Prime Minister of Singapore.

 We perhaps ought to remember that the success of Singapore – as much as it lay with the leadership of Lee and other politicians of the time including S. Rajaratnam, Toh Chin Chye and Goh Keng Swee – was also dependent on a group of individuals who were committed to the idea and the act of building a nation out of nothing. Lee has dedicated this book to them.

The memoirs provide an unique insight into the history of modern Singapore and the thoughts of one of the great Asian leaders of the last century. This book is compulsory reading to all who wish to comprehend the working of the Asian mind.

P.P.Ramachandran.

13 /  11 /  2016