What were the values, philosophies and ideas that defined Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s leadership? From defending hard choices to inspiring citizens, the late founding Prime Minister of Singapore had spent decades laying the foundation for the country's success. To commemorate the 100th anniversary of his birth on Sep 16, we combed through 150 hours of footage to bring you this documentary that follows him through the different stages of his political career.

Lee Kuan Yew: then years from now this will be a metropolis never fear the next thousand years we will be here recognizable identifiable a total population refused to be cow we give them the courage to the young and to the not so old I say look at that Horizon follow that rainbow go ride it

Narrator: the flags are out the big decorations are up and it's Prelude to Malaysia Singapore joyfully takes another step forward to full Independence on this Malaysia solidarity day August 31st 1963 it's 2 weeks before Singapore's merger with Malaya Singapore prime minister Lee Kuan Yu delivers a speech that expresses his hope and optimism for the new nation of Malaysia

Lee Kuan Yew: by Asian standards Malaysia is a small nation but let no one doubt the will cohesion endurance and the discipline of our people and let no one misjudge the resolve of her leaders

Narrator: the Federation is formed but would soon be rocked by Deep political and economic differences between the ruling parties of Singapore and Malaysia communal tensions erupt culminating in racial riots in 1964 in May 1965 Lee takes to the Malaysian Parliament to make his case against communal politics

Lee Kuan Yew: [speech segment, but no words transcribed here in script]

Narrator: but the two sides are unable to resolve their disputes they agree to go their separate ways Singapore separates from the Federation on the morning of August 9th 1965 hours later Lee makes the announcement

Lee Kuan Yew: I'm not sure I have for me it is a moment of Anguish because all my life you see the whole of my adult life I had believed in Malay in merger and the unity of these two territories you know it's a people connected by geography economics and ties of kinship would your mind every stop for a while

Narrator: Lee resumes his broadcast and concludes by addressing the new nation's Malay population

Lee Kuan Yew: and I asked them don't worry this was the government that believed in multiracialism had brought Singapore away from shavinism into multiracialism pity it turned out that we could not achieve multiracialism and integration in Malaysia but we will achieve it in Singapore

Narrator: in the years that follow Lee continues to engage Singapore's Malay Community regularly

Lee Kuan Yew: IND economy Poland Bulgaria Arab Britain France Australia New Zealand China communist Hong Kong Taiwan Kore Korea UND done

Narrator: amidst ambitious plans to grow the economy some in the International Community have doubts about the survivability of the young island nation

Lee Kuan Yew: can Singapore survive as a separate independent state could I put it this way by way of example to sit on a stool is more comfortable and stable than to sit on a shooting stick right well now we are on a shooting stick but I intend to sit on that shooting stick and since that's all that I've got 214 square miles will Jolly well make it a strong shooting stick and my you've seen Singapore the people here is a shooting stick made of steel

Narrator: throughout the 1960s Lee continues to express his confidence in the Steely resolve of singaporeans

Lee Kuan Yew: I am calculating not in terms of the next election I'm calculating in terms of the Next Generation in terms of the next 100 years in terms of Eternity and believe you me the next thousand years we will be here I won't be here but people like me and like my friends here tonight will be here recognizable identifiable this was a mud flat swamp today this is a modern city 10 years from now this will be a metropolis never fear you know some people think oh well you know we are a small place they can put the screws on us is not so easy we are a small place in size yes geography but in the quality of the men the administration the organization the metal in the people the fiber don't try that's why we got booted out you know if they could have just squeezed us like an and squeeze the juice out I think the juice would have been squeezed out of us and all the goodness would have been sucked away but it was a bit harder wasn't it it was more like the Duan you try and squeeze it your hand gets hurt and so they say right throw out the Doran but inside the Doran you know a very useful ingredients high protein

Narrator: that high protein would soon be tested on 18th July 1967 4 months after Singapore introduces mandatory military conscription the British government announces it would withdraw its military forces from the island that same day Lee addresses the first batch of cadets commissioned from the Singapore armed forces training institute

