New book written by S'pore's leading thinkers examines SM Lee's 20 years as Prime Minister

Singapore's Institute of Policy Studies and World Scientific will bring out a new book on Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong's 20 years as Prime Minister on Sep. 8.

The book — a collection of 23 essays by Singapore's leading thinkers and policy practitioners on finance, economics, diplomacy, social policy, politics and society — will assess the leadership and legacy of SM Lee's tenure.

Contributors to the book included Former Managing Director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, Ravi Menon, Manu Baskaran, and Tan Kong Yam, who examined Singapore's financial and economic sectors during SM Lee's tenure.

Assessing SM Lee's diplomatic contributions are Tommy Koh, Chan Heng Chee, and Bilahari Kausikan, former ambassadors and prominent voices on Singapore's diplomacy.

Pauline Tay Straughan examines Singapore's social policy under SM Lee, while Carol Soon, Cherian George, Han Fook Kwang, and Eugene Tan assess his impact on the country's politics and society.

It is edited by senior IPS research fellow Gillian Koh, former Straits Times opinion editor Chua Mui Hong, and Terence Ho, executive director and associate professor at the Institute of Adult Learning, Singapore University of Social Sciences.

Not a tribute volume

Koh, the book's lead editor, emphasised in a press release that it was not a “tribute volume.”

Contributors were urged to weigh up which of SM Lee’s leadership choices worked, and which didn't.

About two years after he'd stepped down in favour of Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, Koh said that the essays were a “timely examination” of SM Lee's contributions.

"Living through an era, we are often unaware of just how much things have changed until we pause to take stock," said Chua.

The essays, she said, trace the arc of social, political, and economic policies that have reshaped Singapore and were a study of adaptive leadership and governance that a small city-state needs.

The book, entitled “Lee Hsien Loong and Singapore”, will be launched on Sep. 8 and is published by World Scientific. It will be available at major bookstores and at the following link.