Singapore`s founding father Lee Kuan Yew dies at 91

With the death of Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore`s first prime minister, his family is gaining spotlight as they are wielding power and wealth in Singapore society. The founding father of Singapore and his wife Kwa Geok Choo (died in 2010) had two sons and one daughter, who hold prominent positions of power in Singapore. His eldest son is Singapore`s current prime minister, second son is an executive at a state-owned firm and first daughter is working as the law CEO of a wealth fund.

The eldest son, Lee Hsien Loong, has been serving as the prime minister of Singapore since August 2004. He studied math and computer engineering at Cambridge University`s Trinity College, and earned an MPA from Harvard`s Kennedy School of Government. He is fluent in English, Chinese, Malay, Russian, etc. The prime minister entered the political arena in 1984 by joining the People`s Action Party founded by his father. Later he became economic deputy minister, central bank governor, finance minister and then prime minister.

When he was economic deputy minister from 1990 to 1992, Lee Hsien Loong opened up the Singaporean market to foreign banks, driving the development of Singapore`s financial industry. This helped Singapore successfully overcome the currency crisis that had swept the Asian region in 1998. As the central bank governor in late 1990s, he drove reform of the central bank by overhauling its personnel system. Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong praised him and is known to have recommended him as the next prime minister more aggressively than his father did.

Lee Hsien Loong`s private life was full of ordeals, however. He had one son and one daughter with his first wife, a doctor, who died three weeks after giving birth to the son due to heart disease. The son, currently 33 years old, is suffering from albinism. Lee Hsien Loong married Ho Ching, a financier who graduated from Stanford University, in 1985 and has two sons with his current wife. Ching became CEO of the state-owned investment company Temasek Holdings in 2004 when her husband became prime minister.

Meanwhile, Lee Kuan Yew`s second son, Lee Hsien Yang, is chairman of the board of directors of the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore, a state-owned firm that manages Singapore’s Changi International Airport.

The success of Lee`s family is gaining both criticism and praise even within Singapore. Critics claim that the family manages the country as a family business, while pros say the descendants are displaying and proving their ability.