Lee Kuan Yew: the more effective and self-reliant we become the more desirable and reliable a partner we will make and what we lack in numbers we will make up for in quality in the standards of discipline training motivation and dedication and leadership

Narrator: as a citizen military builds up Lee visits London to negotiate an extension of the defense agreement

Lee Kuan Yew: I don't think we want to fight what we want to do is to reason to argue to see what is in Britain's best interest and at the same time doing the least damage to Singapore there is still a threat there that you might withdraw your deposit in no I you know I I think it's hardly worth going to London if I'm going to you know go over BBC threatening British ministers but we've got to face such Facts of Life I mean if in fact there is going to be a rapid and accelerated rundown to a point where our security is jeopardized then obviously some vast sums of money will have to be spent in an accelerated expansion of our own Meer defense capabilities

Narrator: as the country wraps up Investments to build up a military strategies to industrialize conceived at the start of the 1960s reap dividends as Singapore enters into the 1970s unemployment halves and the country charts with renewed Vigor a bold path towards development and growth

Narrator: it's the dawn of the 1970s in the Young Nation of Singapore the rhythmic wor of industry is the soundtrack of the times capturing the optimism of a brighter future out of an uncertain past the push to develop labor intensive Industries proves effective so effective that by the 1970s labor Surplus becomes labor shortage which in turn leads to higher wages amidst these impressive achievements Lewan Yu imbus upon citizens the spirit of personal and social responsibility

Lee Kuan Yew: for s

Narrator: in the 1972 general elections Lee's people's Action Party wins all seats in Parliament and nearly 70% of the overall vote Lee acknowledges the 30% of votes lost as protest votes

Lee Kuan Yew: and naturally we are concerned because they feel their life have been upset the pace of industrialization urbanization urban renewal has brought about a change of not only a style of life but their livelihood but there are some protest votes which we cannot satisfy those who want extra special treatment I mean there are certain policies we're going to stand by

Narrator: Lee leads his party into another consecutive victory at the 1976 general elections again the party sweeps votes from every constituency contested questions are raised internationally on the people's action party's dominance in Singaporean politics

Lee Kuan Yew: but you ever feel prime minister it's often been said in the west that a good democracy a good Democratic uh Society is one in which you not only have a good government but you have a good opposition uh to match that government do you not ever feel the lack of that I often wonder whether the foreign journalists or the casual visitor like you uh has fathomed or can fathom the mind of an oriental what's inside is completely different is this a good government that I can trust to look after me and my family and will see that my children are educated and will have a job better than mine and have a home better than mine is it fair or is it unfair unjust favoring its relatives its friends looting the public purse for its relatives for itself so that ministers live in luxury whilst the masses live in squala I mean those are the crucial issues because those are the issues that have toled governments in the third world

Narrator: work on those crucial issues is ongoing by the 1970s more students complete Secondary School many move on to either junior college or poly Technic and University but in Multicultural Singapore problems with language and communication remain

Lee Kuan Yew: [speech segment, but no words transcribed here in script for this part]

Narrator: by the late 1970s Singapore's GDP grows at an average rate of 133% one of the highest in the developing World alongside the pursuit of economic growth Lee decides to promote positive values among Society in 1979 he launches the national courtesy campaign

Lee Kuan Yew: we are better fed better dressed and better housed living in high-rise New Towns working in high-rise offices and factories traveling in crowded buses and lifts Our Lives will be unbearable if we are all selfish and inconsiderate greater courtesy will help us be psychologically better adjusted with less pent up frustrations we shall succeed because singaporeans have a great capacity to change and response to new challenges

Narrator: of Singapore in the 1980s a period of progress chongi airport opens and is widely hailed as the crown jewel of Singapore tourism and a pillar of modernity in 1980 leanu delivers an election rally speech he sums up the key to success in the new decade with one word

