Lee Kuan Yew is credited with transforming Singapore from a struggling country into a thriving economy with high living standards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lee, educated in law at Cambridge, co-founded the People’s Action Party (PAP) and led Singapore through its tumultuous separation from Malaysia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He was the founding father and first Prime Minister of Singapore. He served in the role from 1959 to 1990.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When he assumed power, he was faced with a small, resource-scarce island plagued by significant social and economic problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To address these issues, he implemented stringent, pragmatic policies focused on anti-corruption, meritocracy, multiracialism, and economic development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His vision transformed Singapore into a global financial hub, boasting one of the world’s highest per capita incomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite criticisms regarding his authoritarian style and suppression of political dissent, he established a country marked by remarkable stability and prosperity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Singapore has become a blueprint for other nations struggling to create a prosperous and safe society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is often mentioned when examining South Africa\u2019s economic struggles and the path it should follow to address its challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lee died in 2015. Following his death, a week of national mourning was announced, during which approximately 1.7 million people paid their respects at tribute sites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How Lee Kuan Yew saw South Africa<\/h2>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Christo-Wiese-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/a>Christo Wiese<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nWiese said he had tremendous admiration for Lee Kuan Yew and was invited to dinner with him some time ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe was already very frail at the time, and he was addressed as Minister Mentor,\u201d Wiese said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During a question-and-answer session following Lee\u2019s speech, Wiese asked him about the situation in Africa and his view on the continent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wiese explained that Africa used to look West in the past, but is increasingly looking East for many things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI asked Lee what he thinks of that, and what Africa should do to make itself more attractive to the East,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His response was scathing. \u201cAfrica, who cares about Africa. It is a continent riddled by crime, violence, and disease,\u201d Lee said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wiese said Lee finished off by saying, \u201cI won\u2019t send Singaporeans to Africa until Singapore Airlines flies there\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This answer was strange, as Singapore Airlines already had flights to South Africa, and Lee had visited the country in the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lee\u2019s most notable trip to South Africa was in 1992, shortly after he stepped down as Prime Minister and before the country\u2019s first fully democratic elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During this visit, he addressed an Investment Conference in Johannesburg and met Nelson Mandela and Mangosuthu Buthelezi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lee\u2019s answer bothered Wiese, considering Lee\u2019s visits to South Africa and the fact that Singapore Airlines had flights to the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, he soon figures it out. Lee did not view South Africa as part of the African continent, as it did not share the same problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLee did not regard South Africa as part of Africa. The worst of it is that many South Africans held the same view,\u201d Wiese said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe considered South Africa to be something apart from Africa, the same as Lee did.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Billionaire businessman Christo Wiese said Lee Kuan Yew, the first Prime Minister of Singapore, slated Africa, but did not see South Africa as part of the continent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":844323,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[1174,4137,24221,6266,853],"class_list":["post-844321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-africa","tag-christo-wiese","tag-lee-kuan-yew","tag-singapore","tag-south-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844321","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=844321"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844321\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":844324,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844321\/revisions\/844324"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/844323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=844321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=844321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=844321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/a>Wiese said he had tremendous admiration for Lee Kuan Yew and was invited to dinner with him some time ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe was already very frail at the time, and he was addressed as Minister Mentor,\u201d Wiese said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During a question-and-answer session following Lee\u2019s speech, Wiese asked him about the situation in Africa and his view on the continent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wiese explained that Africa used to look West in the past, but is increasingly looking East for many things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI asked Lee what he thinks of that, and what Africa should do to make itself more attractive to the East,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His response was scathing. \u201cAfrica, who cares about Africa. It is a continent riddled by crime, violence, and disease,\u201d Lee said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wiese said Lee finished off by saying, \u201cI won\u2019t send Singaporeans to Africa until Singapore Airlines flies there\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This answer was strange, as Singapore Airlines already had flights to South Africa, and Lee had visited the country in the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lee\u2019s most notable trip to South Africa was in 1992, shortly after he stepped down as Prime Minister and before the country\u2019s first fully democratic elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During this visit, he addressed an Investment Conference in Johannesburg and met Nelson Mandela and Mangosuthu Buthelezi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lee\u2019s answer bothered Wiese, considering Lee\u2019s visits to South Africa and the fact that Singapore Airlines had flights to the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, he soon figures it out. Lee did not view South Africa as part of the African continent, as it did not share the same problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLee did not regard South Africa as part of Africa. The worst of it is that many South Africans held the same view,\u201d Wiese said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe considered South Africa to be something apart from Africa, the same as Lee did.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Billionaire businessman Christo Wiese said Lee Kuan Yew, the first Prime Minister of Singapore, slated Africa, but did not see South Africa as part of the continent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":844323,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[1174,4137,24221,6266,853],"class_list":["post-844321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-africa","tag-christo-wiese","tag-lee-kuan-yew","tag-singapore","tag-south-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844321","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=844321"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844321\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":844324,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844321\/revisions\/844324"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/844323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=844321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=844321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=844321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}