標題：李光耀成就彰顯小國大智慧
Lee Kuan Yew will go down in history as the founding father of Singapore. In this role, he was initially reluctant, keen to see Singapore remain part of Malaysia in 1965, but forced, as his memoirs make clear, to announce an independent city state after its neighbor ejected it from the confederation created in 1962. Over the following five decades, half this time as Prime Minister and the remainder as a hugely influential senior minister, Lee was to guide the country from its inauspicious beginnings as a vulnerable, impoverished and almost defenceless territory to becoming one of the region's wealthiest countries, a key ally of the US, but also one which enjoyed good relations with China and others in Asia. Lee has been called by other global leaders like US President Bill Clinton and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher one of the most intelligent statesmen they had every dealt with. But he was also criticized for being intolerant of dissent, and for having spent too many years in power.
Born in 1923, his experienced the Japanese occupation of Singapore in the Second World War, before going on to undergo a law degree at Cambridge University in the UK. His desire to see Singapore enjoy higher status in the world meant that he returned home in the late 1940s and founded with others the socialist inspired `People's Action Party' in 1954. Only five years later, as British colonial rule was coming to an end, and the city was increasingly self governing, Lee became its first Prime Minister after the PAP won a landslide election victory. Joining Malaysia as part of a confederation in 1962, it was in the most unusual position of having full independence forced upon It only two years later when Malaysia voted to expel it. Lee publicly wept when he announced this in 1965, but it proved to be Singapore's making.
In the next three decades, through ruthless pursuit of improving educational standards in the city, making it open to international trade, and creating a strong regional and then global finance and logistical centre there, the successive governments led by Lee created one of the most successful economies, a place nicknamed one of the four tigers of the region, which saw its per capita GDP shoot up, and its technological levels leap ahead of those around it. In many ways, Lee proved the adage `small is beautiful' true. He was also able to create a coherent community in a city where the population was ethnically mixed, but where almost two thirds were regarded as Chinese.
Lee's success was strong enough for him to be called up by the Chinese government in the late 1970s as they embarked on their own Opening Up and Reform process, with Deng Xiaoping meeting Lee a number of times throughout the 1980s and drawing on his advice. Singapore was also a significant technical partner for China, and a major investor, and has often been spoken of as the place that China might wish to become most like in the next decades in terms of economic and political development.
Lee's retirement in 1990 as Prime Minister did not limit his influence, as he became Senior Minister with a roving portfolio to look at almost all areas of government policy. It was in the 1990s that he famously articulated the notion of `Asian values' and promoted a stronger sense of regional identity. While this was argued against by figures like Chris Patten, final governor of Hong Kong, it did raise the important question of what notions and beliefs were held in common across such a vast and diverse area. Lee's notion of respect for family, hard work and stability perhaps came closest to articulating what many believed were the most important qualities of Asian culture and society.
As a statesman, Lee put Singapore in the map. He gained early recognition for it from the United Nations, but he also took a leading part in the creation of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in the mid 1960s, which grew from the initial five members to the current ten over the ensuing three decades. Lee also ensured that while his young country enjoyed strong relations with China, Indonesia and others in the region, it also created a good link with the United States, and with Europe. It was one of the few countries in the region which was able to balance such a complicated group of different partners, largely avoiding diplomatic problems.
Lee's domestic rule was associated with strong work ethic and discipline. He supported capital punishment, one of the few issues on which he received criticism from the US, showed zero tolerance for drug usage, and raised the status of government workers so that the city saw the creation of one of the most respected and capable bureaucracies in the world. With English as the main language of education, Singapore was truly a `global city' from the 1970s, with logistics links (it was often the world's biggest port), strong rule of law, and a government largely seen as free of corruption. Lee himself became the international face of the city, representing it before and after retirement at events throughout the world. In this role, he was active right up to his illness in 2015.
While the PAP he founded has been increasingly beset by opposition, getting only 60 per cent of the vot in the most recent elections in 2012, few would doubt the resilience and stability of the city Lee was so key to creating. It's educational levels and service sector reputation are amongst the most competitive in the world, and it sits in the midst of perhaps the world's most dynamic region. Lee gifted Singapore not just with stability but also with a sense of identity, and this means that his achievement is very likely to long outline him.
Professor Kerry Brown
Kerry Brown is Professor of Chinese Politics and Director of the China Studies Centre, University of Sydney and Team Leader of the Europe China Research and Advice Network (ECRAN) funded by the European Union. He is an Associate Fellow of Chatham House, London and author of `Struggling Giant: China in the 21st Century' (2007), `The Rise of the Dragon: Chinese Inward and Outward Investment in the Reform Era' (2008), `Friends and Enemies: The Past, Present and Future of the Communist Party of China' (2009), `Ballot Box China' (2011), `China 2020' (2011), `Hu Jintao: China's Silent Leader'(forthcoming).