Lee Kuan Yew

Born

1923 · Singapore, Straits Settlements

Roots

Straits Chinese (Hakka descent), fourth generation in Singapore

Family

Middle class

English-educated middle-class household whose finances were dented by the Depression; storekeeper father.

Education

Raffles Institution → Cambridge (law, double starred first)

Started with

A law practice

Returned from Cambridge in 1950 and built a reputation as legal adviser to trade unions.

Affiliations & societies

People's Action PartyDocumented

Co-founded the party in 1954 and led it in government from 1959.

Information only — claims like these are often unverifiable and may be wrong.

The pathway

1. 1942 · age 18
   Japanese occupation

   Survives by trading on the black market and working as a transcriber for a Japanese propaganda department — years he later called his real political education.

2. 1949 · age 26
   Cambridge double first

   Reads law; returns determined to end colonial rule.

3. 1954 · age 31
   Co-founds the PAP

   An alliance of English-educated professionals and left-wing unions.

4. 1959 · age 35
   Prime Minister

   Of newly self-governing Singapore.

5. 1965 · age 41
   Expelled from Malaysia

   Announces the separation in tears on television; Singapore is independent with no hinterland, water, or resources.

6. 1990 · age 67
   Steps down

   After 31 years; per-capita GDP has risen roughly a hundredfold across his era.