In Memoriam

Mr Lee Kuan Yew1923 - 2015

In remembrance of the l i fe and achievements of Singapore’s founding Prime Minister.

NTU Logo: Flat artwork (Black background)

In 1959, when Mr Lee Kuan Yew became the f irst Prime Minister of Singapore at the age of 36, his f irst priority was the welfare and survival of the nation.

Over three decades, he transformed Singapore from a Third World entrepôt into a First World nation. The miraculous transformation of the city-state made him one of the most inf luential and legendary pol it ical leaders in the world.

Mr Lee saw education as a great equaliser and the key to the nation’s survival. Together with his team, he laid the foundations of a f irst-class education system, amongst his many l i felong achievements for Singapore.

Generations of NTU students are beneficiaries of his vision, and countless more wil l reap the fruits of i t.

Mr Lee would spend time gett ing to know students and was par t icularly interested in understanding their motivations and concerns, and would str ike up conversations with them on a wide range of topics.

In each student he saw the hope of the nation. Mr Lee’s parents named him “Kuan Yew”, which means “The l ight that shines far and wide”. His l ight wil l guide us as we nur ture the next generation who wil l strengthen and sustain Singapore’s success.

NTU Logo: Flat artwork (Black background)

Mr Lee took a personal interest in the development of NTU from its

early days. Then the Prime Minister of Singapore, he often visited the

campus unannounced, typically on Sundays, to observe how the

initial academic buildings were shaping up and even suggested

various improvements to benefit students.

For example, after one such visit, he suggested that a covered walkway be built as it could

get very hot walking from one building to another.

His personal touch on campus

This covered walkway was Mr Lee’s idea.

The same area which was originally exposed to the elements.

NTU Logo: Flat artwork (Black background)

Wise words and a warm touch

Compact… sufficient to meet the needs of students.3 February 1995, visit to NTU to learn more about its development

and efforts to support Singapore’s regionalisation drive 3 February 1995, visit to NTU

NTU Logo: Flat artwork (Black background)

There are no limits to human ingenuity and

the capabilities of technology. The ultimate

limit is the capacity of this earth to sustain

the increasing number of human beings who

will consume more and more of the earth’s

resources in order to have all the comforts

which modern technology in high-income

societies have given the people.

On sustaining Singapore’s economic growth

We can overcome our basic disadvantage

of lack of natural resources by having our

people well-educated and trained to use

top-class infrastructure and state-of-the-art

technology in industries and services.

14 March 1996, 2nd Ministerial Forum at NTU

NTU Logo: Flat artwork (Black background)

To succeed, Singapore must be a cosmopolitan centre, able to attract, retain and absorb talent from all over the world. We cannot keep the big companies out of the local league. Whether we like it or not, they are entering the region. The choice is simple. Either we have a first-class airline, a first-class shipping line, and a first-class bank or we will be declining.

One of the things we did in the early years was to buck the Third World trend by inviting the MNCs and we succeeded. Now we must buck the Third World trend to be nationalistic. We must be international in our outlook and practices.

When we started 30 years ago, we were competing in the small league and doing well. We have now moved upwards into the bigger league. And technology has enabled the big players to enter our market. Now in a globalised economy, we are in competition against other cities in the First World. Hence we have to become a cosmopolitan city that attracts and welcomes talent in business, academia, or in the performing arts. They will add to Singapore’s vibrancy and secure our place in a global network of cities of excellence.

15 February 2000, 6th Ministerial Forum at NTU.

On Competing In The Global EconomyOn competing in the global economy

NTU Logo: Flat artwork (Black background)

You live once, you die once. For my colleagues

and me, we went through a traumatic

experience, of seeing the world that we were

brought up in crash at a very impressionable

age. In 1942, I was just reaching 19 and the

world that I knew just blacked out. We were

under Japanese Occupation and I can tell you

it’s an unnerving experience…

You have been able to get into a university,

you’ve been able to live this kind of life because

this society gave it to you… At the end of the

day, the test is whether you feel, having been

educated, you should take your chances and

get the best job in the safest place in the world

On his conviction to lead Singapore

and opt out, or that this is your people, this

is your society, they sustain you and it is

your job to make sure that they have a future

Somewhere along the way, we decided that

we owe it to ourselves that we live up to this

obligation and my friends and I have never

regretted it.

