--- description: Singapore's founding father Lee Kuan Yew had opinions on topics as diverse as nationalism to terrorism to his late wife. title: Late Singapore Leader Lee Kuan Yew's Opinions on Everything image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt932e919daac91937/6987841a8e06017fbb45ad4c/ap662249873119.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Singapore](/tag/singapore/) ## Singapore Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Late Singapore Leader Lee Kuan Yew Had Opinions on Everything by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 22, 2015 8:28 PM CUT  Singapore's former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, March 20, 2013 in Singapore Singapore's former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, March 20, 2013 in SingaporeWong Maye-E—AP by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 22, 2015 8:28 PM CUT Lee Kuan Yew had a strong opinion about most anything. As he once said, “I have been accused of many things in my life, but not even my worst enemy has ever accused me of being afraid to speak my mind.” Here’s a sampling of his other pronouncements over the decades: **On Singapore** --- > “” --- **On Democracy** --- > “” --- **On the U.S.** --- > “” --- ### See 'Father of Singapore' Lee Kuan Yew's Life in Pictures  Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Kuan Yew (1923-2015), seen in 1969. Michael Stroud—Getty Images  The General Secretary of People's Action Party of Singapore and the new Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew congratulated by his supporters in 1959. Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone/Getty Images  Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew in conference with Labor leaders during strike threat in 1965. Larry Burrows—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew and family at official residence of "Sri Tamasek" in 1965. Larry Burrows—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew at home with his family playing Chinese chess in 1965. Larry Burrows—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Lee Kuan Yew in 1965. Larry Burrows—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew during May Day celebration in 1965. Larry Burrows—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Sir Alec Douglas Home, former British Prime Minister meets with Lee Kuan Yew, in London, 1969. Rolls Press/Popperfoto/Getty Images  Commonwealth Prime Ministers Conference at Marlborough House, London, in 1966. Roger Jackson—Getty Images  Premier Lee Kuan Yew with visiting British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in 1985. Peter Jordan—The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images  Lee Kuan Yew with President Obama in the Oval Office in 2009. Mandel Ngan—AFP/Getty Images  Lee Kuan Yew in 2005. Jonathan Drake—Bloomberg/Getty Images **On Terrorism** --- > “” --- **On China** --- > “” --- **On Leadership** --- > “” --- **On His Late Wife, and Life and Death** --- > “” --- Sources: _Lee Kuan Yew: The Grand Master’s Insights on China, the United States, and the World; Lee Kuan Yew: One Man’s View of the World; The Wit & Wisdom of Lee Kuan Yew_ _Read next:_ [_Global Leaders Pay Respects After the Passing of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew_](http://time.com/3753703/lee-kuan-yew-death-global-reaction/?iid=time%5Freadnext "undefined") [_Listen to the most important stories of the day._](http://time.com/newsletter/the-brief/?sl%5Fautoplay=true&xid=spl-fullbrief-article "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3748654/singapore-lee-kuan-yews-opinions/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3748654/singapore-lee-kuan-yews-opinions/"},"headline":"Late Singapore Leader Lee Kuan Yew Had Opinions on Everything","datePublished":"2015-03-22T20:28:23.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:05:01.160Z","description":"Singapore's founding father shared his opinions on everything from democracy and leadership to terrorism and his late wife","url":"https://time.com/3748654/singapore-lee-kuan-yews-opinions/","keywords":["Singapore","China","Terrorism","obituary","democracy","United States","Leadership","Nationalism","Quotes"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt932e919daac91937/6987841a8e06017fbb45ad4c/ap662249873119.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt932e919daac91937/6987841a8e06017fbb45ad4c/ap662249873119.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Singapore's former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, March 20, 2013 in Singapore","caption":"Singapore's former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, March 20, 2013 in Singapore","creditText":"Wong Maye-E—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/singapore/","name":"Singapore"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3748654/singapore-lee-kuan-yews-opinions/","name":"Late Singapore Leader Lee Kuan Yew Had Opinions on Everything"}}]}] ```