Lee Kuan Yew Was Born In Kampong Java On This Day In 1923
Not every big story starts with fireworks. In 1923, the world was already buzzing: TIME magazine printed its first issue, Old Wembley Stadium opened in London, and the Johor–Singapore Causeway saw cars cross for the very first time.
And on 16 Sep 1923, in a two-storey bungalow at 92 Kampong Java Road, a boy named Lee Kuan Yew was born - the same boy who would go on to steer Singapore through independence and become its first Prime Minister.
The OG overachiever
Lee’s family life wasn’t picture-perfect. His dad had a gambling habit, so it was his mum who kept things together. But in school, Lee was on another level. At Raffles Institution and Raffles College, he aced English and maths and quickly gained a reputation as the student to beat.
That mix of brains and discipline? It was his trademark from the start.
Survival mode
Everything changed in 1942 when the Japanese Occupation hit. For most, it was about staying alive day to day. Lee adapted by learning Japanese, eventually landing work as a translator, a risky but smart move that gave him a degree of safety in a time when survival was anything but guaranteed.
Lee in the Cambridge University Law School Library, circa 1947 to 1949. | IMAGE: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Cambridge flex
Post-war, Lee set his sights on the UK. At Cambridge University, he didn’t just pass law school; he crushed it, graduating with top honours and proving he could hold his own on the world stage.
It wasn’t just about the grades, though. In England, he was exposed to political debates and ideas that sharpened his vision of what Singapore could become.
Singapore vists the UN Headquarters in 1967: (From left) Inche Rahim Ishak (Abdul Rahim Ishak), Minister of State for Education of Singapore; Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew; Secretary-General U Thant; S. Rajaratnam, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Singapore; and Ambassador Wong Lin Ken, Permanent Representative of Singapore to the United Nations. | IMAGE: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
From Kampong Java to Prime Minister
When Lee returned, he set up a law practice and quickly stepped into politics. By 1959, he was sworn in as Singapore’s first Prime Minister, a role he would hold for decades, overseeing the transformation of a small island with an uncertain future into a modern nation.
The rest of the story is familiar to most Singaporeans, but it all began here: a boy in Kampong Java Road born on this day in 1923.
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