EXPERTS ADVISORY

President Lee Myung-bak (left) meets with then Singapore Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew at a 2010 event. Image credit: Korea.net / Korean Culture and Information Service via Wikimedia CommonsLee Kuan Yew, the first and longest-serving prime minister of Singapore, is critically ill in hospital. The 91-year-old Lee ruled for three decades, presiding over the Southeast Asian city-state’s transformation from a sleepy port city to a modern, multicultural commercial hub.

When he stepped down in 1990, he continued to play an influential role as senior minister and minister mentor. University of Michigan experts are available to discuss the significance of Lee’s career:

Linda Lim, professor of strategy at the Ross School of Business, is a Singaporean and an expert on Southeast Asia and Singapore’s economy.

“Lee Kuan Yew’s legacy was building a cohesive nation with a strong national identity out of a multi-ethnic colonial immigrant port city. He led a truly remarkable team of mostly Western-educated intellectuals and professionals, who together built up Singapore’s economy and kept it stable during what were turbulent decades in their Asian neighborhood.”

Contact: 734-763-0290, lylim@umich.edu. Bio: myumi.ch/Lz0w6

Gunalan Nadarajan, dean and professor at the Stamps School of Art and Design, is a Singaporean and an expert on art theory and development of media arts internationally.

“During his tenure as prime minister, Mr. Lee was convinced that the imperative of economic development was not compatible with cultural development. Throughout the 31 years he was at the helm of government, there was little to no significant investment in the cultural sector. It was not until he left office in 1990 that cultural institutions like the National Arts Council, the Singapore Art Museum and other art initiatives started.”

Contact: guna@umich.edu. Bio: myumi.ch/JdAl6

John Ciorciari, assistant professor at the Ford School of Public Policy, focuses on the Southeast Asian region and examines foreign policy strategies, human rights and the reform of international economic institutions.

“Lee is widely identified with an emphasis on Confucian values and a restrictive attitude toward artistic expression, but his legacy is more complex. He faced the challenge of trying to construct a shared national identity in an ethnically diverse and divided city-state. He did so partly by helping to develop a distinctive Singaporean culture that is cosmopolitan and ethnically and linguistically pluralistic. In building a globalized city-state, he also came to embrace the need for cultural norms that foster innovation, including freedoms that have begun to expand in areas beyond the marketplace.”

Contact: 734- 615-6947, johncior@umich.edu. Bio: myumi.ch/Jm13J