Dr M: Kuan Yew a remarkable politician

Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said Lee Kuan Yew, his then Singapore counterpart, would go down in history as a very remarkable intellectual and politician at the same time.

His comments appeared in the latest book on Lee written by an internationally syndicated veteran American journalist and columnist Tom Plate. The book, titled Conversation with Lee Kuan Yew – Citizen Singapore: How to Build A Nation and the first of a series on Giants of Asia, was launched here today.

Lee (picture), who made a brief appearance at the launch, said Plate “has got my point of view across” in his book. The author had asked several world leaders and experts of what they thought of Lee and his legacy, and published their replies in the first page of the book, giving readers a teaser into their candid conversation.
Commenting further on Lee, Mahathir said: “He is a big frog in a small pond. He had ambitions to become Prime Minister of all Malaysia.” “He tries to lecture people but people dislike that. People do regard him as an intellectual, as something more than just an ordinary politician,” he added. Former British Prime Minister John Major said: “Lee Kuan Yew can justifiably be called the Father of Modern Singapore.”
“He has steered through policies that have been copied across Asia, and have greatly lifted the profile and representation of Singapore. It is a legacy that will endure,” he said.
Author of The Clash of Civilisations and the Remaking of World Order Samuel Huntington said: “Lee Kuan Yew has made Singapore absolutely unique in this part of the world, by making it as one of the least corrupt political systems in the world...” When asked, Plate said his next and second book in the series would feature Mahathir himself, describing the man, another giant, the “magician of Malaysia” who transformed the nation to as it is now under his 22-year administration. He said “attention must be paid” to leaders who had contributed greatly to the development of their countries, and his book would be the extension of their ideas, through an American perspective.

Source :  Bernama