“What am I doing this book for? I want your readers to know the hard truths. If you believe that this superstructure is the same as other countries in our range, you are dead wrong.”

Why is Lee so hard on his political opponents? Could the PAP ever lose its grip on power? Are the younger leaders up to the mark? Will growing religiosity change Singapore for the better or worse? How will rising giants China and India affect Singapore’s fortunes? Why is rich Singapore so parsimonious when spending on the poor and disadvantaged? Why the drive to attract immigrants despite Singaporeans’ discomfiture? Lee, fielding these and many other questions in the book and on DVD, is combative, thought-provoking and controversial. You may not agree with Lee, but you will find yourself challenged to consider the reasons for his views.

Lee has stayed in the public eye for 60 years – as the revolutionary leader who steered Singapore to independence, as the Prime Minister who transformed the Republic into a First World country, and as Minister Mentor, the elder statesman. We have read about Lee and watched him on TV. Yet Lee remains a legend – one both revered and feared. Based on 32 hours of interviews, this book and DVD pick up where his memoirs of 1999 and 2000 left off. 

Presented in Q&A format, and enriched with strong contextual narrative, each chapter features Lee in full flow – sometimes combative, occasionally querulous, but always engaging. His views are articulated forcefully, with forays into history to buttress his point. To him, Singapore is a miracle that could disappear if not for exceptional leadership and safeguards. Here is Lee at 87, an unrepentant believer in strong government, in genes, and in the view that economics trumps freedoms.

Unvarnished Lee

This book presents the politically incorrect Lee, often impatient and dismissive of those who criticize his worldview. He is not one for regrets. He does not recant. But there are moments when he looks back and thinks he could have done things differently or been more accommodating. Readers will gain insight into Lee’s mind as he ruminates, argues, thinks aloud and rebuts.

The Private Man

Now meet the devoted husband who was his bedridden wife’s caregiver, ending his days by her bedside reading and talking to her for hours. Here, too, is Lee the doting grandfather who knows all his grandchildren’s IQ scores. And Lee the proud father of three very successful children.