Lee Kuan Yew: the word is simple it's called productivity productivity means the ability to use men and machines in such a Cooperative way that you produce more products per manh hour of a superior quality than any other person can do any other group of can do and that means cooperation not antagonism

Narrator: why Lee expands on the point recounting a strike by the Singapore Airlines Pilots Association a month earlier

Lee Kuan Yew: think and decided no don't waste my time on November 16th 1980 the airline has a scheduled flight from Dubai to London during their stopover in Zurich three pilots and a flight engineer ground their flight the plan is to press Singapore Airlines management to accept Union demands for a 30% wage hike and better working conditions

Narrator: following the incident Lewan Yu summons Union representatives to meet him

Lee Kuan Yew: I gave them a choice continue this and I will by every means at my disposal teach you and get the people of Singapore help me teach you a lesson you won't forget and I'm prepared to start all over again or stop it get back to work restore discipline then argue your case and let there be no mistakes about it whoever govern Singapore must have that iron in him or give it up this is not a game of cards this is your life and mine I spent a whole lifetime building this and as long as I'm in charge nobody's going to knock it down

Narrator: Lee reflects on this journey of nation building in 1983 at an event commemorating his 60th birthday

Lee Kuan Yew: having taken life and death decisions and gone through one acute crisis after another my perspective Ambitions priorities have undergone a fundamental and I believe a permanent transformation for only a people who are willing to face up to their problem s and are prepared to work with their leaders to meet unexpected hardships with courage and resolution only they deserve to thrive and to prosper and responding to the toast may I express the hope that singaporeans are such a people

Narrator: by the mid 19 1980s just two decades since Independence Singapore's economy has become one of the fastest growing in Asia

Lee Kuan Yew: speaker the prime minister of Singapore admit the Prime Minister

Narrator: Lewan Yu earns International standing as a Statesman in 1985 he's invited to address a joint meeting of the United States Congress

Lee Kuan Yew: protectionism and retaliation will shrink trade and so reduce jobs is America willing to write off the peaceful and constructive developments of the last 40 years that she has made possible she will have to go one step further she will have to be the policeman to enforce order over her sphere of influence of the world outside the Soviet block it is in the interest of peace and security that America upholds the rules of international conduct which rewards peaceful Cooperative behavior and punishes transgressions of the peace she is the anchor economy of the free market Economist of the world in your hands therefore lie the future of the world thank you

Narrator: back home singapor celebrates several major Milestones one of which is the 10th anniversary of the clean rivers program started in 1977

Lee Kuan Yew: the cleanup was a comprehensive total exercise over 10 years if any part of the program had stalled we would not have made it because the process was an interrelated whole now for the first time since the founding of Singapore these rivers are clean again new recreational amenities on and by the Marina and the rivers offer a new way of life for the people it's something singaporeans can be proud of

Narrator: the launch of the mass rapid transit or MRT system in 1987 is yet another Milestone the country's first metro system shifts not only Singapore's economy but the quality of life of its citizens into higher gear in a series of speeches from the decade Lee urges singaporeans to not take their new levels of comfort for granted

Lee Kuan Yew: that is the sunshine after but there were dark moments very dark moments I could not be sure we would ever get out of that tunnel and because the people supported us therefore we succeeded it just wasn't guts on our part it was guts on a part of a total population a total population refused to be cow we gave them the courage We drummed Up the Music but the people's different from their backs and that's the way it has to be done I leean you being Chosen and appointed Prime political leaders are judged first by how effectively they have exercised their Authority in the interests of their people second by the way in which they have provided for continuity so that a successor government will continue to protect and Advance the interests of their people and third by the grace with which they leave office and hand over to their successors I co Chong having been appointed to the office of prime minister 28th November 1990

Narrator: Lewan Yu hands over the Reigns to go Chong who becomes Singapore's second prime minister of the repic of Singapore Lee would remain in cabinet as senior Minister welcome senior Minister as he makes his way into the lecture theater tremendous transformation in Singapore which has

