Memoirs of Lee Kuan Yew Part 2

SOME SINGAPORE SOURCES SAY Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong asked his predecessor to delay publication due to the touchy times, but Lee calls this "completely untrue." In fact, the first volume had been scheduled for publication on Lee's 75th birthday for some time. A draft was completed more than a year ago. And Lee has been circulating it to Cabinet ministers, key diplomats, advisers and even some local journalists for comment. It was not sent to the Malaysian government. "That would have been highly inappropriate," he says.

Interestingly, among the endorsements printed on the book's first pages is one from Mahathir confidante Daim Zainuddin, former finance minister and now special functions minister. "Lee's vision, astute political judgment and strategy turned Singapore from a trading post into the successful thriving nation that it is today, respected by others," Daim writes. "For those interested in politics and economic development, his memoirs should be required reading." Contacted by Asiaweek to explain his remarks, Daim refused to comment.

Asiaweek provided other senior Malaysian figures with book extracts prior to publication. Some quibbled about what they deemed historical inaccuracies, but most were angry. "I feel a great sense of injustice and personal outrage," says Education Minister Najib Tun Razak, 45, the eldest son of the Tunku's deputy Tun Abdul Razak, who himself became prime minister.

"I cannot verify or refute whatever Lee Kuan Yew said because I was 11 at that time," Najib continues. "But I feel a sense of personal injustice because [my father] has passed away and [Lee is] digging up something when he can't defend himself. The allegation that he was responsible for riots in Singapore in 1964 is pretty serious, considering that he was responsible for quelling riots in Kuala Lumpur in 1969 and restoring democracy as soon as possible. That goes against the grain of what Lee Kuan Yew says."

As to Lee's allegation that Tun Razak tried to drive a wedge between Lee and his deputy Goh Keng Swee by bribing Goh with land, Najib says: "It runs against the character of the man I know, that he would consider buying off someone in Singapore with 5,000 acres of land when he has not done that here. He is known as a clean politician. His record speaks for itself."

In a staunch defense of his father (see page 48), whom Lee also accuses of provoking the 1964 race riots, Malaysian Defense Minister Syed Hamid Albar says that "to suggest the trouble in Singapore started just because of the speech [Syed Jaafar Albar made] is to ignore that things don't happen on the spur of the moment. There was very strong, valid discontent among the Malay population on the way Lee Kuan Yew had treated them. Rightly or wrongly, that's how they felt then."

Among Singaporeans, most seemed content to let the Senior Minister speak for himself. Lee contemporary S. R. Nathan, former ambassador to the U.S., stresses that the book is only "his version of what happened; each one has their own perspective. It is better that the author himself says it and defends it. No one else can."

Asked by Asiaweek to look at excerpts and comment, former ruling People's Action Party chairman and onetime Lee ally Toh Chin Chye refused. Among the most upsetting memories he has, Lee says, was Toh and S. Rajaratnam, another early key PAP figure, agonizing over whether to sign the Separation Agreement, which was sprung on them two days before Singapore went its own way. "They look wretched," Lee writes. "I felt bad putting the issue to them at the 11th hour."

Chan Heng Chee, one of Singapore's foremost political scientists and the republic's envoy to the U.S., argues that the timing of the book was as good as any, particularly with the expiration three years ago of the 30-year seal on confidential documents. "For some events, whenever they are spoken of, it is sensitive," says Chan, who read the manuscript months before publication. "You can't say that in the life of a nation, you can't talk about a particular episode. At some stage, you must talk about it. People want to recapture and understand their history. There is never a right time."

For Singaporeans, says the 56-year-old ambassador, the memoirs represent the "single most important piece of our history to be published. These memoirs are about the shaping of independent Singapore written by the man who created it. They give a better understanding of ourselves as a nation." Lee's work has global significance too, says Chan. "This is an account of one of the leading statesmen of his generation, a world leader with a great record as a nation-builder. It's a document of his struggles and the rationale of policy choices and offers lessons from over 30 years experience at building a nation and leading a nation. This represents a how-to-do-it blueprint."

While the memoirs will be read avidly by historians, they are also accessible to the general reader, though the excessive detail may make some eyes glaze over. The book's easy style is peppered with Lee's sharp, sometimes witty, commentary about people in his life, among them his strict father. His earliest memory, he writes, "is of being held by my ears over a well" for messing up a jar of Lee Senior's expensive scented brilliantine. Singaporeans have talked about Lee Kuan Yew's distant relationship with his father, but now gain insight into his thinking.

Approached by Lee as early as 1994 for advice on writing his book, Dennis Bloodworth, 79, a former correspondent for the London Observer newspaper who lives in Singapore, had urged him to make it a personal account.

"His idea at first was to have another biography written, but I said people don't want another one. What they want is your word on the subject. The personal details are of interest because you're a private person and there's a great deal that people don't know about you." For the most part, Lee delivered, providing previously unknown details about his life during the Japanese Occupation, during which he worked as a black-market trader, a glue-making entrepreneur and a transcriber of Allied wire reports for the Japanese.