29/3/07 influential person Lee Kuan Yew

Mr Lee Kuan Yew, as we all know, was Prime Minister of Singapore from the time she separated from Malaysia in 1959 to 1990. His achievements in the field of economics are immense as he has managed to raise Singapore to be one of the economic powers in Asia when Singapore has no natural resources and scarce land. Considering that Singapore was only a fishing village previously and that many people doubted she could survive, it is no wonder many people hail Mr Lee as a legend in the field of economics. He is greatly revered by the older generation in Singapore who have been under his reign. Their lives had been tremendously improved as Mr Lee had provided them decent housing instead of the slums they used to reside in and increased their wealth. Mr Lee has received a number of state decorations, including the Freedom of the city of London (1982), the Order of the Crown of Johore First Class (1984), the Order of Great Leader (1988). He also received other awards like the highest honour of Honorary Fellowship of the Edinburgh Royal College of Medicine (1988). In 2002, Lee Kuan Yew was formally admitted to the Fellowship of Imperial College London in recognition of his promotion of international trade and industry, and development of science and engineering study initiatives with the UK. in the time Mr Lee governed Singapore, he managed to reduce the unemployment rate from 14% in 1965 to 4.5% in 1973. Today, when Singapore offers to guide developing countries like Indonesia and Vietnam to become developed countries, they readily accept this offer as they want to draw from Singapore's experience and Mr Lee's aptitude. As such, special economic zones have already been set up in Indonesia to enable it to further prosper. Today, the Singapore government has opened up a new post of Minister Mentor for Mr Lee as they feel they still have much to draw from his experience, knowledge and aptitude in economics.