Lee Kuan Yew: Lee continues to engage the public often as a keynote speaker at events where he shares his insights with singaporeans they say we got enormous reserves yes we do but you know a few years of a recession an economic setback and all that will suddenly be depleted our savings could be wiped out in about 5 6 years if you say World recession like the last Great Depression in the 1930s now our problem now is how best to improve our chances how to invest because we have the capital we have the savings you never chose your father and mother but they chose each other and you are there but what we can do is to make sure that what you have is developed to its maximum potential and in this information age it takes a lot of training a lot of capital to raise a person to his full potential the crowds that I addressed we were taking on not only the British of the pursuit of

Narrator: during his time as senior Minister Lee participates in forums with Singaporean youth to hear their views and to offer his own

Lee Kuan Yew: and the scarcity value of land goes up going to a prestigious University like y or Harvard would cause a bomb to any ordinary family so um does that mean that in your speech you will imply that there will be very little chance for undergraduates that doesn't have such opportunity open to them to play a major role in Singapore like becoming a a minister let me phrase this in uh honest but not offensive way supposing I can only make two BS and two and get into n or into n us I think I would do what you have done take up accountancy no I I I mean that seriously I mean that seriously the business sector is going to grow in Singapore but if you want to go into politics you can make a very good MP and I would not rule that out we need a lot of soldiers who are going to carry a heavy load because ministers cannot do all the work the constituency has to be looked after let me tell you that I could not have done what I did over the last 30 years if I did not have MPS who took over part of my constituency work but if you want to be a leader man then you must take the hard knocks and please remember you elect Duds you get a dad government 1

Narrator: in the early 2000s as singaporeans usher in the dawn of a new millennium the country still grappling with a host of challenges from the aftermath of the 1997 Asian financial crisis to a looming Terror threat that's right please seeks to inspire the nation to reinvent itself to stay relevant

Lee Kuan Yew: we must improve our internationally traded Services sector by adding medical educational and legal services attracting customers from the immediate region and Beyond from India and China the world has changed and so must we embracing change also means being adapted ible and resilient in the face of Crisis

Narrator: another five people in Singapore have been infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome or SARS bringing the tally to 44 patients of these eight are in serious condition

Lee Kuan Yew: my wife went to SGH on the 3rd of April for a frozen shoulder the radiographer who helped her and took the ultrasound had gone down with SARS at 2:00 in the morning we took a temperature it was 37.8 so i r out the doctor said 37.8 said no it was one of those year thermometers I said take it by the Tongue so put the tongue thermometer no 37.3 went back to sleep it's not a laughing matter

Narrator: the 2003 SARS outbreak in Singapore lasts from February to May that year 238 are infected and the death toll is 33 the economic Fallout is chronic a significant slice of Singapore's economic pie is lost from sectors like retail hospitality and tourism as firms begin to cut wages in jobs some of of the anger from workers is directed at foreign workers

Lee Kuan Yew: I cannot understand what SI is trying to do now and the boys are asking why are the Filipinos still here when we are losing our jobs I do not believe SATs doing something stupid because they must produce results if we say tomorrow all foreign workers leave I think Singapore will be worse off not better off so we better live with and learn how to adjust this is a bad period we got to go through it we'll go through it and we'll come out on top but we do things in a sensible way don't let the economy go down whatever else we do our companies must be competitive and stay competitive if they are dead there are no jobs for anybody so I'm sorry if I cannot give you a simple answer yes let's sack the Filipino can't be done

Narrator: months later as the nation recovers from the economic and emotional impact of the sar's outbreak at his 80th birthday celebration Lewan Yu encourages singaporeans to get back on their feet

