Singapore's founding prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew, had once asked Hong Kong businessman Li Ka-shing to join politics after Li jokingly asked him to become a businessman, recounted Li in a rare video interview with Singapore's main Chinese broadsheet Lianhe Zaobao.

"One time during dinner, Mr. Lee Kuan Yew and I discussed many views on the economy and business. I said to him, ‘Why don’t you go into business?’ and he replied, ‘Why don’t you go into politics?’", Li said.

Both burst out laughing afterwards, added Li, who turned 95 years old this year.

The Hong Kong business mogul was an active supporter of Lee's endeavours before the latter's passing, with the most notable example being his S$100 million donation to the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKYSPP) in 2007.

Li was also one of the first prominent international business figures who paid respect to Lee personally at the latter's funeral in 2015.

Lee's sense of mission & commitment to S'poreans left an impression

In the interview, Li recalled the first time he met Lee, which took place in Hong Kong in the late 1960s.

During their meet-up, he was deeply impressed by Lee's sense of mission for Singapore and Lee's commitment to Singaporeans.

"If you know about how complicated Asia's background was and how difficult it was for the economies back then, you would understand how challenging it was for Lee.

He had to create endless possibilities in a reality that he couldn't choose. This might sound easy, but it is very difficult to realise in practice," said Li.

Li also contended that it would not be entirely fair for people to evaluate history with the benefit of hindsight:

"I have known Lee for years, and we had chatted about many topics. His thoughts contained multiple layers, so we could talk about all sorts of matters naturally. For the things we discussed about, we often share similar opinions."

"Lee's determination to overcome difficulties and fulfil his promise to Singaporeans is something everyone should learn for his or her entire life," added the businessman.

Donated to LKYSPP upon Lee's request

This understanding and admiration for Lee were also what made Li agree to donate to LKYSPP immediately when Lee told Li that he wanted to nurture more public service talent for Asia and asked Li for his support.

The businessman subsequently helped Lee fulfil this wish by donating a sum to the school named after Lee, which Li said was "a tremendous honour" to him.

Lee's system should be considered humane

Li further contended that the fact that Singapore now offers "endless opportunities" even though it started from nothing and the pride its people feel for their country are the best indicators of Lee's "extraordinary leadership."

While he is aware that many young people thought the system Lee founded and designed to be "restraining" and hoped it could be "a bit more humane," Li argued that the system should be considered humane given the circumstances back then:

"What we should understand is that at that particular time of history and its corresponding circumstances, there wasn't any room for Singapore to slack. To improve the standard of living of Singaporeans and to build a future for Singapore, what Lee did is the most humane. I truly admire Lee a lot."

Relationship between Singapore & Hong Kong

In the video, Li also shared his take on the relationship between Singapore and Hong Kong.

He said just like Singapore, which managed to develop into an international metropolis from a fishing village in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong also evolved from a fishing village to a financial centre.

As such, the development of both Singapore and Hong Kong should be considered legendary.

As the two cities began moving on to their next chapters of development, Li believed they could learn from each other:

"The problems with the world and societies are becoming increasingly complicated day by day, so many considerations have to be made as to which path one should take for one's future."

Here, Li also referred to an answer provided by Artificial Intelligence (AI) on his phone in response to his question on whether Singapore and Hong Kong are competitors.

"The answer AI gave me was that the relationship between the two cities is a mix of rivalry and cooperation, which I found very intriguing," shared the businessman.

Top image via Lianhe Zaobao