My Father Founded Singapore. He Would Be Troubled by What It’s Become.

Opinion|My Father Founded Singapore. He Wouldn’t Like What It’s Become.

My father, Lee Kuan Yew, was the founder of Singapore. He guided the nation through its first 31 years with a firm hand as prime minister, pioneering a system of government that some have called benevolent autocracy.

His People’s Action Party monopolized political power and denied the people some basic freedoms. Under my father, it was also dedicated to ensuring shared prosperity, clean government and high-quality public services such as affordable housing. Singapore became a spectacular success, an oasis of stability, prosperity and efficiency.

Today that luster is tarnishing.

The party, which has governed uninterrupted since 1959, is no longer living up to its obligations to the people. At the same time, it is becoming more authoritarian, introducing oppressive laws in recent years. Singapore is still an autocracy but no longer the benevolent one my father envisioned.

This will be on the minds of many Singaporeans when they vote in parliamentary elections on Saturday. Today many people feel that they are living in a country that primarily benefits the wealthy, members of the ruling party and their cronies.

I revered my father and always wanted to believe well of him. But even I have come to realize that benevolent autocracy is a myth. Singaporeans need and deserve more open and accountable government, real multiparty democracy with a viable opposition and an end to a single party’s grip on power.

A simple family dispute led me to this realization.

My father, who remained influential until his death in 2015, lived frugally in our old family home throughout his political career and retirement. He was focused on the well-being of Singapore and its people, not self-aggrandizement, and had said that he wanted the house demolished after his death.