A Tribute to Mr Lee Kuan Yew
A Tribute to Mr Lee Kuan Yew
Abstract
The LTA Academy organised an internal sharing session on 26 March 2015 at the Land
Transport Authority’s (LTA) auditorium with a tribute to the founding Prime Minister of
Singapore, Mr Lee Kuan Yew, who passed away on 23 March 2015. Mr Lee’s dedication
and commitment to various transportation projects on roads, streetscapes, buses,
taxis and even traffic congestion, helped shape Singapore’s land transport system and
infrastructure into what we have today. This article is to reflect Mr Lee’s tremendous
contributions to the development of our land transportation system and infrastructure.
Invited veteran professionals offered to share their experiences interacting with Mr Lee
over the years.
Introduction
In remembrance of Singapore’s founding Prime
Minister, Mr Lee Kuan Yew, LTA organised a
sharing session on 26 March 2015. Veteran
professionals Professor Cham Tao Soon, Mr
Pok Sheung Foo, Adjunct Associate Professor
G. Menon and Mr Joseph Yee shared their
encounters with Mr Lee, whose leadership
had shaped Singapore’s land transport system
today. Nearly 300 staff had packed the LTA
auditorium (Figure 1).
Figure 1: Mr Chew Men Leong speaking at LTA’s sharing
session on 26 March 2015
Opening Remarks by Chief
Executive of LTA, Mr Chew
Men Leong
“As in many other areas of nation
transformation, Mr Lee’s unswerving
dedication has been keeping Singapore
successful by him taking a personal
interest in ensuring that if something is
worthwhile for the country, it is worth
doing well; this is reflected in his approach
in the area of land transport. The land
transportation has gone through a
significant journey of change. Over the
past five decades, we have seen our
transportation system change, moving
from trams, to buses, to rails and trains.
It had been constantly transforming
to meet the needs of people, and it is
the corollary to the rapid economic and
social development of our country.”
Narrated by Mr Mohinder Singh, Advisor of
LTA Academy, the session had gathered staff to
collectively reflect on the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s
tremendous contributions to the development
of our land transportation system.
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JOURNEYS | May 2015
A Tribute to Mr Lee Kuan Yew
Importance of Roads and Streetscapes
Good
transport
infrastructure
was
foundational to economic development; it
is what Mr Lee Kuan Yew believed and was
dedicated to. When the government decided,
in the 1970s, to move the main airport from
Paya Lebar to Changi so that it would be able
to grow over the long term, the city needed
to be easily and quickly accessible from the
airport. It was hence decided to build an
expressway to connect Changi Airport to the
city. But there was no land – the British had
allowed people to build properties all the way
to the coastline. Mr Lee pointed out in an oral
history interview in 2012, “These are basic
infrastructures. Unless they are in place early,
it’s very difficult to overcome the obstacles.”
The solution was to reclaim the coastline.
Doing so would achieve multiple national
objectives. There would be ample space
for a tree-lined East Coast Parkway (ECP),
and stretched along the entire ECP would
be the East Coast Park. And with the ECP, a
businessman or tourist can get to his meeting
or hotel in 20 minutes from Changi Airport.
Building of the ECP commenced in 1976 and
the entire expressway, including the Benjamin
Sheares Bridge, was opened in 1981 to
coincide with the opening of Changi Airport.
Mr Gopinath Menon
Principal
Consultant
of
CPG
Consultants and Adjunct Associate
Professor at Nanyang Technological
University;
Former
Chief
Transportation Engineer at LTA
“… I was involved in the design of the
number of immigration booths at the
Woodlands Checkpoint, where vehicles
had to pass through and people had
their passports checked. So there was
a meeting to brief Mr Lee on this. I
didn’t attend but my boss went. Mr Lee
asked this question during the meeting,
‘How did you decide on the number
of immigration booths required?’ They
explained that it was the traffic engineer
who had worked it out. The next day, the
Minister for Home Affairs spoke directly
to me and took notes on how those
numbers were derived. Before we parted,
he gave me the heads up to be prepared
for a phone call from Mr Lee himself, in
case he wanted to know more. Mr Lee
did not call me but the incident reflected
his willingness to spend time to look into
minute details.”
Early Bus Industry Reforms
In the 1950s and 1960s, the bus situation in
Singapore was characterised by poor service
and high labour unrest. Numerous privatelyowned companies provided bus services,
competing for business and taking only
popular and profitable routes leaving many
areas uncovered, especially those outside the
city. Buses were badly maintained and broke
down often. Schedules were erratic, due to
breakdowns and drivers going on strike.
