新加坡风云人物李光耀因病去世

Lee Kuan Yew, founding father of modern Singapore and one of the most influential global leaders of the 20th century, has died aged 91, half a century after he led the tiny Asian city-state to independence in 1965.

在1965年领导新加坡这个亚洲小国实现独立的半个世纪后，现代新加坡国父、20世纪最有影响力的世界领袖之一李光耀(Lee Kuan Yew)于23日凌晨3时18分点去世，终年91岁。

Singapore’s first prime minister, Mr Lee ruled the island nation from 1959 for three decades, overseeing its transformation from tropical Southeast Asian backwater in the declining years of British colonial rule, into one of the most remarkable economic success stories of the 20th century.

作为首任新加坡总理，李光耀从1959年开始治理这个岛国长达30年，在他的领导下，新加坡从英国殖民统治衰落末期一个落后的东南亚热带小国，转型为20世纪最成功的经济故事之一。

He combined an authoritarian streak and appetite for social engineering with a determination to cement Singapore’s status as the most business-friendly location in the region by eliminating corruption and building a politically neutral jurisdiction based on the British legal system.

他把威权手段与对社会工程的喜爱结合在一起。他决心确立新加坡作为亚洲最亲商国家的地位——通过根除腐败，并建立以英国司法体系为蓝本、政治中立的司法制度。

That helped propel Singapore from an economically deprived port city of the 1950s with per-capita gross domestic product of just $550 to an Asian financial powerhouse with GDP per capita of $55,000, according to the World Bank.

世界银行(World Bank)数据显示，这帮助推动新加坡从20世纪50年代一个经济落后、人均国内生产总值(GDP)仅为550美元的港口城市，变成了人均GDP高达5.5万美元的亚洲金融中心城市之一。

On the International stage Mr Lee’s sharp intellect meant his advice was sought by US presidents from Lyndon B Johnson to Barack Obama, and by European leaders such as Helmut Schmidt, the former West German chancellor with whom he remained close.

在国际舞台上，李光耀的犀利智慧引来历届美国总统——从林登•B•约翰逊(Lyndon B. Johnson)到巴拉克•奥巴马(Barack Obama)，以及西德前总理赫尔穆特•施密特(Helmut Schmidt)等诸多欧洲领导人向他寻求建议。他一直与施密特保持着密切联系。

He was one of the first to spot the potential of China under Deng Xiaoping, the former Chinese leader whose pro-market reforms unleashed the economic juggernaut that is now the world’s largest economy on purchasing parity terms.

李光耀是最先发现中国在邓小平领导下的发展潜力的人士之一。中国前最高领导人邓小平的市场化改革释放了一列经济快车，按购买力平价计算，中国现在是全球最大经济体。

But it is as the architect of modern Singapore, an island with a population of a small mainland Chinese city, that he will be remembered. He led Singapore out of a shortlived union with the Malayan Federation in 1965, two years after breaking colonial ties with Britain.

但李光耀被后人铭记的将是缔造了现代新加坡，这个岛国的人口相当于中国内地一个小型城市。摆脱英国殖民统治两年后，李光耀在1965年带领新加坡脱离其与马来西亚联邦的短暂联盟。

“He will go down in history as the moderniser of Singapore and the leader who pulled it all together,” says Michael Barr, associate professor at the School of International Studies at Australia’s Flinders University.

澳大利亚弗林德斯大学(Flinders University)国际关系学院副教授迈克尔•巴尔(Michael Barr)表示：“他将作为新加坡的现代化推动者，作为带领新加坡走上崛起道路的领导人名垂史册。”