SINGAPORE, March 23 — Singapore’s late former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew is recognised worldwide as the man who transformed the island republic in a short time from an undeveloped nation to one of the most successful high-income countries, says World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim.
“He showed that a city-state with few natural resources could rapidly evolve into a global trading hub and financial powerhouse through education, integrated planning and a highly trained civil service,” he said in a statement following the revered statesman’s passing here today.
Kuan Yew died at 3.18am at the Singapore General Hospital where he had been admitted on February 5 for severe pneumonia. He was 91.
Noting that Singapore’s founding father had relentlessly tackled corruption and held public servants to the highest standards, Jim said: “Most importantly, he (Kuan Yew) showed that economic development could provide opportunities and improve the lives of a country’s citizens.
“On behalf of the staff of the World Bank Group, I would like to extend my sincere condolences to the people of Singapore on the passing of former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, and to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, on the passing of his father.
“We will be forever grateful to the former prime minister for his role as a pioneer of development and the architect of modern Singapore.
“We were privileged to have had a close working relationship with him over several decades.”
At this time of grief, he said the World Bank Group offered its deepest sympathies to Kuan Yew’s family and to the people of Singapore. — Bernama
