The father of modern China and the father of Singapore

Lee Kuan Yew, who died last month at the age of 91, led the transformation of a shabby ex-British colony with no natural resources into a prosperous city-state all within a few decades.

While I don’t agree with everything Lee did or the ways in which he did them, I have great respect for the man. Allow me to express my gratitude to the father of modern Singapore, of whose legacy I am a beneficiary, and to wish that my home country will continue to evolve into an even better nation after Lee’s passing.

The father of modern China was, of course, Sun Yat-sen. Distressed by China’s backwardness and the corrupt and reactionary ruling class of the Qing dynasty, Sun became a revolutionary intent on overthrowing not just the ruling dynasty, but China’s 2,000-year-old monarchical system.

Between 1895 and 1908, Sun led no less than eight uprisings, all of which failed. The Wuchang rebellion finally overthrew the Qing dynasty in October 1911, but Sun played no part in it – he was in exile in America. Returning to China in December, Sun was elected the provisional president of the Republic of China. It fell to pieces shortly afterwards.

It’s perhaps fortunate that Sun died in 1925 and was spared the abject humiliation and destruction his country endured in the following decades.