Lee Kuan Yew: Blazing the Freedom Trail, June/2015

It was the 1950s, a tumultuous time for post-war Singapore. Disgruntled with the British ruling power, anti-colonial forces were calling for independence. The main contenders were the People’s Action Party (PAP) led by nationalist Lee Kuan Yew and the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) headed by Chin Peng.   

Displaying their political acumen, Lee and his team overcame all adversities to win the people’s mandate. Lee, who became Singapore’s first Prime Minister, orchestrated the movement to build a prosperous and peaceful Singapore. When he stepped down in 1990, he left behind an efficient government, world-class infrastructure, and a thriving economy. When he died in 2015, he left behind a shining Singapore as his legacy. 

The success story of Singapore as an independent nation is a saga worth telling and preserving for posterity. This book is an updated and revised edition of Days of Thunder: How Lee Kuan Yew Blazed the Freedom Trail (2005). It explores Lee’s leadership during Singapore’s early years and the question: Could Singapore have achieved as much without Lee Kuan Yew, the founding father of modern Singapore? 

“Lee made it known to everybody that he was a non-communist and was fighting the communists to prevent them from taking over the country. He described them as Singapore’s most dangerous enemy… Radical statements like this made headlines in the media, and brought disquiet among the British rulers and the Special Branch, which took charge of national security… 

Such were the fears and suspicions generated that Lee Kuan Yew was to admit years later that he had friends in the early days of the social revolution ‘whose wives literally chased me away and made it known that I was unwelcome’.”  
—Excerpt from Chapter 2, “Fire in his Belly”  

About the Author:
Anthony Oei was a journalist with The Straits Times and Radio & Television Singapura, public relations manager of the Economic Development Board and a writer with several advertising agencies.