Mr Lee waving to schoolchildren from his campaign vehicle during his tour of Kampong Kembangan in January 1963.
No raining on his parade: Mr Lee smiling as his umbrella proves no match against the stormy weather that greeted him and Mrs Lee on their arrival in Brunei in August 1986.
Saying goodbye to former German chancellor Helmut Schmidt (left), 91, who travelled to Singapore to bid Mr Lee, 88, a final farewell in May 2012. Mr Schmidt died in November 2015.
LKY100 – Remembering Lee Kuan Yew’s life and legacy
The nation celebrates the 100th birth anniversary of visionary leader Lee Kuan Yew, the man who built Singapore with his optimistic, never-say-die attitude.
Mr Lee played an active role in global politics, travelling far, wide and frequently to increase Singapore’s space and to establish ties with the rest of the world. His approach to foreign policy was always that “a small state must seek a maximum number of friends, while maintaining the freedom to be itself as a sovereign and independent nation”. Between 1959 and 2012, he made at least 304 official trips to 83 countries. He visited Malaysia most frequently, followed by Japan, Britain, China and the United States.
Former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger said of Mr Lee in 2000: “History shows that normally prudent, ordinary calculations can be overturned by extraordinary personalities. In the case of Lee Kuan Yew, the father of Singapore’s emergence as a national state, the ancient argument whether circumstance or personality shapes events is settled in favour of the latter… Every great achievement is a dream before it becomes a reality, and his vision was a state that would not simply survive but prevail by excelling.”
Mr Lee passed the mantle of premiership to Mr Goh Chok Tong in 1990 and served as Senior Minister. When Mr Lee’s son took over as prime minister in 2004, he assumed the title of Minister Mentor until he stepped down from office on May 20, 2011.
1962-1963
Mr Lee (centre, garlanded) during a walkabout in Tanjong Pagar constituency between 1962 and 1963. Source: People’s Action Party
1963
Mr Lee waving to schoolchildren from his campaign vehicle during his tour of Kampong Kembangan on Jan 12, 1963. Source: MCI collection
1962-1963
In a bid to win people’s hearts and minds, Mr Lee spent ten months between 1962 and 1963 visiting all 51 constituencies in Singapore. These walkabouts, which lasted up to 12 hours, generated a groundswell of enthusiasm and he became “a kind of political pop star”, he said. Later, he relied on such visits to stay in touch with the ground and kept up with them until he stepped down as prime minister in 1990.
1966
Mr Lee arriving at City Hall for the 1966 National Day Parade at the Padang – Singapore’s first after independence – with Deputy Prime Minister Toh Chin Chye and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Culture S. Rajaratnam. Source: MCI Collection
1966
With a small umbrella in hand, Mr Lee braved the rain at the opening of the new People’s Action Party branch on Pulau Bukom Kechil, part of the Southern Islands, on April 3, 1966. It was set up to strengthen local grassroots. ST Photo: Mak Kian Seng
1972
Mr Lee’s lunchtime rally at Fullerton Square on Aug 29, 1972. His lunchtime rallies were the highlight of many election campaigns. Source: The Straits Times
1976
Mr Lee delivering one of his many memorable speeches to office workers during his lunchtime rally at Fullerton Square on Dec 20, 1976. Photo: Jerry Seh/New Nation
1980
Mr Lee campaigning in the rain during a lunchtime rally at Fullerton Square on Dec 19, 1980. The crowd braved the downpour to hear him speak. ST Photo: Mazlan Badron
1976
Tanjong Pagar residents reaching out to congratulate Mr Lee (shaking boy’s hand) during his victory parade on Dec 24, 1976. He won 89 per cent of the vote in the general election that year. ST Photo: Francis Ong
1980
Mr Lee shaking the hands of Tanjong Pagar residents during his victory parade on Dec 24, 1980. ST Photo: Francis Ong
1983
Mr Lee giving his annual National Day Rally speech at the National Theatre at Fort Canning Park on Aug 1, 1983. The rally, an occasion for the Prime Minister to spell out his policies once a year, was televised live and broadcast on all radio and television channels. Source: MCI Collection
1987
Mr Lee and Cabinet ministers (front row, from left) Tony Tan, Ong Teng Cheong, Goh Chok Tong, Ahmad Mattar and E.W. Barker rehearsing for a full-throated National Day performance on July 28, 1987. Mr Lee’s favourite song was Stand Up For Singapore “because I hear my grandchildren singing it all the time”, he told The Straits Times. ST Photo: Wong Kwai Chow
1988
Mr Lee canvassing for votes in Tanjong Pagar during the hustings on Aug 28, 1988. ST Photo: Wan Seng Yip
1990
