Lee succession a problem deferred, not solved, for Singapore
ALL political leaders worry about their legacies. Lee Kuan Yew, who presided over Singapore either directly or indirectly for more than half a century — remaining influential right up to his death at 91 — had more time in power than most to do so. Several volumes of memoirs attest to Lee’s concern about his legacy, although Singapore’s extraordinary success under his leadership speaks for itself. Like him or not — and many did not — there is no denying the city-state’s remarkable and enduring prosperity and stability.
Yet the effort put into those memoirs by the man who called himself “Minister Mentor” during his later years offers a clue about Lee’s ultimate concern. His legacy in terms of Singapore’s past success may be clear, but what about the future?
