Yesterday afternoon I sat down with Lowy Institute's Non-Resident Fellow and distinguished historian of Southeast Asia Milton Osborne to talk about the legacy of Lee Kuan Yew.
We discussed Singapore's beginnings as part of the Malaysian Federation, its reputation abroad in the 70s and 80s, and Lee Kuan Yew's signature achievement of keeping Singapore corruption-free. You will also hear me reference Milton's opinion piece in the Financial Review, which you can read here, where he talks about Singapore resembling, in the early days, a 'tropical slum'. As you will hear, Milton spent time in Singapore in the early 60s, and that description is no exaggeration.