Mr Lee watching as cheering crowds greet his successor, Mr Goh Chok Tong (right), after Mr Goh took his oath of office at City Hall to become Singapore’s second prime minister on Nov 28, 1990. Mr Lee remained in Cabinet as Senior Minister. Political renewal was a key task that Mr Lee had set for himself since the early 1970s to ensure a smooth, orderly transition to the next generation of leaders. ST Photo: Jacky Ho
1976
The only time Mr Lee (second from right) met Chairman Mao Zedong (third from right) was during his first visit to China in May 1976. Also present at the 15-minute meeting in Mao’s private residence at Zhongnanhai were (from left) Chinese Foreign Minister Qiao Guanhua, Premier Hua Guofeng, an interpreter and Singapore Foreign Minister S. Rajaratnam. Source: Xinhua
1981
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad thanking Mr Lee at Paya Lebar Airport after his first official visit to Singapore in 1981. ST Photo: Wan Seng Yip
1985
Mr Lee had the rare honour of addressing a joint session of the United States Senate and House of Representatives on Oct 9, 1985. US Vice-President George H.W. Bush, who was president of the Senate, and Speaker of the House of Representatives Tip O’Neill were present and gave Mr Lee a standing ovation after his speech. Photo: Wun Pak Kai/Lianhe Zaobao
1986
No raining on his parade: Mr Lee smiling as his umbrella proves no match against the stormy weather that greeted him and Mrs Lee on their arrival in Brunei in August 1986. Source: Lee Kuan Yew
1988
Mrs Lee tossing a coin into the Trevi Fountain in Italy during the couple’s visit to the country in April 1988. ST Photo: Yow Yun Woh
1980
In England to meet good friend and British counterpart Margaret Thatcher in 1990, Mr Lee, accompanied by Mrs Lee, saw the Iron Lady and her husband Denis at her official country retreat, Chequers, before both stepped down from premiership later that year. Source: Lee Kuan Yew
1992
Getting a feel for the ancient public toilets in Turkey, Mr Lee amuses Mrs Lee (right); Ms Ling Siew May (second from right), wife of Deputy Prime Minister Ong Teng Cheong; and other Singapore officials during his visit to the republic in September 1991. Source: Lee Kuan Yew
1992
Thrilled by the novelty of being lifted in a sedan chair, Mr Lee was transported up to the top of Huangshan, a mountain range in Anhui province in eastern China, for its magnificent view during his visit in October 1992. ST Photo: Albert Sim
1993
Mr Lee attempting to spin a top in Tokyo in 1993 during an official visit to Japan where he met Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone and his wife Tsutako. The Japanese couple had hosted a dinner at their official residence for Mr and Mrs Lee in Tokyo in October 1986. Source: Lee Kuan Yew
2001
Mr Lee addressing the media with (seated, from left) Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Communications and Information Technology Yaacob Ibrahim, Education and Second Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean and Acting Minister for Environment Lim Swee Say on Sept 5, 2001, after a four-day visit to Kuala Lumpur, where he reached agreements with Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on key issues such as water supply to Singapore and the status of Malaysian railway land in Singapore. ST Photo: George Gascon
2006
Mr Lee with former Indonesian president Suharto at his Jakarta residence on Feb 22, 2006. The two shared a close friendship spanning 40 years, and their annual “four-eye” meetings forged political stability between Singapore and Indonesia. Mr Lee was the first foreign leader to visit Mr Suharto in hospital before his death on Jan 27, 2008. Photo: Agence France-Presse
2013
Mr Lee presenting a copy of his memoirs in Chinese to Vice-President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping when they met during the Beijing Olympics in August 2008. Mr Xi became president in March 2013. ST Photo: Chua Chin Hon
2009
Dr Henry Kissinger giving Mr Lee a hug just before the latter received a lifetime achievement award from the US-Asean Business Council, which aims to foster ties between the United States and Asean, in Washington on Oct 27, 2009. Dr Kissinger paid tribute to Mr Lee after the latter’s death in a piece in The Washington Post, titled “The World Will Miss Lee Kuan Yew”. In this eulogy, he reminisced about his old friend: “Lee Kuan Yew was a great man. And he was a close personal friend, a fact that I consider one of the great blessings of my life. A world needing to distil order from incipient chaos will miss his leadership.” ST Photo: Chua Chin Hon
2015
Saying goodbye to former German chancellor Helmut Schmidt, 91, who travelled to Singapore to bid Mr Lee, 88, a final farewell on May 7, 2012. Mr Schmidt died in November 2015, eight months after Mr Lee’s death. ST Photo: Alphonsus Chern