Bulletin Spring‧Summer 2001

history of democracy, achieving the status of a modem 'philosopher king'. The quality of his mind and spirit may be seen in his relinquishing of power and the care wit h which he prepared his colleagues and cabinet for this step, an enterprise that puts him out of step with generations of mediocrities who cling to power, come what may. That he has won many elections, survived political skirmishes, nurtured important political alliances with leaders in a host of countries, fought court cases against unsubstantiated allegations, been a driving force in the founding of ASEAN and done an enormous amount with his teams of loyal supporters to make Singapore a clean , vital, and successful modem city state, cannot be denied. Those are some of the landmarks along his bumpy route from the rubber plantation to his role as elder statesman. I n addition he has been a good family man forging a real partnership wit h his wife. Dare I say that behind every great man there is a greater woman? Apart from that, 1 believe Lee Kuan Yew could not have achieved what I have listed so far without other qualities: tremendous capacity for work, leadership qualities involving shrewd judgment of people, a steady nerve, and the special kind of courage needed to go it alone, sometimes at the risk of physical harm. There are still other features of this complex person: a combination of realism and vision; willingness to learn from others whatever is necessary to get the job done; an intellect as agile as it is focussed, as passionate as it is sceptical. His record proves his compassion for the people of Singapore who, as he has said, are the greatest resource o f their society. In his long political career he has received a host of honours from foreign governments and institutions. He has richly deserved them — something that cannot be said of all politicians. In our academic context let us note just a few, such as his fellowships at Harvard, Yale and his own Cambridge college. His previous honorary degrees come from universities in Britain, America, Australia, Hong Kong and other countries. He was made Companion of Honour and an Honorary G.C.M.G. by the present Queen Elizabeth. He is a Freeman of the City of London. He has met and exchanged views with the great leaders of the last century from the post-war period. His meetings with the Chinese leaders of the People's Republic have been influential and of great moment in the drive for the modernization o f China. Many of the most dynamic political minds of our age have been his friends. He can look back with his experienced legal mind , ‘ An old man's eagle mind' the poet Yeats would say, to Think where man's glory most begins and ends, And say my glory was I had such friends. Here is a statesman committed to clean government not corruption, to rule o f law, not anarchy, to meritocracy not favouritism, to realism not dogma, to peaceful negotiation not conflict, to racial harmony not hatred, to equal opportunities and prosperity for citizens, not abject poverty nor despair. Here is a man who has been responsible for building a city state, the success o f which is in inverse proportion to its size, not least because of the far-sightedness of Lee Kuan Yew and his colleagues. In an interview earlier this year, Senior Minister Lee explained Singapore's plans for encouraging and developing creative, advanced technology capable of supplying about 25,000 new jobs per annum over the next 10 years. This requires the correct infrastructure, relatively easy for the government to build; it also requires a change of outlook in the people, involving technological awareness, natural in the young, more difficult for the old, readiness to take risks with the new communications technology, and that innovative flair whic h journalists are calling 'technopreneurship'. This is a vision o f youthful exuberance, but it lights up the eyes of an elder The 56th Congregation for the Conferment of Degrees 39