There was always something of the Englishman in Lee Kuan Yew. During his Cambridge education, he had ample opportunity to examine British society. In the decades that followed, he proved how well he learned from his observations when he built up Singapore. He refused to give into an anti-colonial mania of purging British influences and instead took inspiration, from the Westminster system to the civil service – all backed up with Chinese cultural attitudes toward meritocracy. With his passing, it remains to be seen whether these influences will remain in Singapore. Regardless, the extent to which the British inheritance endured beyond […]