Chapter 5IN REMEMBRANCE OF MINISTER MENTOR LEE KUAN YEW

If PM Lee Kuan Yew did not have the vision and courage to decisively move our international airport to Changi 40 years ago, we wouldn't be proud hosts of the best airport in world, we wouldn't be a global aviation hub, and we wouldn't have the extensive air connectivity link from Singapore to more than 280 cities. The world wouldn't be so exposed to Singapore and we wouldn't be so exposed to the world.

How Changi Airport Has Transformed Singapore (and Me!)

Dear Colleagues,

The vision of Singapore as an air hub was a very early dream.

“Looking into the future, I expect to see Singapore become one of the largest and most important airports of the world”.

Whilst speaking at the forum “LKY and the Physical Transformation of Singapore”, held on 18th September in honour of Mr Lee Kuan Yew's 90th birthday, I tested the audience to see if anyone knew who might have made that apparently not so surprising prediction. I knew no one could possibly guess the right answer.

That bold claim was prophetically voiced on 31st August 1931 by Sir Cecil Clementi,1 governor of the Straits Settlements, who was then a prime advocate of the first airport at Kallang. Wow, it was that early a dream! By the way, in case you are not aware, ...

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