Book Review: LKY story-Lee Kuan Yew: The man who shaped a nation

There have been a lot of books written on Lee Kuan Yew, widely regarded as Singapore’s founding father, especially after his passing in 2015. But “LKY story-Lee Kuan Yew: The man who shaped a nation” is the first manga to interpret his inspirational life in manga form.

The biographical manga is published by Shogakukan Asia and it depicts LKY’s life, from his early years to his fight for Singapore’s independence and the founding of modern Singapore.

Key events on LKY ‘s life are covered in this manga; his witnessing of the fall of Singapore to the Japanese- how that shaped his worldview of being a British colony to the merger and separation from Malaysia. There are also interesting facts in the manag although some might be dramatised; his entrepreneurship on making glue to sell during the Japanese occupation and much more.

The manga did a competent job in incorporating the important events in LKY’s life and the story is entertaining- even if they took creative license with some of the events.

There was a scene where LKY had a meeting with the Malaysian Premier and knowing the inevitable separation of the 2 countries, LKY shed a tear and it rolled down and hit his hand. LKY did shed tears but in actual fact, it was during a TV broadcast to announce the separation from Malaysia and being a fully independent country.

The gripe I have is that other major characters in the manga are too caricatured and one dimensional.

The manga is drawn by Yoshio Nabeta and illustrator Yoshihide Fujiwara.

This review copy is provided by book seller and distributor APD Singapore (website | facebook). You can get the book from them and major bookstores in Southeast Asia.