by Lee Kuan Yew and Henry Kissinger (Foreword by).
Review By Alagi Yorro Jallow.
Fatoumatta: An excellent book. I had a great time reading this remarkable book, unknown to people in some developing countries, particularly politicians and public policy influencers. There were compelling and genuine reasons why the Gambia’s founding father, Sir Dawda Kairaba, dreamed about the Gambia becoming Singapore. After all, Singapore and the Gambia gained political independence the same year and had the exact land area.
Few gave tiny Singapore much chance of survival when granted independence in 1965. So, how is it that today, the former British colonial trading post is a thriving Asian metropolis with the world’s number one airline, best airport, busiest trade port, and fourth-highest per capita real income? The story of that transformation is told here by Singapore’s charismatic, controversial founding father, Lee Kuan Yew. Rising from a legacy of divisive colonialism, the devastation of the Second World War, and general poverty and disorder following the withdrawal of foreign forces, Singapore is now hailed as a city of the future.
This miraculous history is dramatically recounted by the man who not only lived through it all but who fearlessly forged ahead and brought about most of these changes. Singapore’s founding father wrote his memoirs in a book, and it was a comprehensive book. The grandmaster himself wrote the excellent book with a powerful blueprint of development. It will be very nice for every African leader to read it from cover to back, especially Gambian leaders. He illustrated the world’s geopolitical climate of the last 56 years in a very elaborative manner.
This book about building a nation covers topics from politics, economy, labor, union, history, people, and everything interrelated to modern society.
The story of that transformation is told here by Singapore’s charismatic, controversial founding father, Lee Kuan Yew. Rising from a legacy of divisive colonialism, the devastation of the Second World War, and general poverty and disorder following the withdrawal of foreign forces, Singapore is now hailed as a city of the future. This miraculous history is dramatically recounted by the man who not only lived through it all but who fearlessly forged ahead and brought about most of these changes.
Fatoumatta: Though Lee’s domestic canvas in Singapore was small, his vigor and talent assured him a more prominent place in world affairs. He brings history to life with an inimitable style with cogent analyses of some of the recent times’ most outstanding strategic issues. He reveals how, over the years, he navigated the shifting tides of relations among America, China, and Taiwan, acting as a confidant, sounding board, and messenger for them. He also includes candid, sometimes acerbic pen portraits of his political peers, including Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan’s indomitable poetry-spouting Jiang Zemin, and ideologues George Bush and Deng Xiaoping.
Lee also lifts the veil on his family life and writes tenderly of his wife and stalwart partner, Kwa Geok Choo, and their pride in their three children –– particularly the eldest son, Hsien Loong. The latter is now Singapore’s deputy prime minister. Lee Kuan Yew has been praised and vilified for more than three decades. However, he has established himself as a force impossible to ignore in Asian and international politics. From Third World to First offers readers a compelling glimpse into this visionary’s heart, soul, and mind.
Worth the read.
Fatoumatta: It is not so much a memoirs book as his recollections of all things Singapore-related during his long term in office. First of all, the book is easy and fun to read. That is what most favorably surprised me, coming from a politician. It is sincere in tone, not ridden with sophistry or abstractions, but filled with common sense and expressed in a happy and relieved mind that he has done his bit, has come a long way, and tiny Singapore.
Lee Kuan Yew was born in Singapore on September 16, 1923, a third-generation descendant of immigrants from China’s Guangdong Province. He read law at Cambridge University, England. In 1954 he formed the People’s Action Party, which won the first Singapore general election five years later. Lee became the country’s first prime minister in 1959, at the age of thirty-five. In November 1990, he resigned from the office to assume the post of senior minister in the Singapore cabinet.
Synopses and Reviews of “From Third World To First ” Lee Kuan Yew: Singapore And The Asian Economic Boom. Few gave tiny Singapore much chance of survival when granted independence in 1965. How is it, then, that today the former British colonial trading post is a thriving Asian metropolis with not only the world’s number one airline, best airport, and busiest port of trade but also the world’s fourth-highest per capita real income?
The story of that transformation is told here by Singapore’s charismatic, controversial founding father, Lee Kuan Yew. Rising from a legacy of divisive colonialism, the devastation of the Second World War, and general poverty and disorder following the withdrawal of foreign forces, Singapore is now hailed as a city of the future. This miraculous history is dramatically recounted by the man who not only lived through it all but who fearlessly forged ahead and brought about most of these changes.
Delving deep into his meticulous notes and previously unpublished government papers and official records, Lee details the extraordinary efforts it took for an island city-state in Southeast Asia to survive at that time.
