LKY in this chapter re-echoed the basic facts and events that shaped his course of actions most of which happened during the formative years of Singapore as a nation. LKY was deluded to the fact that while “there are books to teach you how to build a house, how to repair engines , how to write a book, he had not seen a book on how to build a nation out of a desperate collection of immigrants from China, British India and the Dutch East Indies, or how to make a living for its people when the former economic role as the entrepôt of the region is becoming defunct.”   Entrepôt also referred to as a transshipment port is a port, city, or trading post where merchandise may be imported, stored or traded, usually to be exported again without incurring liability for duty.

The preface to this book started with Lee Kuan Yew (LKY) clearly stating that ” I wrote this book for a younger generation of Singaporeans who took stability, growth, prosperity for granted. I wanted them to know how difficult it was for a small country of 640sq. km with no natural resources to survive in the midst of larger, newly independent nations all pursuing nationalistic policies”