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Lee Kuan Yew, GCMG, CH, SPMJ (born Harry Lee Kuan Yew, 16 September 1923 – 23 March 2015), informally known by his initials LKY, was the first Prime Minister of Singapore, governing for more than three decades from 1959 to 1990, including through Singapore's independence from Malaysia in 1965. After Lee chose to step down as Prime Minister in 1990, Lee's successor, Goh Chok Tong, appointed him as Senior Minister, a post he held until 2004, when his elder son, Lee Hsien Loong, became the nation's third prime minister. The elder Lee then assumed the advisory post of Minister Mentor until he left the Cabinet in 2011. In total, Lee held successive ministerial positions for 56 years. He continued to serve his Tanjong Pagar constituency of nearly 60 years as an elected Member of Parliament until his death in 2015.〔Buckley, Chris (23 March 2015). ("In Lee Kuan Yew, China Saw a Leader to Emulate" ). ''The New York Times'' (blog).〕〔 Lee is recognised as the founding father of independent Singapore, with the country being described as transitioning from the "third world to the first world in a single generation" under his leadership.〔 Lee graduated from Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge University, with a double starred-first-class honours in law. In 1950, he became a barrister of the Middle Temple and practised law until 1959. Lee co-founded the People's Action Party (PAP) in 1954 and was its first secretary-general, a position he held until 1992, leading the party to eight consecutive victories. He campaigned for Britain to relinquish its colonial rule, which Britain did in 1963, when Singapore merged with Malaya, Sabah and Sarawak to form the new federation of Malaysia. Racial strife and political tensions led to Singapore's separation from the Malaysian Federation two years later. With overwhelming parliamentary control, Lee and his cabinet oversaw Singapore's transformation from a relatively underdeveloped colonial outpost with no natural resources to an Asian Tiger economy. In the process, he forged an effective system of meritocratic and highly efficient government and civil service. Many of his policies are now taught at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. Lee eschewed populist policies in favor of pragmatic long-term social and economic measures. With meritocracy and multiracialism as the governing principles, Lee made English the common language to integrate its immigrant society and to facilitate trade with the West. However, Lee also mandated bilingualism in schools for students to preserve their mother-tongue cultural identity. Lee's rule was criticised, particularly in the West, for curtailing civil liberties (public protests, media control) and bringing libel suits against political opponents. He argued that such disciplinary measures were necessary for political stability, which together with rule of law, were essential for economic progress. ==Family background== Lee's English-educated parents named him “Kuan Yew”, which stands for “light and brightness”, with an alternate meaning “bringing great glory to one’s ancestors”. His paternal grandfather gave him the English name "Harry". Lee was a fourth-generation Singaporean of Hakka and Chinese Peranakan descent. His Hakka great-grandfather, Lee Bok Boon, born in 1846, emigrated from Dabu County, Guangdong province, China, to Singapore in 1863. He married a shopkeeper's daughter, Seow Huan Nio, but returned to China in 1882, leaving behind his wife and three children. He died just two years after his return. Lee Kuan Yew's grandfather Lee Hoon Leong, was born in Singapore in 1871. He was educated in English at Raffles Institution to standard V, which is equivalent to lower secondary school in Singapore today. Lee Hoon Leong then worked as a dispenser, an unqualified pharmacist, and later as a purser on a steamship of the Heap Eng Moh Shipping Line, then owned by an ethnic Chinese businessman, Oei Tiong Ham.〔 While working as a purser, Lee Hoon Leong, age 26, married Ko Liem Nio, age 16, in Semarang, Java, Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia).〔 It was an arranged marriage, as was then the custom. Both families were middle-class, and the bride and groom were both English-educated. Lee Hoon Leong's maternal grandfather owned the Katong market, a few rubber estates and houses at Orchard Road.〔 Lee Hoon Leong eventually became managing director of the Heap Eng Moh Steamship Company Ltd.〔 Lee Hoon Leong had two wives, which was common at that time, and fathered five daughters and three sons. His son Lee Chin Koon, also English educated, would marry Chua Jim Neo, a Peranakan, who gave birth to Lee Kuan Yew, their first child, in 1923, at 92 Kampong Java Road in Singapore. Lee Kuan Yew had three younger brothers: Dennis Lee Kim Yew (1926 - 2003; lawyer and member of Lee & Lee), Freddy Lee Thiam Yew (1927 - 2012; former Chairman of stockbroker J Ballas and Company) and Dr Lee Suan Yew (born 1933; President of Singapore Medical Council); and one younger sister, Monica Lee Kim Mon (born 1929).〔 Like Lee Kuan Yew, his brother Dennis read law at the University of Cambridge, and they set up a law firm, Lee & Lee. Edmund W. Barker, Lee's close friend, also joined the law firm. Lee and Barker later left the law firm to enter politics. Lee's brother Freddy became a stockbroker; another brother, Suan Yew, read medicine at the University of Cambridge and opened a successful practice.〔 Lee Kuan Yew's grandfathers' wealth declined considerably during the Great Depression, and his father, Lee Chin Koon, became a shopkeeper.〔 His aunt, Lee Choo Neo, was the first female doctor to practice in Singapore.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Lee Choo Neo )〕 Lee Kuan Yew once described his father as a man who affected his family negatively due to his nasty temper, and Lee Kuan Yew learned from young to keep his temper under check. Lee and his wife, Kwa Geok Choo, were married on 30 September 1950. Both Lee and Choo spoke English as their first language. Lee started learning Chinese in 1955 at age 32, before which he was illiterate in Chinese. Lee learned Japanese as an adult and he worked as a Japanese translator during the Japanese occupation of Singapore.〔 Lee and Kwa had two sons and one daughter. Lee's elder son, Lee Hsien Loong, a former Brigadier-General, became Prime Minister of Singapore in 2004. Several members of Lee's family hold prominent positions in Singaporean society. His younger son, Lee Hsien Yang, was also a former Brigadier-General and former President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of SingTel. He is currently the Chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS).〔 Lee's daughter, Lee Wei Ling, is the head of the National Neuroscience Institute. Lee Hsien Loong's wife, Ho Ching, is the Executive Director and CEO of Temasek Holdings. Kwa Geok Choo died on 2 October 2010 in her sleep. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Lee Kuan Yew」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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