The Book ” From Third World to First” The Singapore Story: 1965-2000 Lee Kuan Yew (Chapter 3)

In this chapter LKY narrated how Singapore under his leadership navigated the intrigues about the imminent withdrawal of the British troops from Singapore and indeed the Asia because of its need to cut cost and also focus on Europe. The presence of the British forces in the South East Asia was a stabilizing factor for the region especially  to Singapore who looked vulnerable to attack from her neighbours and also the communist China and Russia who were ready to step into any vacuum that would be created with the exit of Britain from the region. The United States was already involved in Vietnam and was not in the position to deploy more forces to secure the South East Asia.