Lee Kuan Yew

Hello! In this blog entry, we are required to choose a person who have made a significant impact on societies. I have chosen Lee Kuan Yew, the Minister Mentor of Singapore.

I find him unfluential because of a few reasons. As Singapore was developing as an independent country in the 1960s, he played a very big role in it. He introduced alot of policies like economic policies which improved the living conditions of Singaporeans at that time. for example, he established the Economics Development Board in 1961 to attract foreign investment, offering attractive tax incentives and providing access to the highly skilled, disciplined and relatively low paid work force. He also provided opportunities for industralization in the country and allow the creation of jobs for the people. Another evidence can be shown when he hired the use of a British economic expert, Dr Albert Winsemius, to help in the industralization process. Dr Albert then further developed the Jurong Industrial Estate in Singapore.

Another reason is in terms of national security in Singapore, during his prime minister years, he wanted Singapore to have a citizen armed force. He assigned his fellow minister, Goh Keng Swee, to help him build Singapore Armed Forces (SAF). This aided the security in Singapore, as during that 1960s period, there was alot of unrest like racial riots and foreign issues. Singapore has to depend on itself for its security.

Currently, he is the Minister Mentor of Singapore and continues to help in the development of Singapore by providing advices to ministers. Til now, I find him still very influential in the political matters of Singapore.