Lee Hsien Loong

Lee Hsien Loong
李显龙
Lee in 2022
Senior Minister of Singapore
Assumed office
15 May 2024
Serving with Teo Chee Hean
Prime MinisterLawrence Wong
Preceded byTharman Shanmugaratnam
3rd Prime Minister of Singapore
In office
12 August 2004 – 15 May 2024
PresidentS. R. Nathan
Tony Tan
Halimah Yacob
Tharman Shanmugaratnam
DeputyTony Tan
S. Jayakumar
Wong Kan Seng
Teo Chee Hean
Tharman Shanmugaratnam
Heng Swee Keat
Lawrence Wong
Preceded byGoh Chok Tong
Succeeded byLawrence Wong
Secretary-General of the People's Action Party
Assumed office
7 November 2004[1]
ChairmanTony Tan
Lim Boon Heng
Khaw Boon Wan
Gan Kim Yong
Heng Swee Keat
Preceded byGoh Chok Tong
Member of the Singapore Parliament
for Ang Mo Kio GRC
(Teck Ghee)
Assumed office
21 August 1991
Preceded byConstituency established
Senior positions
Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore
In office
January 1998 – August 2004
Preceded byRichard Hu
Succeeded byGoh Chok Tong
Ministerial offices
Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore
In office
28 November 1990 – 12 August 2004
Serving with Ong Teng Cheong (1985–1993)
Tony Tan (1995–2004)
Prime MinisterGoh Chok Tong
Preceded byGoh Chok Tong
Succeeded byS. Jayakumar
Minister for Finance
In office
10 November 2001 – 1 December 2007
Prime MinisterGoh Chok Tong
Himself
Second MinisterLim Hng Kiang
Raymond Lim
Tharman Shanmugaratnam
Preceded byRichard Hu
Succeeded byTharman Shanmugaratnam
Minister for Trade and Industry
In office
1 January 1987 – 6 December 1992
Acting: 18 February 1986 – 31 December 1986
Prime MinisterLee Kuan Yew
Goh Chok Tong
Preceded byTony Tan
Succeeded byS. Dhanabalan
Second Minister for Defence
(Services)
In office
1 January 1987 – 27 November 1990
Serving with Yeo Ning Hong (Policy)
Prime MinisterLee Kuan Yew
MinisterGoh Chok Tong
Parliamentary offices
Member of the Singapore Parliament
for Teck Ghee SMC
In office
22 December 1984 – 14 August 1991
Preceded byConstituency established
Succeeded byConstituency abolished
Personal details
Born
Lee Hsien Loong

(1952-02-10) 10 February 1952 (age 72)[2]
Singapore
Political partyPeople's Action Party
Spouses
Wong Ming Yang
(m. 1978; died 1982)
(m. 1985)
Children4
Parent(s)Lee Kuan Yew (father)
Kwa Geok Choo (mother)
RelativesLee Hsien Yang (brother)
Lee Wei Ling (sister)
Alma materTrinity College, Cambridge (BA, Dipl.)
Harvard University (MPA)
OccupationPolitician
ProfessionMilitary general
Signature
Military service
Branch/serviceSingapore Army
Years of service1971–1984
RankBrigadier-General
CommandsDirector of the Joint Operations and Planning Directorate
Chief of Staff – General Staff
Assistant Chief of the General Staff (Operations)
Commanding Officer, 23rd Battalion Singapore Artillery
Lee Hsien Loong
Lee's name in Simplified (top) and Traditional (bottom) Chinese characters
Traditional Chinese李顯龍
Simplified Chinese李显龙
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinLǐ Xiǎnlóng
Bopomofoㄌㄧˇ ㄒㄧㄢˇ ㄌㄨㄥˊ
Wade–GilesLi3 Hsien3-lung2
IPA[lì ɕjɛ̀n.lʊ̌ŋ]
Yue: Cantonese
Yale RomanizationLéih Hín-lùhng
JyutpingLei5 Hin2-lung4
IPA[lej˩˧ hin˧˥ lʊŋ˩]
Southern Min
Hokkien POJLí Hián-liông

Lee Hsien Loong[a] PPA(E) SPMJ DK (born 10 February 1952) is a Singaporean politician and former brigadier-general who has been a senior minister of Singapore since 2024, having previously served as the third prime minister of Singapore from 2004 to 2024. He has served as the secretary-general of the People's Action Party (PAP) since 2004 and has been the member of Parliament (MP) for the Teck Ghee division of Ang Mo Kio GRC since 1991, and previously Teck Ghee SMC from 1984 and 1991.

Born and raised in Singapore during British colonial rule, Lee is the eldest son of Singapore's first prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew. He graduated from Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1974 with first class honours in mathematics and a Diploma in Computer Science with distinction (equivalent to a first-class master's in computer science). He served in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) between 1971 and 1984, and attained the rank Brigadier-General, completing a Master of Public Administration degree at Harvard Kennedy School in 1980. Lee resigned from the SAF in 1984 to enter politics and was elected the MP for Teck Ghee SMC. Since its dissolution in 1991, he has represented the Teck Ghee ward of Ang Mo Kio GRC.

Lee has served as Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Finance, Minister for Trade and Industry, and Second Minister for Defence under two Prime Ministers Lee Kuan Yew and Goh Chok Tong before assuming the office of prime minister in August 2004. In his first two years, his government enacted a five-day work week and extended maternity leave days. His proposal to build two integrated resorts in Singapore to increase tourism revenue led to the development of the Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa. Following the Great Recession of 2008, he oversaw the country's economic recovery within two years. Further political reforms in 2010 saw increased online activism, as well as the number of Non-Constituency Members of Parliament (NCMPs) in Parliament.

In between 2020 and 2021, Lee oversaw the government response to COVID-19 pandemic and its subsequent recession and recovery. In 2022, he also oversaw the government response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, making Singapore the only Southeast Asian country to impose sanctions on Russia. That same year, his government de jure and de facto legalised same-sex sexual activity between men by repealing the then already unenforced colonial-era Section 377A. Lee is frequently noted by the international media as the world's highest-paid state leader. His libel suits against journalists and political opponents have been frequently covered by international news outlets. In April 2024, Lee announced that he would not seek a sixth term as prime minister in the forthcoming general election and resigned from his position as prime minister in May alongside his cabinet; he was succeeded by Lawrence Wong, who formed a new cabinet and subsequently appointed Lee as a Senior Minister.

  1. ^ Jayakumar 2021, p. 712.
  2. ^ "PMO |Mr LEE Hsien Loong". 4 September 2020. Archived from the original on 23 July 2020. Retrieved 18 July 2020.


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