Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore's first prime minister (from 1959 to1990), has been an international figure not only for establishing Singapore's political and economic stability but also for fostering economic development throughout Asia. He is particularly renowned as a principle architect of the 'Asian values' campaign of the 1990s, which sought to preserve the undemocratic traits of Asian culture while attending to the demands of a capitalist economy operating globally.
A critical examination of Lee's life, career, and ideas, this is the first book to analyze the origins and substance of Lee's political thought. Augmenting established primary sources with his own interviews and correspondence with Lee's old associates, Barr shows how Lee has been influenced by British and Chinese racism and elitism, western progressivism, and even the cultural evolutionism of Arnold Toynbee. This reassessment of Lee's achievements and worldview sheds new light on a key figure on the world stage.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Abbreviations
Note on the Transliteration of Chinese
1. Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew
2. Father of the Nation
3. The Challenge of Progress: Hope, Fear and Praxis
4. Elitism and the Search for Talent
5. Cutlural Revolutions: From Malayanisation to 'Sinicisation'
6. Culture, Race and Genes
7. Beneath Ideology: The 'Essential' Lee Kuan Yew
8. Fear and Fortune: Singapore under te Later Lee
9. Faith, Conceit and Achievement: An Undestanding of Lee Kuan Yew
Selected Bibliography and Other Sources
Index
About the Author
Michael D. Barr teaches at Queensland University of Technology.
