Speaking of Li Qing Yuan, many people know that he was Singapore’s first prime minister, who served 31 years from 1959 until 1990 until he gave up his seat to others as prime minister, he went to finance and continued to give orders behind the scenes. When he died in 2015, Singapore was already one of the biggest economies in Asia, per capita income dropped away from several streets in the surrounding country. He himself was a Chinese descendant, the Chinese population in Singapore accounted for more than seven per cent, but in his late years in interviews and books he said that Singapore will never return to China, this sounded pretty hard, but think carefully, it hides the real logic of Singapore’s survival.
Lee Kuan Yew was born in Singapore in 1923, when it was still a British colony. His ancestors are from Cantonese, and his grandfather's generation went south from China to make a living. My family first started the rubber business, which was decent, but when the Great Depression came in 1929, the business collapsed, and life was tight. When he was a child, he went to a school run by the British, such as Raffles College, and learned fluent English. In 1942, when Japan occupied Singapore, he interrupted his studies and worked as a handyman in the Japanese Propaganda Department to make a living. After the war, he went to study in England, studied law at Cambridge University, graduated and returned to China in 1950, opened a law firm, specializing in helping workers fight lawsuits, and soon became famous. In 1954, he formed a clique and started the People's Action Party. In 1959, when Singapore became autonomous, he became Prime Minister.
In the early 19th century, the British looked at the port of the country, bought it from the Malay Sudan, as a trade transit station. The Chinese worked from southern China and gradually became the main population. During the resistance, the South China also donated money to support the mainland of China. But after the Second World War, the British wanted to withdraw, Singapore first wanted to unite with Malaysia, and as a result was rejected because of racial problems. In 1963, they were forced into the Malaysian Federation, but not for two years, and in 1965 they were kicked out. The Malaysians dominated the side of Malaysia, fearing that the Chinese took too much power, plus communism in Southeast Asia, Singapore Chinese were suspected of a subversive intention.
After independence, Li Xiaoyu bite his teeth into reform. First built the army, in 1967 promoted national service, all the men had to become soldiers, and the defense of Singapore is now very hard. Economically, he did not close the set, open the door directly to foreign investment, preferential tax rates, low tariffs, attract European and American companies to build factories. The geographical location is good, the port developed, and soon became a trade center. In the 1970s, multinational enterprises like HP came crowded, Singapore from the slums into garden cities. In education, he pushed English as the main language, although the Chinese are many, but Chinese is only an auxiliary, the aim is to make it easier for everyone to follow the international track.
Lee Kuan Yew is pragmatic to his bones. He knows that Singapore is sandwiched between Malaysia and Indonesia, and these two neighbors have always been wary of Chinese. In the 1960s, the anti-Chinese incident in Indonesia was fierce. If Singapore was too pro-China, it would be easily targeted. He plays balancing diplomatically, approaches the United States and builds military cooperation, but he is not anti-China. When Deng Xiaoping visited Singapore in 1978, Lee Kuan Yew showed him the industrial zone and showed the Singapore model, but he didn't learn from China in an all-round way. In 1990, Singapore established diplomatic relations with China, and trade was in full swing, but Lee Kuan Yew never let go of Singapore's integration into China. In his later years, he wrote that Singapore should remain neutral, be a smart person in a small country, and not participate in the game of big countries.
This statement of "not returning" was first seen in interviews in his later years, around 2010. When asked by reporters, he said that although there are many Chinese in Singapore, their national identity is Singapore, not China. Why? Because the historical path is different. Most of the Chinese ancestors in Singapore came from poor people who went south, and most of those who stayed in China were elites. However, Singapore relied on the rule of law and market economy left by Britain, not on traditional culture. He feels that the secret to Singapore's success is efficient government, clean administration, high-paying officials, and strict rule of law. These things have nothing to do with China's background, but are made by learning from the West and combining local realities.
When he founded the party in the 1950s, he grabbed the left forces, but after taking office he cleansed the Communists, shut down thousands, and avoided Singapore from becoming a revolutionary base in Southeast Asia. This made him criticized by the West for dictatorship, but he felt necessary, because the surrounding environment was too dangerous. After Singapore's independence, he pushed the concept of "Singapore First", the educational system taught the history of the country, not the history of China. Chinese children learned Chinese, but their mother tongue was English, and the culture mixed with jungles and Western values. As a result, Singapore Chinese now see themselves as Singapore citizens, have a good sense of China, but have no sense of belonging.