The bus situation deteriorated even after the
merger of the various companies into the
newly formed Singapore Bus Service (SBS) in
1973. Fed up with the outdated management
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A Tribute to Mr Lee Kuan Yew
practices in the SBS, Mr Lee Kuan Yew took
a personal interest in the reorganisation of
the SBS. He convinced Mr Lim Leong Geok
to run the SBS and improve bus services. Mr
Lim recalled, “The Road Transport Action
Committee also realised we must build up
public transport if we were to control cars –
Mr Lee Kuan Yew personally got involved in
the rescue of SBS; 100 civil servants were sent
to take over key posts in SBS.” – Oral History
Interview by Ilsa Sharp, 2004
The government seconded a team of
government officials (GTO) to the SBS in
1974. The GTO reorganised the management
structure of SBS and Mr Lee Kuan Yew
continued to remain interested in how SBS
shaped up.
Modernising the Taxi Industry
In the 1960s, because of the bad state of
public transport (i.e., the buses) and high
unemployment, many people became “pirate
taxi” drivers.
“The unemployed, many accompanied by
wives and children, would plead for jobs, taxi
or hawker licences or permission to sell food
in school tuckshops. These were the human
faces behind the unemployment statistics.
Many became ‘pirate taxi’ drivers, unlicensed
and without insurance cover, exploited by
businessmen who rented them junk private
cars. They charged slightly more than the
buses and much less than licensed taxis. They
stopped without signalling to pick up or drop
off passengers at will, and were a menace
to other road users. Hundreds, eventually
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thousands, of pirate taxis clogged our streets
and destroyed bus services. For years, we could
not clean up the city by removing these illegal
hawkers and pirate taxi drivers. Only after
1971, when we had created many jobs, were
we able to enforce the law and reclaim the
streets.” – Third World To First, The Singapore
Story: 1965 – 2000
NTUC Comfort was formed in 1970 to manage
the taxi drivers, helping them to become
licensed taxi owner-drivers. Its members could
take up vehicle loans and in this way taxi
operations also improved. It also addressed the
issue of employment and social unrest. This
2-prong approach, enforcement and providing
employment opportunities, proved to be a
success, and set the stage for modernising and
providing order in the taxi industry.
Implementing the MRT
Mr Lee Kuan Yew shaped the implementation
of our Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system.
The MRT system was first conceived of in the
1971 Concept Plan, drawn up under the State
& City Planning study done from 1967 to
1971. Upon independence, the government
had decided to launch into this study to
develop a long-term land use and transport
plan for Singapore’s physical development.
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A Tribute to Mr Lee Kuan Yew
Mr Pok Sheung Foo
Retired; Former Traffic Manager at
MRT Corporation. Mr Poh is a pioneer
heavily involved in the planning and
implementation of Singapore’s first
MRT train network in the 1970s and
80s.
“... I am fortunate to have had at least
2 meetings in the Cabinet with Mr Lee
in the Istana on the subject of public
transport. He said that there was no
other alternative for public transport in
Singapore to meet the travel demand
except through MRT. I remember that
quite distinctively. Mr Lee has supported
the plan of building the MRT network in
Singapore all along.”
Figure 2: Mr Lee (centre) at the official opening of Singapore’s
MRT system in 1988
Feasibility studies were then done in the 1970s
to look at the requirements, routes and costs
and benefits of the MRT. The MRT project was
then budgeted at $5 billion, a hefty sum for
Singapore at that time.
Mr Lee closely followed the studies and
critically questioned their findings and
recommendations. He wanted to be sure
the right decision was taken for Singapore’s
future transportation. He decided to take this
discussion to the people of Singapore. Thus,
began what came to be known as the Great
MRT Debate, which compared the merits of
building an MRT system supported by buses,
with that of an all-bus system. This debate
was conducted ‘live’ on TV.
Mr Ong Teng Cheong, who was then
Communications Minister, explained that Mr
Lee was inclined towards the MRT but Finance
Minister Goh Keng Swee had been adamantly
against it because of its high cost.
“The Prime Minister was in favour of MRT
from the start. His view was that MRT was
inevitable. The question was when to start,
and how to finance it. I think Goh held his
[negative] view because he was then Minister
for Finance, and he had to finance the
project… The breakthrough came with the
reclamation of Marina South…. If there is no
MRT, Marina South will remain predominantly
an open space. If you have MRT going to
Marina South, then that open space can be
developed. And all that you need is to sell only
part of that developable land to pay for all your
MRT costs…. So that settled all the arguments
about financing…. Without the MRT, Marina
South would have no hope for development.”
– Oral History Interview by Ee Boon Le, Political
History in Singapore 1965-1985.
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A Tribute to Mr Lee Kuan Yew
Mr Mohinder Singh
Advisor, LTA Academy
“In the late 1990s I was involved in
developing our rapid transit long-term
plan. On the day I was presenting the
plan to the Cabinet, my colleague and
I were in the Cabinet Room early to set
up the presentation. Mr Lee walked into
the room on his way to his office. Caught
by surprise, we snapped to attention
and managed to nervously greet him.
