LEE KUAN YEW

"No one can accurately judge someone who surpasses them. Therefore, we never seek judgments from those below us. Rarely does a person of lower rank say, "He is better than me." If weaker individuals are at the top, the whole system slowly crumbles. It's inevitable."

"I didn't start as someone deeply rooted in Confucianism. I embraced it on a basic level—respecting elders, being loyal to family, knowing how to treat friends, and understanding not to overthrow the government or the king. But if someone insults me and I can't defend myself, by Chinese custom, I lose respect. There isn't an Asian model per se, but there is a fundamental difference between societies based on Confucian values and Western liberal values, between East Asian countries and Western countries. In Confucian societies, people believe that the individual exists within the context of family, relatives, friends, and society and that the government cannot and should not assume the role of a family. Many in the West believe that the government can take on family responsibilities when the family fails, for example, in the case of single mothers. People in East Asian countries do not accept such an approach."

"I can reach a certain level when I'm in a stressful situation, and if I feel I'm becoming irritable, I sit in a quiet corner. After twenty to thirty minutes, my rhythms slow down. I find it beneficial. Look at yourself from another person's perspective, and suddenly you'll start thinking that you should see things in their true light. I believe meditation should be taught in schools because it saves people from going to doctors, taking Valium, and other such troubles. Yes, I'm a nominal Buddhist. In most Buddhist temples, there are monks and students sitting in the lotus position, palms cupped, breathing deeply with their eyes wide open, yet seeing nothing in front of them—they're relaxed. But I can't do that. I close my eyes and achieve a similar effect, although not as profound as the monks. Former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone used to spend an entire hour meditating in a temple. Long ago, when I hosted a dinner for him in Singapore, he told me, “I just sit quietly and shut myself off from the world.” I can't sit in the lotus position. When I tried it, I got hip joint dysplasia."

"Without talented foreigners, Singapore wouldn't have become such a successful nation. Among the first government, consisting of ten people, I was the only one born and educated in Singapore. If we cannot strengthen our team with talented foreigners, we won't be able to join the ranks of the world's leading countries."

"In 1976, during my first visit to the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, I noticed spitting bowls there. Chinese leaders indeed used them. In 1977, when Deng Xiaoping visited Singapore, we placed a white and blue spitting bowl from the Ming Dynasty next to his chair in the meeting room, but he didn't use it. Apparently, he had noticed that Singaporean Chinese don't spit.

I started a campaign against spitting in the ‘60s, but even in the ‘80s, some drivers spat out of car windows, and some people continued to spit in shops and markets. We persisted in fighting this vice, spreading messages through schools and media that spitting contributes to the spread of diseases like tuberculosis. Now it's rare to see people spitting in public places. We are a nation of immigrants who gave up old habits to build a better life in a new country."

"This deliberate display of wealth, as you mentioned, mainly comes from women of Indian origin. You can observe this display of luxury in magazines like Tatler, right? I'm not an advocate for building a culture of social elites, but we decided to allow it to exist. At the top of every society, there are some people who want to be the arbiters of fashion and regular attendees of social events. Let's leave them be. They are a minority. They don't set the standards. Ministers, members of parliament, and high-ranking executives set the standards."

"I've learned to ignore criticism and advice coming from experts and pseudo-experts, especially from those in social and political sciences. They have a plethora of adored theories about how society should develop to approach their ideal, particularly on how to eradicate poverty and increase prosperity. I always strive to be substantively correct, disregarding political correctness."

"When a man with higher education doesn't want to marry a woman with higher education, I tell him he's a fool. Marrying an uneducated woman will bring problems; some children will be smart, while others won't. You'll end up tearing your hair out."

"After seeing what I saw during the years of deprivation and difficulties in Singapore under Japanese occupation, I no longer bought into theories that criminals are supposedly victims of society. Punishments were so severe back then that even in 1944–45, when many people starved, there were no thefts in the city, and residents could leave their doors open day and night. Deterrence worked effectively. The British used corporal punishment in Singapore, caning with a five-tailed whip or rattan cane. After the war, they abolished whipping but retained caning. We believed that corporal punishment was more effective than long prison sentences and introduced it for crimes related to drugs, arms trading, rape, illegal entry into Singapore, and vandalism. As for myself, I never beat children—strict reprimands were sufficient. My father often used violence, so I was opposed to using physical force in a child’s upbringing."

