Excerpts from the book

Dear Professor Vogel,

I refer to the 14 Nov 2011 Straits Times print of excepts from your new book on Deng Xiaoping.

You said Lee Kuan Yew came of age fighting colonialism and was leader of our country’s revolutionary struggle. That statement is not accurate. Anti-colonial and nationalistic sentiments emerged amongst the local populace soon after the end of the Japanese Occupation and led to Singapore’s first elections in 1948. So it was the community who began the fight against colonialism. They weren’t led by Lee Kuan Yew who was in England then studying law.

The next election in 1951 saw Lee becoming an election agent for John Laycock who contested under the pro-British Progressive Party. Since Lee stood with the pro-British camp then, he again did not fight colonialism.

The British commissioned nine-man committee that proposed limited internal self-government for Singapore in 1953 did not include Lee. So again, Lee didn’t help secure this milestone from the British.

While Lee was one of the thirteen who went to London to negotiate internal self-government in 1956, he wasn’t the leader, David Marshall was. In any case, they failed.

It was Lim Yew Hock, not Lee, who convinced the British in 1957 to grant us full internal self-government.

Lee then gave up some of that full internal self-government when he merged us with Malaya in 1963. Before that, he locked up his former comrades turned political opponents with British help. Once again, he didn’t fight colonialism but used it to further his political career instead.

Finally, Singapore achieved independence in 1965 only because we were expelled from Malaysia, not because Lee fought and won against colonialism.

Looking at the history of events, Lee hardly did anything to fight colonialism, let alone become the leader of our country’s revolutionary struggle.