Upon his polite query, I said that we were
preparing our presentation on why we
needed to expand the MRT network in
Singapore. Nodding his head, he said,
“Ok” and carried on. Later, following
my presentation, he asked whether
we could build all these lines since
much development has taken place. I
naturally replied that we were confident
our engineers could design and route
the lines properly and overcome any
engineering challenges along the routes,
adding that having a long-term RTS plan
helped, in this regard, to safeguard these
corridors. He listened attentively. Each
encounter left an indelible impression on
me of a man who listened to people to
understand the issues.”
At the official opening of the MRT on 12
March 1988 (Figures 2 and 3), Mr Lee Kuan
Yew said, “It is worth restating the rationale
behind our decision to build the MRT. We
have only a limited amount of land on which
to house our people, build factories, hospitals,
roads and schools, and train the Singapore
Armed Forces. Therefore, we decided to give
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top priority to investments in public transport,
and to put private transport in second place.
We do not have the land to allow an unlimited
growth of private cars. This means that we
must put the MRT to optimal use, and the bus
services must dovetail and complement the
MRT. We must also keep improving the bus
and taxi services and keep the growth of cars
to moderate levels.”
Figure 3: Mr Lee and Mrs Lee at the the gates of City Hall
MRT station following the MRT system’s official opening
This bold and farsighted decision set the stage
to develop our MRT system, which is now 183
km and we are all busy working to double it to
360 km by 2030.
Fighting Traffic Congestion
Mr Lee Kuan Yew saw the need to maintain
mobility and keep our roads congestion free
from early days, while acknowledging the
need for a good transportation system to
keep the city moving. He asked his officials
to study what needed to be done. “By 1975
traffic jams at peak hours were unbearable. I
had read a paper proposing that, to reduce
congestion, we charge a fee for cars entering
the CBD at peak hours. I asked our officials to
examine this idea. They found it feasible. They
JOURNEYS | May 2015
A Tribute to Mr Lee Kuan Yew
proposed gantries with notices to warn all
motorists entering the Area Licensing Scheme
(ALS) which covered the CBD at a restricted
time, to display a licence on their windscreen.”
– Third World To First, The Singapore Story:
1965 – 2000
Mr Joseph Yee
Principal
Consultant
of
CPG
Consultants; Former Director of
Planning and Transportation at LTA
“… Mr Lee listened attentively to the
details of our proposal for the Area
Licensing Scheme or ALS. He had many
questions about the ALS; one question has
remained in my mind, mainly four words,
‘What if it fails?’ I could understand why
he asked; the road priority study had been
conducted in the UK as early as 1963,
however, no city had ever introduced it
yet. At the end of the meeting, Mr Lee
stood up and said, ‘Give me one month
to think about it’. He came back after a
month and said we should introduce the
ALS. The rest is history, Singapore was the
first in the world to introduce road pricing
on a large scale.
The ALS, introduced in 1975 and subsequently
replaced by Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) in
1998, was probably one of the most innovative
transport policies implemented under Mr Lee’s
leadership. We were the first in the world to
do it 40 years ago; it is much cited in transport
literature, and cities like London, Stockholm
and Milan have implemented congestion
charging more recently, in the past 10 years.
Later, in 1990, when there was a need to
curtail car population, Singapore introduced
the Vehicle Quota System, popularly known as
the COE. Few leaders anywhere in the world
would have been prepared to tackle the issue
of car population head on and implement
policies the way he did; perhaps unpopular
policies but for the long-term good.
Mr Lee later explained in his book, Third World
to First, “I knew this was but a temporary
respite. Incomes were rising and the number of
cars registered yearly was rising exponentially.
I believed the answer was to limit the growth
of the car population to the rate the roads
could take without massive traffic jams.
No matter how many underground passes,
flyovers and expressways we built, the car
population would increase to clog them all
up.” – Third World To First, The Singapore
Story: 1965 – 2000
Professor Cham Tao Soon
Emeritus Professor and Special
Advisor to the Governing Council and
Directorate of the Singapore Institute
of Management; Former Board
member of LTA and Chair of the LTA
Academy Advisory Board
“… Not many people know that from
1987 to 1991, for about 4 years, I had
been having private lunches with him
occasionally in the Istana, one on one.
I’m sure you all are interested in what
values or gains that I learned from
Mr Lee during these 4 years of lunch.
There were 3 values that he was very
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A Tribute to Mr Lee Kuan Yew
particular which we should be mindful
of. He thought that there was nothing
better than working hard; if we work
hard, nothing would stop us from being
successful. The second value that he has
imparted to me is racial harmony; he was
very concerned about it as it’s one of the
hardest to maintain. And the third thing
is meritocracy; we should judge a person
by his value and his merit.” – Third World
To First, The Singapore Story: 1965 –
2000
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Mr Lee Kuan Yew led and shaped Singapore’s
transportation in many ways. The sharing
session had but given a snapshot of his role
in some of the key issues that faced mobility
in Singapore and how these were addressed
with courage and foresight to leave a great
legacy that we can continue to build upon.
Thank you, Mr Lee Kuan Yew.
JOURNEYS | May 2015