Lee Kuan Yew
A lot more active
As uncertainties rise, Lee moves out of shadow to his highest public profile since 1990. By Seah Chiang Nee.
Nov 12, 2006

WITH Singapore facing more uncertainties at home and abroad, Lee Kuan Yew, 83, seems to have switched to a more active leadership role during the past year or so.

His increased activities have surprised Singaporeans who had expected the minister mentor to be more relaxed now that his prime minister son, Hsien Loong, has won his election mandate.

Instead, the opposite has happened. Lee appears to be working harder – some would say more assertively – than ever before since stepping down as prime minister 16 years ago in 1990.

There could be several reasons why the founding figure is stepping out of the shadow.

Firstly, Singapore is undergoing a crucial political and economic transformation that could determine its future – at a time when the threat of terrorism is rising.

Secondly, while the prime minister has settled into his job, it has only been three years – probably insufficient time in his cautious view to be truly effective.

Last week, Lee offered a possible reason for this enhanced role. In a public talk, he said that it would take at least 10 to 20 years to mould a good leader.

“You need two to three terms to really master the art of government,” he added, without referring to his son or anyone else.

Observers also saw it as an appeal for Singaporeans to be patient and to give the prime minister more time to consolidate his experience.

Singaporeans who were used to good leadership during the first 25 years of independence are an over-expecting lot and have evidently been demanding faster results. “What has the PM achieved in the past three years?” some had asked.

The minister mentor had stepped in during the later part of Goh Chok Tong’s tenure as prime minister to defuse a threatened strike by Singapore Airlines pilots.

In 1990, when he handed the baton over to Goh, he assumed the title of senior minister and insisted it was a purely “advisory” or “goalkeeper” role.

For years, Lee had maintained a low public profile, but his influence has never waned.

He has always seen himself as guardian of the thriving society he had worked so hard to build, vowing to intervene if people were to sour things up, retired or not. “I would even rise up from the grave to do so,” he said.

That danger hasn’t materialised but less cohesive Singapore is confronted with new problems.

Domestically, public support for his People’s Action Party has recently eroded due to younger Singaporeans’ unhappiness with political and social controls.

At the same time, a widening income gap and years of job decline have raised public discontent and a general loss of confidence.

Insiders say his immediate priority is to help the prime minister, who once suffered from cancer, to consolidate power and manage various pressure points in society.

During the past year or so, Lee has gone about his work with renewed vigour, travelling, explaining – occasionally announcing – government policies and articulating complex issues in his inimitable way.

Last year he visited China, where he advised the government to teach its youngsters not to let their country’s might threaten its neighbours.

He spoke of emerging India and advised the Russians they could succeed faster only if they tapped the experiences of other countries.

In September this year, he spent three hectic weeks visiting France and the United States for talks with President George W. Bush (exhorting US to stay the course in Iraq) before stopping in Las Vegas.

He returned home to announce that the government might build more than two large scheduled casinos (now due for completion in 2009).

At home, he has commented on major issues ranging from preserving Singapore’s one-party dominance and media control to forging a national culture.

Lee also defended the secrecy of the government’s investment agencies and Temasek’s controversial purchase of Thailand’s Shin Corp, now under Thai investigation.

To attract tourists and create jobs, Lee called for the creation of a livelier city. “The Singapore that we had – very orderly, very wholesome, very clean – is not good enough,” he said.

While his presence is reassuring to older citizens who fondly recall Lee’s past magic, not everyone considers it a good thing.

A growing number feels he should retire for a well-earned rest to spend time with his family and allow his son a chance to flourish on his own.

That is unlikely to happen soon. Lee has pledged to stand, health permitting, in the 2011 general election. “I’ve too much to offer to retire just yet,” he said.

That could be overstaying his welcome, one critic said. “He is living in the past. He should go.”

In some foreign circles, he is held in higher esteem than by his Singaporean detractors. TIME has just named him one of 60 “Asian heroes” who have helped reshape the region.

(This was an expanded version of article published in The Sunday Star on Nov 12, 2006)