Lee Hsien Yang (; born 24 September 1957) is a Singaporean businessman.

Education

Lee attended

Catholic High School Catholic schools are pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered under the aegis or in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest religious, non-governmental school syste ...

and

National Junior College National Junior College (NJC) is a government junior college located in Bukit Timah, Singapore. Established in 1969, it was the first government junior college in Singapore. NJC offers a two-year course for pre-university students and a six-year ...

before graduating from

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

with a double first in

engineering science Engineering physics, or engineering science, refers to the study of the combined disciplines of physics, mathematics, chemistry, biology, and engineering, particularly computer, nuclear, electrical, electronic, aerospace, materials or mechanical en ...

under the

President's Scholar A President's Scholar is a recipient of the academic scholarship awarded by the Government of Singapore annually, to pursue undergraduate education at a university, usually abroad. The scholarship is considered to be the most prestigious public ...

ship and

Singapore Armed Forces Overseas Scholarship The SAF Scholarship, formerly known as the SAF Overseas Scholarship (SAFOS), is a scholarship conferred by the Public Service Commission (PSC). The scholarship is second in prestige to the President's Scholarship. Scholars are groomed for the h ...

awarded by the Public Service Commission. He subsequently went on to complete a

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast t ...

degree in management at Stanford University.

Career

Lee enlisted in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) in 1976, and has held several command and staff appointments, and had attained the rank of Brigadier-General before retiring in 1994. After retiring from the military, Lee joined SingTel in April 1994 as Executive Vice President of Local Services. In May 1995, he became CEO of SingTel, where he served until March 2007. In September 2007, Fraser and Neave appointed Lee as a Non-Executive Director and Chairman-designate with effect from 6 September 2007. Lee assumed the position of Non-Executive Chairman on 15 October 2007. On 1 July 2009, Lee was appointed Chairman of the

Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) is Singapore's civil aviation authority and a statutory board under the Ministry of Transport of the Government of Singapore. Its head office is located on the fourth storey of Singapore Chang ...

by Minister for Transport Raymond Lim. On 26 February 2013, it was announced that Lee had stepped down from the board of Fraser and Neave. Lee has held other positions: Board Member and Chairman of the Audit Committee of the

Singapore Exchange The Singapore Exchange Limited (SGX) is a Singaporean investment holding company that provides different services related to securities and derivatives trading and others. SGX is also a member of the World Federation of Exchanges and the Asian ...

; Independent Director of the Islamic Bank of Asia, and the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited; Member of the Governing Board of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy; Member of the Board of Asia Pacific Investment; Chairman of

Republic Polytechnic Republic Polytechnic (RP) is a post-secondary education institution and statutory board under the purview of the Ministry of Education (Singapore), Ministry of Education in Singapore. Established in 2002, it is the first and only Polytechnic (Si ...

; Member of the International Advisory Board of

Rolls-Royce Holdings Rolls-Royce Holdings plc is a British multinational aerospace and defence company incorporated in February 2011. The company owns Rolls-Royce, a business established in 1904 which today designs, manufactures and distributes power systems for ...

. Lee stepped down as Chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore on 1 July 2018.

Political involvement

Although in 2006, Lee said that he has "no great interest to pursue a career in politics", he joined the

Progress Singapore Party The Progress Singapore Party (abbreviation: PSP) is a centre-left political party in Singapore and is one of the three contemporary political parties represented in Parliament, alongside the governing People's Action Party (PAP) and opposition ...

(PSP) led by the former

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP)

Tan Cheng Bock Adrian Tan Cheng Bock ( zh, s=陈清木, p=Chén Qīngmù; born 26 April 1940) is a Singaporean politician and medical practitioner. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ayer Rajah SMC between 1980 and 2001. He served as Secretary-General o ...

, on 24 June 2020, citing that the

People's Action Party The People's Action Party (abbreviation: PAP) is a major conservative centre-right political party in Singapore and is one of the three contemporary political parties represented in Parliament, alongside the opposition Workers' Party (WP) and ...

(PAP) has lost its way, it is no longer the People's Action Party of its founding principles that Mr

Lee Kuan Yew Lee Kuan Yew (16 September 1923 – 23 March 2015), born Harry Lee Kuan Yew, often referred to by his initials LKY, was a Singaporean lawyer and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Singapore between 1959 and 1990, and Secretary-General o ...

had envisioned. The PSP is one of the opposition parties that are running against the incumbent PAP government, which is led by Lee's elder brother, Prime Minister

Lee Hsien Loong Lee Hsien Loong (; born 10 February 1952) is a Singaporean politician and former brigadier-general who has been serving as Prime Minister of Singapore and Secretary-General of the People's Action Party since 2004. He has been the Member of Par ...

. Lee decided not to run as a candidate for the 2020 general election, stating that "Singapore doesn't need another Lee".

Personal life

Lee is the younger son and youngest child of

, former

prime minister of Singapore The prime minister of Singapore is the head of government of the Republic of Singapore. The president appoints the prime minister, a Member of Parliament (MP) who in their opinion, is most likely to command the confidence of the majority of ...

, and Kwa Geok Choo, a lawyer. His elder brother,

, is the current prime minister. His elder sister, Lee Wei Ling, is a former director of the National Neuroscience Institute. Lee first met Lim Suet Fern, the daughter of the economist Lim Chong Yah, while he was studying at

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

. They were married in July 1981. Lim would later become the founder and managing partner of Stamford Law Corporation and a president of the Inter-Pacific Bar Association (IPBA). The couple have three sons: Li Shengwu, Li Huanwu, and Li Shaowu. Their eldest son, Li Shengwu, is currently serving as Assistant Professor of Economics at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

. He graduated from

Balliol College Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the ...

of the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

as the top student in the Philosophy, Politics and Economics programme in 2009, received a

Master of Philosophy The Master of Philosophy (MPhil; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. In the United States, an MPhil typically includes a taught portion and a significant research portion, during which a thesis project is conducted under supervision. An MPhil ...

degree in economics from Oxford in 2011, and received a PhD from Stanford University in 2016. His child Li Huanwu came out as

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

in July 2018. Li Huanwu married his partner, Heng Yirui, a vet working for Mandai Wildlife Group, in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

on 24 May 2019.

Administrator of Lee Kuan Yew's will

Lee and his sister, Lee Wei Ling, are the joint administrators and executors of Lee Kuan Yew's will. However, they were in a dispute in 2017 with

over their late father's will with regard to the house at 38 Oxley Road. They "felt threatened by

's misuse of his position and influence over the Singapore government and its agencies to drive his personal agenda". They alleged that their brother thwarted the will of their father in order to use the house as a monument to milk his father's legacy. They also criticised the influence of Ho Ching over the government, and alleged that the Prime Minister harboured political ambitions for his son, Li Hongyi. A special parliamentary session was held to clear the Prime Minister of any wrongdoings and the siblings agreed to keep the dispute private after the session.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Hsien Yang 1957 births Living people Lee family (Singapore) Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Stanford University alumni People from Dabu Singaporean people of Hakka descent National Junior College alumni Catholic High School, Singapore alumni Stanford Graduate School of Business alumni Stanford Sloan Fellows Singaporean chief executives President's Scholars Recipients of the Pingat Jasa Gemilang