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Sunday, March 29, 2015

Lee Kuan Yew, Founding Father of Singapore


16 Sep 1923 - Born as Harry Lee Kuan Yew at 92, Kampong Java Road, Singapore to Lee Chin Koon (Hakka) and Chua Jim Neo (Peranakan).

January 1930 - 1935 - Primary school education at Telok Kurau English School

1936 - 1940 - Attended Raffles Institution

1940 - Top in Senior Cambridge Examination for whole Malaya. Awarded John Anderson scholarship to attend Raffles College (now National University of Singapore)

1946 - Briefly attended London School of Economics

January 1947 - Enroll at Fitzwilliam College after introduced to Censor of Fitzwilliam House, W. S. Thatcher.

1947 - Secretly marries Kwa Geok Choo in England, Queen’s scholarship winner, also studying law at Cambridge.

1949 - Graduated 1st Class in both parts of Tripos with exceptional Starred-First (perfect score) for Part II Law.
         - Awarded Fitzwilliam's Whitlock Prize

1949 - Return to Singapore. Worked in John Laycock's law firm for $500 per month

1950 - called to the Bar at the Middle Temple

30 Sep 1950 - Married Kwa Geok Choo

10 Feb 1952 - Lee Hsien Loong born

12 Nov 1954 - Formed People's Action Party (PAP)
            - Appointed as  secretary-general at inaugural conference held at Victoria Memorial Hall, attended by over 1,500 supporters and trade unionists.

1955 - Lee Wei Ling born

1955 - Start learning Chinese

1955 - Won Tanjong Pagar seat. Become opposition leader against David Saul Marshall's Labour Front-led coalition government

1957 - Lee Hsien Yang born

1957 - Pro-communists took over the leadership posts.
         - Lim Yew Hock ordered a mass arrest of the pro-communists and Lee was reinstated as secretary-general
         - received stronger mandate from Tanjong Pagar constituents in a by-election

30 May 1959 - PAP won 43 of the 51 seats in the legislative assembly

3 Jun 1959 - Became the first Prime Minister of Singapore, taking over from Chief Minister Lim Yew Hock
                  - Moved Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) to Prime Minister Office (PMO) and its Director report directly to Prime Minister

21 Jul 1961 - 13 PAP assemblymen crossed party lines and abstained from voting in the motion of confidence and formed Barisan Sosialis with 6 prominent left-leaning leaders from trade unions

1961 - Campaign for a merger with Malaya to end British colonial rule.

1 Sep 1962 - 70% support his proposal in a referendum

16 Sep 1963 - Singapore became part of the new Federation of Malaysia

21 Jul 1964 - Race riots near Kallang Gasworks, 23 killed and hundreds injured.

Sep 1964 - More riots broke out

7 August 1965 - Signed separation agreement

9 Aug 1965 - Singapore separates from Malaysia. Lee tears up after announcing the split.

21 Sep 1965 - Joined United Nations
                     - Appointed Goh Keng Swee as Minister for the Interior and Defence to build up the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF)

1966 - Established Family Planning and Population Board (FPPB)

1967 - Introduce National Service (NS) programme, where all able-bodied male Singaporean citizens age 18 and above are required to serve either in the Singapore Armed Forces, Singapore Police Force or the Singapore Civil Defence Force

8 Aug 1967 - Founded the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)

1968 - The Development Bank of Singapore (DBS) is incorporated.

1969 - Elected an honorary fellow of Fitzwilliam College

1970 - Start "Stop at Two" family planning campaign.

1971 - Gave the Foundation Lecture - "East and West: the twain have met"

1972 - Singapore Airlines is established, the result of a split of Malaysia-Singapore Airlines into two entities.

25 May 1973 - First official visit to Indonesia, few years after the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation under Sukarno's regime.

1974 - Incorporated Temasek Holdings Pte. to hold and manage government investments and assets on a commercial basis.

1974 - Advised Bible Society of Singapore to stop publishing religious material in Malay

1978 - Meets Deng Xiaoping in Singapore shortly before Deng becomes China’s top leader.

1981 - Changi Airport opens its Terminal 1.
         - Sets up sovereign wealth fund GIC Pte and he become the chairman to invest Singapore’s growing reserves.

1983 - Sparked "Great Marriage Debate" when he encouraged Singapore men to choose highly educated women as wives

1987 - Reversed “Please Stop at Two” campaign with incentives to encourage Singaporean parents to have more children.

1998 -  Singapore Technologies Industrial Corp. and Sembawang Corp. merge and form Sembcorp Industries Ltd.

1998 - Public Utilities Board (PUB) and the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources (MEWR) initiated the Singapore Water Reclamation Study (NEWater Study)

June 1988 - Lee and Mahathir reached an agreement in Kuala Lumpur to build the Linggui dam on the Johor River

28 Nov 1990 - Stepped down as Prime Minister. Goh Chok Tong succeeds Lee as prime minister. Lee becomes Senior Minister.

Nov 1992 - Stepped down as Secretary-General of the PAP and was succeeded by Goh Chok Tong

12 Aug 2004 - Lee becomes Minister Mentor as his son Lee Hsien Loong becomes Singapore’s 3rd prime minister

Dec 2004 - A year-long campaign called 华语 Cool! (Huayu Cool!) was launched, in an attempt to attract young viewers to learn and speak Mandarin

Jun 2005 - Published a book, Keeping My Mandarin Alive, documenting his decades of effort to master Mandarin

12 Jun 2005 - Stressed the need to have a continuous renewal of talent in the country's leadership in an interview with China Central Television (CCTV)

13 Sep 2008 - Underwent successful treatment for abnormal heart rhythm (atrial flutter) at Singapore General Hospital

28 Sep 2010 - Hospitalised for a chest infection, cancelling plans to attend the wake of the Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Balaji Sadasivan

2 October 2010 - Kwa Geok Choo died in her sleep at age of 89

Jan 2011- Straits Times Press published the book “Lee Kuan Yew: Hard Truths to Keep Singapore Going”.

14 May 2011 - Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong and Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew announced in a joint statement that they would be quitting the Cabinet

6 Nov 2011 - Lee Wei Ling revealed that her father suffered from peripheral neuropathy in Sunday Times column.

15 Feb 2013 - Admitted to Singapore General Hospital after suffering a prolonged cardiac dysrhythmia which was followed by a brief stoppage of blood flow to the brain

2014 - Temasek assets rose to a record S$223 billion ($162 billion) for the 12 months ended March 31, 2014.

Apr 2014 - Photo depicting a cadaverous Lee was released online, drawing strong reactions from netizens

Nov 2014 - Attends annual tree-planting event in rare public appearance, keeping up a decades-old tradition.

5 Feb  2015 - Hospitalized for severe pneumonia and was put on a ventilator at the intensive care unit of Singapore General Hospital.


23 Mar 2015 - Died at 3:18am at the age of 91.

29 Mar 2015 - State funeral held and attended by World leaders. Cremated in a private ceremony at the Mandai Crematorium.

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