Aloha and welcome to today’s Summary of From Third World To First – The Singapore Story: 1965-2000 by Lee Kuan Yew.

I read this book during a time when I was speaking at public hearings and also to individual City Council members in Honolulu regarding new laws that would make my currently legal AirBnB business illegal. This book gave me a lot of perspective on how governments function, succeed and fail.

I highly recommend reading this book, as it is the viewpoint of a world leader and his experiences managing and creating a strong wealthy country in Singapore. It’s truly fascinating to read.

The book is basically broken down into 2 main sections. In the first he explains in chronological order, how Singapore went From Third World To First – The Singapore Story: 1965-2000.

The second section goes by regions and countries to show Lee Kuan Yew’s experiences visiting with other world leaders and the relations between their countries. He not only talks about what they discussed, but also what other world leaders looked like, their personalities, and descriptions of their meetings whether they were friends.

From Third World To First – The Singapore Story: 1965-2000

Lee Kuan Yew was leader of Singapore when it was forced out of Malaysia and made independent (yes, Singapore did not actually want independence). So the most pressing matter for Lee Kuan Yew was to create security for his family and the country.

Creating Security Forces For A Newly Independent Singapore

It’s actually really fascinating to hear him talk about getting guards for his family and ordering bullet proof glass for his house. They had to close off all the windows so he and his wife and kids lived in a dark house for months waiting the materials and construction.

He also talks about how he had to restructure the small military forces they had on the island, and to get less Malays in those forces in a way that didn’t provoke anyone. Very fascinating how he handles the diverse ethnic groups that live in Singapore – Chinese, Malays, Indonesians, Indians and the British former colonial power.

He works very hard to keep the British from pulling out of the country too soon, as it will expose Singapore to attack from other countries. Britain is a colonial power in decline, and can no longer spend money on all of it’s outside colonies, and is gradually giving them all independence.

Some interesting stories are of the Singapore government stopping American CIA agents from disrupting the government, and how they worked on curbing the Chinese Communist Influence during the 1960s.

Getting Singapore Recognized as an Independent Country

After making sure the country was protected, Lee Kuan Yew’s next priority is to go out to all of the world organizations and get recognized as an independent country.

He also had to visit other countries, to introduce the country of Singapore to them and what it could offer in terms of port access, trade agreements and the opening of Foreign Embassies in Singapore and other countries.

Some countries, such as Isreal, provided military trainers for their military, in return that in the future, Singapore would open official diplomatic ties with Isreal. There was also negotiation with Taiwan, whereby the Singapore army could train in their facilities.

Transitioning Singaporeans Out of Slums and Into Condos and Housing Projects – Creating the Singapore People

One of the most fascinating aspects of the book is reading about the state of Singapore back in 1965. There were people living in slums with no running water or electricity. He had to find ways to relocate these people to modern housing and also change habits such as spitting.

He also did not want to have a welfare system like the United States, so he researched other countries to design a system to take care of workers and incentivize them to perform great work.

His government created a system of employment that had an allotment of all salaries taken out for healthcare, retirement, and also HOUSING! His goal was that all Singaporeans would own their own home.

He felt this was the best way to unify the people and have them more invested in the future of Singapore, rather than their original country of origin.

Now Singapore has a very high percentage of citizens living and owning their own homes.

Eliminating Government Corruption and Crime

It seems that the more undeveloped a country is, the more corrupt it is. In order to have a state where business can thrive, corruption has to be weeded out.

So how did Singapore do it?

By giving government workers high salaries, so they won’t be tempted by bribes.

And by having all members held accountable for their actions.

Lee Kuan Yew mentions that at one point even he was investigated for buying a house in a housing project. It was alleged that he bought it through illegal means, and he went on trial and defended his case, and was found not guilty.

In terms of crime, he made sure that the police that handled a region with many Chinese had Chinese officers on staff, and the same with all Ethnic groups.

He also put caning as a punishment in addition to money. He found the public humiliation of being caned stopped crime more than having to pay money.

This was illustrated when President Bill Clinton asked him not to cane an American boy that broke the law in Singapore. To appease the President but still follow the law, he reduced the number of times the boy was caned.

Making Singapore Green and Clean

Lee Kuan Yew wanted Singapore to be a Developed Nation, and he studied and noted that there was always a lot of trees, gardens and green spaces in highly developed and prosperous nations.

So the country created a gardening staff that studied what plants would be suited to the climate, and created these green spaces.

He also educated the people to stop spitting, made littering illegal and has a very strict policy on cleanliness.

Getting Singapore to Attract Foreign Industry

Lee Kuan Yew knew that the only way to attract foreign investment was to make it easy for foreign companies to invest.

He had to provide quality and educated workers, as well as a safe environment to work with an honest and fair government. He also made sure students were educated in English, though some did go the Chinese schools. His own children were sent to Chinese schools to understand the Chinese majority, and he also admired their traditions and culture.

He also made Singapore a center of currency exchange for South East Asia, which at the time was lacking. This attracted a lot of Banks and Exchanges.

Read the book for a deep dive in how they avoided and handled different currency crises, and examples of less stable banks that tried to do business in Singapore and were denied.

Singapore’s Relationships with Other Countries

Lee Kuan Yew details his relations with other countries, and in different international government bodies. It’s interesting to read his insights on the appearance, character and encounters with foreign leaders from all around the world.

Great Britain

Lee Kuan Yew speaks a lot about Great Britain, as they were the colonizing power of his time, and they were in the process of leaving Singapore when Singapore became independent from Malaysia.

He wanted Great Britain to keep their naval forces in Singapore as long as possible to eliminate foreign invasion while Singapore created it’s military forces.