18 February 2003, 9th Ministerial Forum at NTU

NTU Logo: Flat artwork (Black background)

When we became independent, it was not easy to inculcate

a sense of nationhood to bind together peoples of different

races, languages, religions and cultures, each with strong

emotional ties to their roots. Over the forty-five years since

self-government, Singapore has made much progress to

develop a strong sense of nationhood. And Singapore

continues to receive skilled and talented people.

On nationhood

23 June 2004, at the International Conference on National Boundaries & Cultural Configurations held to celebrate the 10th anniversary of NTU’s Centre for Chinese Language & Culture.

NTU Logo: Flat artwork (Black background)

A great university becomes great when the graduates of

that university establish their pre-eminence in the fields

that they work in.

8 January 2007, visit to NTU

On what makes a university great

NTU Logo: Flat artwork (Black background)

On the dangers of complacency

We risk being overtaken by surprise. Because the prospects for the next five, probably 10 years, are favourable to Singapore; we are confident of riding the high growth of East Asia and South Asia, China, Korea, Japan, India, the Gulf States, so we tend to be complacent, and ignore warning signs that things could go wrong. Setbacks could come suddenly…

When my colleagues and I started, I did not know what branding meant. All my colleagues and I knew was that we were and had to be very different from the way our neighbours were run. They have the natural resources – forests, rivers, coal and iron, tin mines, oil, gas, plantations, etc. We have only a location – a strategic position on the sea routes between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific…

Our future depends on Singaporeans realising that we always have to be different, cleaner, more transparent, more efficient, always better. Then we’ll survive the competition against those with bigger girth, oil, gas, forest, rivers... And the next 40 years, if we heed those principles, we should do as well as the last 40 years, provided we change each time the world changes.

4 October 2007, 12th Ministerial Forum at NTU

NTU Logo: Flat artwork (Black background)

It doesn’t matter what level [students] reach, they will

like the language [if the lessons are engaging], it’s fun

and later on in life they’ll use it.

17 November 2009, at the opening of the Singapore Centre for Chinese Language, NTU

On bilingualism

NTU Logo: Flat artwork (Black background)

So my worry about the future is whether we’ll have the same national solidarity, the same desire

to increase educational levels and increase performance, and having the best people in the

best jobs or holding the most important jobs. Once we veer away from that eritocratic system,

our performance will drop.

5 September 2011, 15th Ministerial Forum at NTU

On what singapore can do to stay ahead

NTU Logo: Flat artwork (Black background)

On his philantrophic works

The proceeds from the sale of special editions of Mr Lee’s memoirs, The Singapore Story:

Memoirs of Lee Kuan Yew, raised $110,500 for the NTU Endowment Fund for the award of Lee

Kuan Yew Gold Medals to NTU’s top graduating students. Here, Mr Lee presents the cheque to

the first President of NTU, Prof Cham Tao Soon.

A cheque-presentation ceremony to mark his donation to the NTU Endowment Fund on 21 November 1998

The Lee Kuan Yew Gold MedalLee Kuan Yew Gold Medals are awarded from the interest generated from net proceeds from the sale of a CD-ROM on the then-Senior Minister Mr Lee Kuan Yew. The prestigious gold medals are awarded to the most outstanding students who are first in general proficiency throughout their studies and who have obtained a First Class Honours in each Bachelor’s degree programme.

Thousands paying their respect to the late PM

Honors the great, former Prime Minister

Tailing the history of Prime Minsiter’s life events