Few gave tiny Singapore much chance of survival when it was 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 now is 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deep into his own meticulous notes as well as previously unpublished government papers and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 basic infrastructural roads through a 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 and establishing a national airline and airport. 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 aiming always "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. 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 larger place in world affairs. With inimitable style
he brings history to life with cogent analyses of some of the greatest strategic issues of
recent times and reveals how over the years he navigated the shifting tides of relations
among America China and Taiwan acting as confidant sounding board and messenger for them.
He also includes candid sometimes acerbic pen portraits of his political peers including the
indomitable Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan the 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 of their pride in their three
children -- particularly the eldest son Hsien Loong who is now Singapore's deputy prime
minister. For more than three decades Lee Kuan Yew has been praised and vilified in equal
measure and 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.