Lee explains how he and his cabinet colleagues finished off the communist threat to the fledgling state’s security and began the arduous process of nation-building:
forging essential infrastructural roads through land that still consisted primarily of swamps
creating an army from a hitherto racially and ideologically divided population
stamping out the last vestiges of colonial-era corruption
providing mass public housing
establishing a national airline and airport
Fatoumatta: In this illuminating account, Lee writes frankly about his trenchant approach to political opponents and his often unorthodox views on human rights, democracy, and inherited intelligence, always aiming “to be correct, not politically correct.” Nothing in Singapore escaped his watchful eye: whether choosing shrubs for the greening of the country, restoring the romance of the historic Raffles Hotel, or openly, unabashedly persuading young men to marry women as well educated as themselves. As a result, today’s safe, tidy Singapore bears Lee’s unmistakable stamp, for which he is unapologetic: “If this is a nanny state, I am proud to have fostered one.”
Though Lee’s domestic canvas in Singapore was small, his vigor and talent assured him a more significant place in world affairs. He brings history to life with an inimitable style with cogent analyses of some of the recent times’ most outstanding strategic issues. He reveals how, over the years, he navigated the shifting tides of relations among America, China, and Taiwan, acting as a confidant, sounding board, and messenger for them. He also includes candid, sometimes acerbic pen portraits of his political peers, including Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan’s indomitable poetry-spouting Jiang Zemin, and ideologues George Bush and Deng Xiaoping.
Lee also lifts the veil on his family life and writes tenderly of his wife and stalwart partner, Kwa Geok Choo, and their pride in their three children –– particularly the eldest son, Hsien Loong. The latter is now Singapore’s deputy prime minister.
Lee Kuan Yew has been praised and vilified for more than three decades. However, he has established himself as a force impossible to ignore in Asian and international politics. From Third World to First offers readers a compelling glimpse into this visionary’s heart, soul, and m
ind.
We have no other voice to contrast his sayings; obviously, this is his book. However, we have Singapore to look to see how far this new tiny country, an ex-British colony in the Far East, has come. Democracy, the rule of law, free markets, an anti-communist watchful eye, the Confucian values of its people restored and fostered, the English language mandatory in schools and administration (as well as Mandarin and Malay), and very careful handling of its diverse ethnic population sentiments: avoiding nationalisms and the intrusions of foreign nations through religious, ideological or nationalistic infections. Taking care that its multi-ethnic populations do not fight each other and grow instead, a sense of community and respect for each wonder seemed to be the number one achievement. An achievement that many other nations who have not had to go through this take for granted. Furthermore, that is no minor achievement when considering everything else, economic and cultural.
Fatoumatta: The story (the success of Singapore, instead) is told by topics, first national and then international-related. Finally, there is a short chapter on his family and an epilogue. However, the joy and sense of the author in having accomplished what he is so proud to believe is contagious throughout the book: an absolute pleasure. I enjoyed all parts, and there were no repeating issues already mentioned. The careful author said them only in a different light, on account of another story-related. One big favor Mr. Lee Kuan Yew did to us readers is sharing his honest opinions of his collaborators in government, especially on contemporary world leaders. Criticism that is constructive and witty but. It comes clear throughout the book that the man is a knowledgeable and affable fellow. I thought at the beginning that he would be a candid and good-natured person when I read.
The line editor at HarperCollins, New York, has meticulously Americanized my English. She has also made me politically gender correct. Wherever I wrote man”, he has become “person” or “people.” I thank her for making me appear less of a male chauvinist to Americans.
Was that a candid acknowledgment of his supposed machismo or an I-can’t-care-less attitude? One of the many exciting and illuminating issues that the book brings out is the relation and differences between peoples of the West (Western Europe and North America) and the East. There is a divide between cultures that the author points out. It is a contention that both peoples have to end, and better end sooner than later, because the benefits of their excellent relationships and shared understanding are immense. The differences are only a matter of culture and beliefs. The issue is very much worth reading and thinking about: I came to agree with the author.
Another thing:
You can read the book and learn about history, geopolitics, and government-related issues, from economy to Confucianism and sociology. The history of Singapore is like that of an Asian New York, with its varied peoples uniting to become one new country, surrounded by giant and manacing Asian countries who try to suck you in and have you play for them. Singapore’s most remarkable feat was, stated, to make it. To live through the perils of independence amid these big countries and not fall into the paws of communist imperialism or become a puppet of Russia, the US, India, China, Japan, Malaysia, or Indonesia. They made it by themselves: what an achievement.
Fatoumatta: A superb book to have an in-depth look at Asia and Southeast Asia in particular; to know what has been going on with the big politics of the late 20th century. Singapore presents an excellent study case because it could not avoid relating to the prominent leading national characters of the 20th century. Thus, it gives us the unique opportunity to see what was going on on so many levels of international business and politics: from the foot on the street, races, cultures, and sentiments of the people to the Cold War and the post-Communist world. Furthermore, if not for the wealth of news here, read it because it is fun.
