Bo Han - Lee Kuan Yew's management statements

Identify yourself. 

I think that for an island nation in Southeast Asia to survive, it is not possible. We must make a special effort to become a people who are united, resilient, and adaptable. We must be people who can do everything better and cheaper than our neighbors. Our neighbors want to bypass our role as intermediaries in regional trade. They want to make us obsolete. That is why we are unique.

From the third to the first world,

Singapore Story 1965-2000 (2000)

From the very beginning, I had a simple guiding principle to ensure that everything would continue to thrive. Singapore, more than any other country in the region, needed to be more organized. My colleagues and I devised two strategies to overcome our challenges.

We will leapfrog our region. Our

Our neighbors will reduce their economic ties with us. So we will connect with developed countries. Multinational corporations will become a driving force in manufacturing. And we will export our products to them. No other country in the region is doing this. And now that strategy has proven to be very successful. All our neighbors and the whole of Asia are doing the same.

We created first world conditions in what was then a third world region. We succeeded in establishing first world standards in public, private security, health, education, communications, shipping, aviation, and social services. We became a launching pad for entrepreneurs to enter the less developed areas around us. We trained and equipped the population to provide them with first world standards of service.

Singapore Press Club speech, 7 June 1996

After independence, I looked for a unique way to differentiate ourselves from other third world countries. I established a clean and green Singapore. In all the projects I have worked on, greening has been the most cost-effective.

From Third to First World, The Singapore Story 1965-2000 (2000)

You don't get recognition because you're too conventional and follow others. You become a role model because you went against conventional wisdom and proved them wrong and you were right.

Speech delivered in Parliament on November 1, 1994

“Excellence is a single word that sums up how Singapore has managed to stand out in a highly competitive world.

Speech at the National Day Dinner,

August 13, 1987