Economically, this position is also practical. Singapore rely on foreign capital, seven per cent of investment comes from Europe and the United States. If it is too close to China, Western enterprises may withdraw. Li Shenyang predicted late in the year that China will rise, but Singapore can not tie a boat and get both sides plunged. The fact turns out, now Singapore is China's largest investment place in Southeast Asia, Chinese enterprises go to the shelter, but Singapore also signed a free trade agreement with the United States, when the Asia-Pacific financial hub. In 2023, data, Singapore's GDP per capita exceeds $ 80,000, far more than Malaysia. This is not luck, it is Li Shenyang's vision: small countries should be flexible, not stand.
Of course, this is also controversial. Some Chinese think Singapore forgot the original, the Chinese state does not love China, what is it? but Li Shenyang rejected that the Chinese ancestors of Singapore are for survival in the South, not for politics. Singapore was founded in the 60s, identity identity is the product of localization. In his late book, Li Shenyang watch the sky, he repeatedly mentioned that Singapore to survive, there is a reality point. There are many Muslim countries around, Chinese labels are too easy to do. How many Chinese people were killed in Indonesia in 1965, and the racial riots in Malaysia in 1969 were also bloody.
Lee Kuan Yew's ruling style is iron-fisted and the media is strictly controlled, making it difficult for the opposition party to stand out. The People's Action Party has been in power since 1959. Although there are elections, the competition is not fierce. He promotes high salaries to maintain integrity, with ministers paying the highest salaries in the world to avoid corruption. But this has also made Singapore criticized for authoritarianism and limited freedom of speech. In 2011, he completely retired to the second line, with his son Lee Hsien Loong taking over, and when he became prime minister, he would give way to Huang Xuncai in 2024. Now Singapore is facing new challenges, such as an aging population, low fertility rate and increasing immigration. In his later years, Lee Kuan Yew was worried about this and promoted welfare awards to students, but the effect was mediocre. Singapore's fertility rate is around 1.0, which is supplemented by immigrants. The proportion of Indians and Malays has increased, and the Chinese advantage is weakening.
Diplomatically, Singapore continues Lee Kuan Yew's line. In the game between China and the United States, it does not choose sides, but acts as a bridge. In the conflict between Russia and Ukraine in 2022, Singapore rarely imposed sanctions on Russia, showing a pro-Western tendency, but the door to Chinese investment is open. Chinese companies go public and avoid taxes in Singapore, and benefit a lot. But Singapore is also wary of China's influence and restricts investment in sensitive areas. Lee Kuan Yew predicted that China's economy would be super-beautiful, but its military strength could not keep up. He felt that if China wanted to rise peacefully, it had to learn from Singapore's pragmatism and not engage in expansion.
Lee Kuan Yew is controversial. Some people say he is dictatorial, while others say he is a genius. But Singapore has changed from a poor island to a rich country. The fact is that. What he said in his later years was not anti-China, but a realistic consideration. Singapore's Chinese identity is a legacy of history, but the country's survival depends on geographical balance, economic openness and the rule of law. In recent years, Chinese people have traveled and worked in Singapore, and they feel cordial, but Singaporeans emphasize independence. This is Lee Kuan Yew's legacy: a small country, living moist in the cracks of big countries.
Think of the Singapore model as an inspiration for other small nations. Vietnam, Thailand learn it to attract foreign investment and build an industrial park. But Singapore is unique in the Chinese hardworking and western system. Li said that Singaporeans have no resources, it depends on the brain and discipline. In the late years he was not healthy, in 2015 he died of pneumonia, at the age of 91. At the funeral, global leaders came hanging up and proving his influence. Now Singapore is a regular visitor to the United Nations, the core of ASEAN, and financial technology developed. In the future, it will also take a neutral path, not return to any side, because it does not conform to the logic of survival.
In general, Li Chung Yuan's statement reflects Singapore's way of establishment: Chinese blood is the basis, but the national identity is Singapore. The surrounding environment forces it to be pragmatic, economic priority, and diplomatic flexibility.