Lee Kuan Yew: the present pessimism of the fainthearted reflected in the media that Singapore has seen his best days that the music has stopped and that the party is over it's totally unfounded that is not the way I see the future for Singapore after we have cut cost and made ourselves competitive we shall rise to Greater Heights but if we psych ourselves into Gloom we deserve to be sideline to conclude let me recount how the national pledge came about we needed to remind our people of their obligation to each other and to the nation since 1966 it has been recited at all School assemblies 37 years on our response to the S crisis as one United people gives us real hope that this pledge is not a dream now I ask you to join me in a toast to the citizens of Singapore who pledge themselves as one United people regardless of race language or religion to build a Democratic Society based on Justice and equality so as to achieve happiness prosperity and progress for our nation ladies and gentlemen to the president the people of Singapore Singapore I leisan long having been appointed on the 12th of August 2004

Narrator: Lee's son Lean l succeeds go Tong as prime minister the Elder Lee stays on in cabinet this time as Minister Mentor guiding younger ministers

Lee Kuan Yew: but to be able to use it you have to have it at at your fingertips

Narrator: he also continues to weigh in on key policy discussions in Parliament one of them is the debate on whether to build integrated resorts in the country

Lee Kuan Yew: to say no after the worldwide publicity of this argument for over a year Singapore will be sending out the wrong signal that we are staying put the same old Singapore neat and tidy like Switzerland better than Switzerland no chewing gum no smoking and air conditioned places no this no that no fun of a place to visit is it these virtues are valuable but no longer sufficient now we also have to be not just economically vibrant but an exciting fascinating City to visit

Narrator: how are you sir so glad to see you hell meanwhile as Singapore's most recognizable Diplomat Lee continues to command respect around the world for his insights

Lee Kuan Yew: when you look at the achievements that they say boy leanu has created a miracle in Singapore but he is an authoritarian I have to govern now 4 million people 3 million are singaporeans 1 million are foreigners who get jobs in Singapore and of that one 100,000 are professionals why do they come there because it's a thriving economy that gives them jobs and their families are happy and safe no drugs no muggings no rapings you can walk the streets 3:00 in the morning you're okay you won't see any policemen there you won't see soldiers line in the streets every 4 years to 5 years I have to renew I had renew my mandate that's a free election and there about five six seven different parties that will Spring to life one year before the elections and try their luck and in the last few elections they devised a new strategy they knew that the people wanted a Pap government but wanted an opposition but what was the concession they made that the people wanted a BAP government so why should I be authoritarian when I had the people with me that's what the people wanted do you still have such a sense of Crisis or survival even today as you have always had all the time because we are so vulnerable we are open to the world we are small we are vulnerable vulnerable economically vulnerable politically vulnerable militarily mhm I mean this is a it's like a if I can put it like a rather well stock Mansion mhm with squatters all around it MH so a small country of three and four million 3 to4 million citizens and 1 and a half million foreign workers working here because we need them has to defend itself have to maintain a foreign service that spreads itself creating we hope friends around the world and trade and commerce and Investments

Narrator: key to fostering friendships and Partnerships is maintaining trust in Singapore amongst the International Community Lee would often reflect on the hard work that went into building Singapore's reputation as an efficient citystate with good governance most of these policies started as mere ideas siing in the 1960s and '70s and over the years they bore fruit bringing longlasting benefits to Singapore

Lee Kuan Yew: anybody coming into this region will know you base yourself here then you look around and do your business and see where the businesses are that cannot be done overnight but what can immediately done was to show investors that this is a well organized place so when they come into the airport especially investors they will pass by Greenery which means maintenance so without having to tell anything to the CEO I knew that he would understand that when I say we will deliver he knows that we can deliver

Narrator: Lee would serve as a member of parliament until his death in 2015 since being elected as prime minister at the age of 35 he spent 56 years of his life serving Singapore welcome our two former Prime Ministers Mr Lee Quang Yu on 9th August 2014 he attends Singapore's 49th National Day Parade one of his last public appearances for Mr lewu the first prime minister of Singapore the following year the late Statesman is Remembered at the nation's 50th National Day celebrations

Lee Kuan Yew: to the young and to the not so old I say look at that Horizon follow that rainbow go ride it not all would be rich quite a few will find a grain of gold dig it up but all those who pursue that rainbow will have a joyous and exhilarating ride and some profet