Ten lessons from the leadership of Lee Kuan Yew
- By Eugene Clark
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E-mail China.org.cn, March 23, 2015
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Singapore declares a period of national mourning for former Prime Minister of Singapore [ Photo: screenshot from gov.sg] |
Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew was one of Asia’s longest-serving and most influential political leaders. Reflecting on his passing brings to mind a number of important leadership lessons that all countries should keep in mind.
1. Power of the people: Singapore is a city-state with virtually no natural resources other than its amazing people. Lee Kuan Yew showed how a dedicated, talented, unified and disciplined population could find and make its way in an increasingly globalized world. Although Lee was criticized by some for his strictness, visitors to Singapore and the majority of Singaporeans appreciated and benefitted from his orderly and efficiently run government. He was a formidable leader who saw that Singapore’s people had to take responsibility for their own future and success.
2. Meeting the needs of the people in terms of housing and employment: Under Lee Kuan Yew’s leadership, the focus of Singapore’s governance was on meeting the key needs of the people. For decades, Singapore suffered severe unemployment and a housing crisis. Under Lee’s tenure, Singapore achieved virtually full employment and more than 80 percent of Singapore’s population now lives in public housing.
3. Fighting corruption: We all know that corruption is one of the greatest threats today in almost every country. Lee Kuan Yew was effective in promoting the strong and effective rule of law in Singapore, and he successfully fought corruption by putting into place institutional structures that both rooted out and helped to prevent corruption.
4. Role of education: Since people are its only resource, Singapore recognized that it required an internationally competitive education system if it wanted to have the talent pool required to compete in a global economy. Lee Kuan Yew’s own life and outstanding achievements in education made him an example of the importance of education and its power to bring about change.
5. Expansion of globalization: Lee Kuan Yew was a leading voice promoting globalization, and he saw Singapore’s geography as an opportunity to make his country a gateway for international trade and finance between East and West. Lee was instrumental in the creation of ASEAN, and he was also a pragmatist who readily borrowed and adapted ideas from all over the world.
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