Lee Kuan Yew

Lee Kuan Yew (also spelt Lee Kwan-Yew) (born September 16, 1923) ({{zh-cp|c=李光耀|p=L? Gu?ngyào}}) was the first Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore from 1959 to 1990. He has remained the second most influential politician in Singapore (after the Prime Minister) since stepping down from office. Under the administration of Singapore's second prime minister, Goh Chok Tong, he served as Senior Minister. He currently holds the newly-created post of Minister Mentor under his son Lee Hsien Loong, who became the nation's third prime minister on August 12, 2004. He is also known informally as Harry to his close friends and family, although this first name is never used in official settings.

Minister Mentor

On 12 August 2004 Goh Chok Tong stepped down in favour of Lee's eldest son, Lee Hsien Loong. Goh became the Senior Minister and Lee Kuan Yew assumed a new cabinet position of Minister Mentor.

Related Topics:
12 August - 2004 - Lee Hsien Loong - Minister Mentor

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Regarding gambling laws, Lee stated that he was "emotionally and intellectually" against gambling. However, he made no opposition to his son's proposal to allow casinos in the country, stating: "Having a casino is something the new leaders will have to decide".

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Recently, Lee has expressed his concern about the declining proficiency of Mandarin among younger Singaporeans. In one of his parliamentary speeches, he said: "Singaporeans must learn to juggle English and Mandarin". Subsequently, he launched a television program, 华语!, in January 2005, in an attempt to attract young viewers to learn Mandarin.

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In June 2005, Lee published a book, Keeping My Mandarin Alive, documenting his decades of effort to master Mandarin — a language which he said he had to re-learn due to disuse:

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"...because I don't use it so much, therefore it gets disused and there's language loss. Then I have to revive it. It's a terrible problem because learning it in adult life, it hasn't got the same roots in your memory."

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In an interview with CCTV on June 12 2005, Lee stressed the need to have a continuous renewal of talent in the country's leadership, saying:

Related Topics:
CCTV - June 12 - 2005

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"In a different world we need to find a niche for ourselves, little corners where in spite of our small size we can perform a role which will be useful to the world. To do that, you will need people at the top, decision-makers who have got foresight, good minds, who are open to ideas, who can seize opportunities like we did. ... My job really was to find my successors. I found them, they are there; their job is to find their successors. So there must be this continuous renewal of talented, dedicated, honest, able people who will do things not for themselves but for their people and for their country. If they can do that, they will carry on for another one generation and so it goes on. The moment that breaks, it's gone."

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