写书不是写输.
李光耀书籍可以赚钱! Publishers are working hard to milk from his name.
A collection of former Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew's speeches, interviews and dialogues over four decades - some of which are being released for the first time - was launched yesterday.
Published by Cengage Learning, the papers include Mr Lee's views and statements on Singapore's separation from the Federation of Malaysia, independence, Singapore's nation-building process and leadership succession.
Speaking at the launch of The Papers of Lee Kuan Yew yesterday, Mr Lee said whether for reflection or scrutiny, the papers capture issues and decisions that were both popular and unpopular, but necessary for the time.
The compilation of his speeches may allow Singaporeans to understand the history in nation building, and more importantly to learn the lessons from the past.
He stressed that Singaporeans have to understand the underlying values on which the nation was built.
The 10 volumes cover more than 5,000 pages of text and nearly 500 photographs, drawn from the collections of the National Archives of Singapore, as well as materials deposited over time from the office of the Press Secretary to Mr Lee, and the former Singapore Broadcasting Corporation.
It is also taken from agencies such as the Prime Minister's Office and the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts.
Publishing the collection would give readers a better understanding of Mr Lee's role in the founding and development of modern Singapore, said Cengage Learning.
In his foreword, former United States Secretary of State Henry Kissinger wrote: "The volumes are an indispensable source for the thinking of one of the seminal thinkers of our period."
The collection is available in a case-bound edition at US$2,800 (S$3,647), and a leather-bound limited edition at US$3,600.
The next series of Mr Lee's works will cover his term as Senior Minister to the present, and is planned for release in the last quarter of next year.