Lee Kuan Yew, GCMG, CH is a Singaporean of Chinese immigrant background. He was the first Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore from 1959 to 1990.

He has remained one of the most influential political figures in the South-East Asian region. Under the administration of Singapore's second prime minister, Goh Chok Tong, he served as Senior Minister. He currently holds the self-created post of Minister Mentor under his son Lee Hsien Loong, who became the nation's third prime minister on August 12, 2004.