Lee Kuan Yew ,Politician, Lawyer, Nation developer

Born: September 16, 1923 (age 89), Singapore

Spouse: Kwa Geok Choo

Party: People's Action Party

Children: Lee Hsien Loong, Lee Hsien Yang

Education: London School of Economics, Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge.

Lee Kuan Yew created a country and a nation out of a lump of land worth almost nothing. He shaped the small territory at the tip of the Malaysian peninsula into a country, and then developed it into a dynamo of development and progress. From the primitive fishing village, Temasek, he built Singapore into an 'Asian Tiger'.

Lee was a third generation Straits Chinese. He grew up speaking the Malay, Eng­lish languages and the Cantonese dialect, and later taught himself the Japanese, Mandarin and Hokkien for he wanted to learn all the languages spoken in Singapore. He studied at Singapore's Raffles College and then went on to Cambridge. His Christian name was 'Harry Lee' which he dropped after Cambridge for his original Chinese name. Coming back to Singapore in 1950, he started practicing law and got into politics.

As the co-founder and first secretary-general of his People's Action Party (PAP), he led the party to eight victories from 1959 to 1990, and oversaw the separation of Singapore from Malaysia in 1965. From 1959 to 1990 he remained the Prime Minister and still holds great influence as its Senior Minister, a post especially created for him.

On 16 September 1963, Singapore became part of Malaysia but the Malaysian Central Government, ruled by the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), became worried by the inclusion of Singapore's Chinese majority and the political challenge of the PAP in Malaysia. In 1964 race riots took place in Singapore as Chinese and Malays attacked each other. Subsequently, Singapore was expelled from Malaysia. A separation agreement was signed on 7 August 1965. It was a heavy blow to Lee. Later, Lee brought his country an efficient administration and spectacular prosperity.

"I, Lee Kuan Yew, as Prime Minister of Singapore, in this current capacity of mine do hereby proclaim and declare on behalf of the people and the Gov­ernment of Singapore that as from today, the ninth day of August in the year one thousand nine hundred and sixty-five. Singapore shall be forever a sov­ereign democratic and independent nation, founded upon the principles of liberty and justice and ever seeking the welfare and happiness of people in a  most and just equal society."

- Address on 9 August 1965 on creation of the Republic of Singapore.