Lee Kuan Yew

Lee Kuan Yew was born in 1923 in Singapore, Straits Settlements. Lee Kuan Yew's background is described as Straits Chinese (Hakka descent), fourth generation in Singapore. Growing up, the family was middle class — english-educated middle-class household whose finances were dented by the Depression; storekeeper father. Took a resource-less port expelled from its federation and ran it for 31 years into the first world.

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.