I am often accused of interfering in the private lives of citizens. Yes, if I did not, had I not done that, we wouldn't be here today. Lee Kuan Yew More Quotes by Lee Kuan Yew More Quotes From Lee Kuan Yew At the end of the day, what I cherish most are the human relationships. With the unfailing support of my wife and partner I have lived my life to the fullest. It is the friendships I made and the close family ties I nurtured that have provided me with that sense of satisfaction at a life well lived, and have made me what I am. Lee Kuan Yew support wife ties Mine is a very matter-of-fact approach to the problem. If you can select a population and they're educated and they're properly brought up, then you don't have to use too much of the stick because they would already have been trained. It's like with dogs. You train it in a proper way from small. It will know that it's got to leave, go outside to pee and to defecate. No, we are not that kind of society. We had to train adult dogs who even today deliberately urinate in the lifts. Lee Kuan Yew population adults dog There are some flaws in the assumptions made for democracy. It is assumed that all men and women are equal or should be equal. Hence, one-man-one-vote. But is equality realistic? If it is not, to insist on equality must lead to regression. Lee Kuan Yew regression democracy men I am often accused of interfering in the private lives of citizens. Yes, if I did not, had I not done that, we wouldn't be here today. And I say without the slightest remorse, that we wouldn't be here, we would not have made economic progress, if we had not intervened on very personal matters - who your neighbour is, how you live, the noise you make, how you spit, or what language you use. We decide what is right. Never mind what the people think. Lee Kuan Yew mind people thinking Anybody who decides to take me on needs to put on knuckle-dusters. If you think you can hurt me more than I can hurt you, try. There is no way you can govern a Chinese society. Lee Kuan Yew chinese hurt thinking Even from my sick bed, even if you are going to lower me into the grave and I feel something is going wrong, I will get up. Lee Kuan Yew bed sick inspiring At the end of the day, what have I got? A successful Singapore. What have I given up? My life. Lee Kuan Yew the-end-of-the-day ends successful If you deprive yourself of outsourcing and your competitors do not, you're putting yourself out of business. Lee Kuan Yew outsourcing business inspiring I don't think I made a conscious decision as a career choice. From my school days I had decided, persuaded by my parents, to prepare myself for the law. Then the Japanese occupation came and we went through three and a half years of what I would call the university of life, it was hard, it was harsh. Lee Kuan Yew careers school thinking I think in Singapore, we stand a chance of making the one-man-one-vote system work. With amendments as we have done, you know, like GRCs.. We need to make it work. And I believe with pragmatic adjustments, given these favourable conditions, we can have more open debate. Lee Kuan Yew men believe thinking I don't believe in love at first sight. I think it's a grave mistake. Lee Kuan Yew mistake inspiring believe Rest on laurels? I wish I could do that. No, you rest when you're dead Lee Kuan Yew laurels wish I make no apologies that the PAP is the Government and the Government is the PAP. Lee Kuan Yew apology government inspiring It is essential to rear a generation at the very top of society that has all the qualities needed to lead and give the people the inspiration and the drive to make it succeed. In short, the elite.. Every society tries to produce this type. The British have special schools for them: the gifted and talented are sent to Eton and Harrow. Lee Kuan Yew inspiration people school Now if democracy will not work for the Russians, a white Christian people, can we assume that it will naturally work with Asians? Lee Kuan Yew christian white people Life is better than death. But death comes eventually to everyone. It is something which many in their prime may prefer not to think about. But at 89, I see no point in avoiding the question. What concerns me is: How do I go? Will the end comes swiftly, with a stroke in one of the coronary arteries? Or will it be a stroke in the mind that lays me out in bed for months, semi-comatose? Of the two, I prefer the quick one. Lee Kuan Yew mind two thinking We have to lock up people, without trial, whether they are communists, whether they are language chauvinists, whether they are religious extremists. If you don’t do that, the country would be in ruins. Lee Kuan Yew religious country people I ignore polling as a method of government. I think that shows a certain weakness of mind - an inability to chart a course whichever way the wind blows, whichever way the media encourages the people to go, you follow. If you can't force or are unwilling to force your people to follow you, with or without threats, you are not a leader. Lee Kuan Yew government blow thinking My colleagues and I are of that generation of young men who went through the Second World War and the Japanese Occupation and emerged determined that no one–neither Japanese nor British–had the right to push and kick us around. We determined that we could govern ourselves and bring up our children in a country where we can be proud to be self-respecting people. Lee Kuan Yew war country children We must encourage those who earn less than $200 per month and cannot afford to nurture and educate many children never to have more than two… We will regret the time lost if we do not now take the first tentative steps towards correcting a trend which can leave our society with a large number of the physically, intellectually and culturally anaemic. Lee Kuan Yew regret numbers children
