Lee Kuan Yew

Thousands of gamblers filled the sprawling Marina Bay Sands casino here on a recent weeknight, placing bets on baccarat tables, roulette wheels and dice games under the glow of a seven-ton Swarovski crystal chandelier. With its high-stakes tables, dozens of invitation-only VIP rooms and sleek design, the Marina Bay Sands is the go-to hotel for visiting celebrities such as Justin Bieber and Katy Perry. And it's one of the reasons Singapore is poised to vault past Las Vegas next year to become the world's No. 2 gambling destination, behind Macao in southern China.

Thousands of gamblers filled the sprawling Marina Bay Sands casino here on a recent weeknight, placing bets on baccarat tables, roulette wheels and dice games under the glow of a seven-ton Swarovski crystal chandelier. With its high-stakes tables, dozens of invitation-only VIP rooms and sleek design, the Marina Bay Sands is the go-to hotel for visiting celebrities such as Justin Bieber and Katy Perry. And it's one of the reasons Singapore is poised to vault past Las Vegas next year to become the world's No. 2 gambling destination, behind Macao in southern China.

It has been an epochal year for Singapore. In August, the tiny island nation celebrated 25 years of independence--a notable achievement given that few outside observers present at its birth believed the country would even survive, much less go on to become a model of the Asian economic miracle. On Nov.

Kwa Geok Choo Wife, mother of Singapore prime ministers Kwa Geok Choo, 89, wife of Singapore's first prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew, and the mother of the island nation's current prime minister, died Saturday at home, said a statement from the office of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. She underwent surgery in 2008 after a stroke and suffered a massive hemorrhage a month later. Born in 1921, Kwa met Lee in the late 1930s when they studied at Raffles Institution, where she was the only girl in high school.

Singapore announced that it had banned the Far Eastern Economic Review magazine after it failed to comply with new rules. "It is a privilege and not a right for foreign newspapers to circulate in Singapore," the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts said. The government said the publication failed to appoint a legal representative and pay a $126,000 security bond. In a separate case, the Review, published by Dow Jones & Co.

Lee Kuan Yew, the unchallenged leader of Singapore for the last 31 years, finally steps down Wednesday in favor of his handpicked successor as prime minister, Goh Chok Tong. With Lee expected to stay in the Cabinet as a senior minister, however, few expect that Goh will be completely free to chart a new course. He has said he prefers a more open, consultative style of government.

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew led his ruling party to its eighth straight election victory, winning 80 seats in the recently enlarged 81-member Parliament. There had been no doubt that the People's Action Party would win. When counting was completed early today, the party had won 69 of the 70 seats contested to combine with 11 seats in which its candidates were unopposed. Lee's party won 64.6% of the final vote, compared to 64.8% in the last election in 1984.

Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, who turned a colonial backwater into a modern industrial giant, announced Sunday that he will step down from the post he has held for 30 years before the end of 1990. In his New Year's message, the 66-year-old Lee said First Deputy Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong will be his successor, ending speculation that he would immediately pass the post on to his son, Trade and Industry Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

A judge in Singapore has further besmirched the nation's already soiled reputation for intolerance by ordering an American scholar and the American-owned International Herald Tribune to stand trial for criminal contempt of court. The government alleges that the scholar, Christopher Lingle, defamed the Singaporean judiciary by writing an article in the newspaper stating that repressive Asian governments often used "a compliant judiciary" to harass and bankrupt political critics.

Re "America's Model for Social Order Doesn't Work Anymore," interview, Commentary, Oct. 6: Everyone loves to listen to Lee Kuan Yew, senior minister of Singapore, but why? Lee congratulates the "avant-garde" (whatever that is these days) for giving societies an "edge," but maligns free expression because the masses (the other 95% who can't go to nice schools) can't handle the message. Lee blames culture for the failure of political, economic and social systems. Instead, it would be fairer to say that the oligarchic system that he espouses is twisted and unjust.

Singapore announced that it had banned the Far Eastern Economic Review magazine after it failed to comply with new rules. "It is a privilege and not a right for foreign newspapers to circulate in Singapore," the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts said. The government said the publication failed to appoint a legal representative and pay a $126,000 security bond. In a separate case, the Review, published by Dow Jones & Co.

The first thing I noticed when I rode into downtown Singapore at 3 a.m. was the garbage-strewn field -- cans, cigarette butts, gutted cartons of take-away food. Could this be Singapore? Squeaky-clean, litter-at-your-peril Singapore, where even chewing gum is outlawed? The answer would come soon enough, and like much about Singapore over the next five years, it would surprise me.

Lee Kuan Yew's name has been synonymous with the development of Singapore for more than 40 years, first as an independence leader, then as prime minister and, since 1990, as senior minister, a powerful Cabinet post created just for him.

Asian leaders have certainly gotten their share of bad press lately. The U.S. news media have run so many bad stories about Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi that the esteem in which he is held here is almost as low as in Japan. And Malaysia's Mahathir Mohamad plays the ugly anti-West card so often that America must wonder if it needs enemies with friends like him. But Asia is a sprawling place with more than half the world's population, a lot of countries and a lot of leaders.

For different reasons, the Chinese government and Hong Kong's new leadership see the prosperous city-state of Singapore as a model for the future for the soon-to-be-former British colony. Beijing likes the strict political control practiced in Singapore, where dissent is little tolerated and the press is heavily censored. Hong Kong's newly designated leaders--drawn from the territory's business elite--like the openness and vitality of the Singapore economy.

On a steamy Saturday night in this tiny island city-state that someone once dubbed "Silicon Valley with better-than-average Chinese takeout," it seems as if half of the 3 million-plus population is hanging out at a large open-air market known as Clementi Center. They're bargaining at the discount shops or dining alfresco near low-cost food stands in the humbling humidity of Southeast Asian heat.

Kwa Geok Choo Wife, mother of Singapore prime ministers Kwa Geok Choo, 89, wife of Singapore's first prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew, and the mother of the island nation's current prime minister, died Saturday at home, said a statement from the office of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. She underwent surgery in 2008 after a stroke and suffered a massive hemorrhage a month later. Born in 1921, Kwa met Lee in the late 1930s when they studied at Raffles Institution, where she was the only girl in high school.

Asian leaders have certainly gotten their share of bad press lately. The U.S. news media have run so many bad stories about Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi that the esteem in which he is held here is almost as low as in Japan. And Malaysia's Mahathir Mohamad plays the ugly anti-West card so often that America must wonder if it needs enemies with friends like him. But Asia is a sprawling place with more than half the world's population, a lot of countries and a lot of leaders.

Re "America's Model for Social Order Doesn't Work Anymore," interview, Commentary, Oct. 6: Everyone loves to listen to Lee Kuan Yew, senior minister of Singapore, but why? Lee congratulates the "avant-garde" (whatever that is these days) for giving societies an "edge," but maligns free expression because the masses (the other 95% who can't go to nice schools) can't handle the message. Lee blames culture for the failure of political, economic and social systems. Instead, it would be fairer to say that the oligarchic system that he espouses is twisted and unjust.

A judge in Singapore has further besmirched the nation's already soiled reputation for intolerance by ordering an American scholar and the American-owned International Herald Tribune to stand trial for criminal contempt of court. The government alleges that the scholar, Christopher Lingle, defamed the Singaporean judiciary by writing an article in the newspaper stating that repressive Asian governments often used "a compliant judiciary" to harass and bankrupt political critics.