Lee Kuan Yew also admires the British, for their high standards in uniform, procedures, keeping things in order.

African Countries and Colonialism

Lee Kuan Yew met a lot of African Leaders through the Commonwealth, when Singapore was admitted in October of 1965.

One of the main insights from the rise and fall of colonized countries was that they were built up with government structures imported from Great Britain. Then they were abandoned and basically told to run it on their own. So there was a deterioration once there was a coup by a military leader, who then did not follow the government and basically took over like a dictator.

After a dictator becomes violent, the people flee, the economy is ruined and it takes many many years for a country to recover.

Southeast Asia

Lee Kuan Yew speaks a lot about the importance of Singapore as a financial and maritime center in Southeast Asia. The waterways around Singapore a strategic and important to many countries around the world. They try to make themselves as neutral as possible, allowing all nations to use their ports for refueling and repair as long as they pay for the services.

He also discusses how fragile relations are with Indonesia and Malaysia, as well as dangers from the Russian influence on the Communists in Vietnam, and the vulnerability of Cambodia and Thailand.

Read the book for details, but here are some of the interesting points that I came away with.

The Currency Crisis in Indonesia
The currency crisis in Indonesia created a lot of immigrants to flee the country. At the time I lived in Taiwan and I met a lot of Indonesians. I remember how one girl told me the Bank that she worked in failed, and they were all shut down. At the time, I did not understand why Indonesia’s economy and government were collapsing.

Then after reading this book, Lee Kuan Yew’s take on it was that the Leader of Indonesia at the time spoiled his children, and they ruined the country by abusing it’s financial assets. Read the book for all of the fascinating details.

The Russian-Vietnam Threat of Communism
I heard about the Vietnam war in history class growing up. I heard about how unpopular it was with hippies and how we eventually pulled out. However, Lee Kuan Yew talks about just how crucial the Americans and later the Chinese were for the stability of Southeast Asia, by fighting the communists in Vietnam.

Lee Kuan Yew talked about how the Russians were funding the Vietnamese, and encouraging Vietnam to take over all of Southeast Asia, to form a large communist empire. The American forces helped stop this, and when the Americans pulled out, and Vietnam took over Cambodia. The Chinese sent in forces on the North Vietnam border to stop Vietnam from taking over Thailand.

I had no idea of any of these events, or the interconnected nature of the communist movement in Russia and it’s influence on World events. Also, the negative impacts on the Vietnamese people and leadership, as well as Cambodia, is detailed with descriptions of visits to and from each country.

India
India is to me this giant country which seems to always be Third World, and the first inkling of understanding why for me can from reading Lee Kuan Yew’s insights on his visits to India.

Leaders in India have to deal with many ethnic groups and with such a large population, must find ways to handle issues equitably between groups. Unfortunately when religious customs and traditions are not respected, leaders are assasinated.

China, Taiwan and Hong Kong

It was interesting reading Lee Kuan Yew’s views on China and also on Taiwan. My father is Taiwanese so I grew up learning about 2-28, when the Chinese Government under Chiang Kai Shek systematically killed senior students in high schools (lined them up in my Dad’s high school and shot them), lawyers, politicians and professionals. It was a bloodbath and the reason my dad left Taiwan until the KMT regime was finally ousted through elections.

I heard a different view from Lee Kuan Yew. He recognized that some Taiwanese are so anti-China because of the 2-28 incident, but he believes that Taiwan should not be independent from China in the long run (my Dad might hate him for that, and the fact that he was friends with Chiang Kai Shek).

Lee Kuan Yew talks about the development of China vs. Taiwan, as an example of what China could be if it hadn’t adopted Communism. He talked extensively of his visits to China, when they were still under Communist rule – and on meeting Mao Tse Tung.

Communist China was poor and not centralized. The country was so big that there were factions running each of the major regions, that did not follow the central government that closely.

Leaders in China realized this as they decided to find ways to make their country prosper. He talks about how China changed, and the people became less like puppets and more like the normal people you and I would meet.

Lee Kuan Yew talks about the Tian An Men square incident as well and how he felt China did not do a good job of handling protestors by sending out tanks.

In Hong Kong, Lee Kuan Yew talks about how the British ended up withdrawing from Hong Kong, and the transition of power over to China. He discusses the enterprising nature of the the Hong Kong people, and how China has done it’s best to let Hong Kong continue to function as Hong Kong. They recognize that ruining Hong Kong will only hurt China.

He also discussed the panic that people felt in Hong Kong after Tian An Men.

Japan

I am ending on Japan though he talks about many countries in his book. He shares his sentiments on Japan, and the brutality of the Japanese soldiers that occupied Singapore during World War 2. My father also told us stories of the Japanese occupation of Taiwan, though he is more familiar with the brutality of Chiang Kai Shek.

Then he discusses the transformation of Japan, the personality of the Japanese people and the culture. He believes that the Japanese are always going to be very nationalistic, and should never be underestimated.

It’s interesting to hear of all of the encounters he has with Japanese Presidents and diplomats, and his first visit to Japan where he asks them to apologize for mass murders and mass graves found in Singapore from World War 2. He makes a note on how the Japanese never apologized for what they did, unlike the German people who did. He feels that they need to amend for the murders and violence of World War 2 to heal as a country.

Conclusion

Whatever your views are of world politics, you will find this book fascinating if you are interested in a detailed account of creating a wealthy and prosperous country – from a once colonized third world country.

It’s the point of view of a leader of a small country and how to make it successful and prosperous.

I enjoyed reading it, and I encourage you to not get discouraged by the size of the book. Pick it up and read it to enjoy it.

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