"Democracy only works when people have a culture based on tolerance and the adaptation of individuals to each other, which allows the minority to accept the right of the majority to govern until the next elections, patiently and peacefully waiting for their turn to lead the government, having first convinced the majority of voters to support their views. If the democratic system is introduced in a country whose people are accustomed to fighting to the end, like in South Korea, the results won't be too good. South Koreans fight on the streets regardless of whether they are ruled by a military dictator or a democratically elected president."

"Our business culture was completely different from the Chinese. Singaporeans strictly adhere to contracts as something self-evident. If we sign an agreement, it's final and irrevocable. We pay great attention to drafting documents in English and Chinese, with both versions having equal force. For the authorities in Suzhou [a city in China], a signed agreement represents serious and sincere intentions but by no means an all-encompassing commitment; it can be changed or interpreted differently based on changing circumstances. We relied on laws and a system at work, while the Chinese operated based on official directives, which often were not made public, and their interpretation depended on the understanding of local officials."

"When the prime minister of the USSR, Nikolai Ryzhkov, visited Singapore in February 1990, he represented a different government and a different country. He lacked self-assurance and even the demeanor of a leader of a great power. He asked Deputy Prime Minister Ong Teng Cheong for a loan of $50 million to purchase consumer goods in Singapore. I disagreed with this and ordered Ong Teng Cheong not to respond to this request. If the prime minister of the Soviet Union had to turn to tiny Singapore for a $50 million loan, it seems that the USSR had exhausted its credit with all major countries. The Soviet Union's sovereign debt was worthless."

"Are we as secure as New Zealand, and can we do away with an air force? No. Do I wish we were like New Zealand? Honestly, no. I think such an economy would be uninteresting, lacking in events. Yes, they grow the world's best grass for horses, cows, and sheep. But it's a dull life."

"I had a habit of smoking around twenty cigarettes a day until 1957 when, after three weeks of campaigning in the municipal elections, I lost my voice and couldn't even thank my supporters. Since I couldn't limit my smoking reasonably, I quit altogether. It was difficult for two weeks. In the '60s, I developed an allergy to tobacco smoke, and I banned smoking in my office and cabinet. Over the years, most ministers quit smoking, except for two inveterate smokers who would leave government meetings for ten minutes to smoke on the open veranda."

"Sociobiologist Edward Wilson claims that when two tribes fight, a third tribe will support the DNA closest to its own. He describes it as an innate, hereditary gene that aims for reproduction.

Look at China. They have been conquered for centuries, and Han Chinese assimilated outsiders—the Manchus and Mongols—and they all eventually became Han Chinese. The only groups they couldn't assimilate were the Uyghurs and Muslims of Ningxia. Another group they couldn't assimilate was the Tibetans. The reason is that Tibetans live at a high altitude with less oxygen in the air, and many Han Chinese sent there had to return because their lungs couldn't adapt.

Look at the Whites. They fought among themselves for empires. First, the British seized large chunks of India, Southeast Asia, and Africa, occupied North America but gave way to their American colonies, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa.

I believe this is an inherent part of the development of the human species because now the whole world is interconnected, and White leaders in America and Europe are faced with a world where initially the Chinese will dominate, and then the Indians. I don't know exactly what will happen when the Chinese gradually compare themselves with Americans, which is expected by the end of the century. By the next century, you'll have to realize: either you coexist or you destroy each other."

"I'm interested in theories because I love theorizing myself. But I like theories proven by practice. I haven't encountered a theory that all people are truly equal."

"I instructed the cabinet of ministers that after my death, my house should be demolished. I've seen the houses of other famous individuals: Nehru and Shakespeare. After some time, they turned into ruins. Tired people wander around them. If my house is preserved, high-rise buildings cannot be constructed next to it. If we demolish my house and change the zoning rules, we can build upwards, and the land's value will increase. Do you know how much it costs to maintain it? It's an old house built over a hundred years ago. It has no foundation. It's very costly to keep it in good condition; dampness spreads along the walls due to the lack of a foundation. Cracks appeared in the walls due to piling in neighboring plots. But fortunately, the columns were not affected."