Singapore Government Press Release

Media Relations Division, Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts,

MITA Building, 140 Hill Street, 2nd Storey, Singapore 179369

Tel: 6837-9666

SPEECH BY MINISTER MENTOR LEE KUAN YEW AT THE DEDICATION CEREMONY FOR THE LI KA SHING BUILDING AT THE LEE KUAN YEW SCHOOL OF PUBLIC POLICY ON TUESDAY, 4 SEPTEMBER 2007

Dr Li Ka-shing

Dean Kishore Mahbubani

Ladies and Gentlemen

I am happy to be present at the Dedication of the Li Ka Shing Building here at the Bukit Timah Campus of the National University of Singapore.

History of the campus

Raffles College was the apex of Singapore’s and Malaya’s education pyramid when the British founded it in 1928 in this Bukit Timah campus. I resided on this campus as a student from June 1940 to January 1942 when the Japanese invasion cut short my education. Since its foundation, many generations of students have passed through this campus, as it became the University of Malaya and then the University of Singapore.

LKYSPP: coming a long way

The University of Singapore moved to a larger campus on Kent Ridge in 1978. When Nanyang University merged with it in 1980, it was renamed the National University of Singapore. Today, the NUS returns to the Bukit Timah campus to house its Law Faculty and the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKYSPP). LKYSPP started in 1992 as the Public Policy Programme in the National University of Singapore, established in partnership with Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. This School was renamed and launched in 2004 to prepare the next generation of Asian policy-makers and leaders for the challenges of governing in an ever more complex world.

When we were elected to office in 1959, we had no instruction manual on how to govern a country. We tried to draw lessons from the experiences of other countries, and then assess what could be the way forward for us.

Countries in Asia have their own development challenges. All would have learnt the importance of strong institutions and sound long-term policies. Societies need leadership to grow and prosper. Young officials need to be trained in the fundamentals of public policy and good governance. Hence their growing interest in the LKYSPP. Over the three years since the School was established, its enrolment has grown from 64 students in 2004 to 256 today.

Dr Li and his works

Dr Li has generously donated to the LKYSPP and we are naming this historic building after him. Since 1980, the Li Ka Shing Foundation and other private charities associated with Dr Li have donated more than HK$8.3 billion to education and medical institutions in Hong Kong, his home town of Swatow and other cities in China and other countries, including his contribution to the Singapore Management University (SMU). On behalf of the Singapore Government, I thank Dr Li for his generous gift to the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.

His gift will become an endowment fund to support academic activities including the endowment of chair professorships and more than 40 scholarships annually. These scholarships will benefit students from China, Hong Kong, India and ASEAN countries, to train future leaders. They can raise the standards of governance of their countries and improve the lives of the people and transform Asia.

Li Ka Shing Building

I am pleased to be here with Dr Li, as we name the Li Ka Shing Building after him today.

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