SM Lee Kuan Yew, Reuters (6 June 1996), which sparked a flurry of protests from Burmese students.

I have visited (Burma) and I know that there is only one instrument of government, and that is the army...If I were Aung San Suu Kyi, I think I'd rather be behind a fence and be a symbol than after two or three years, be found impotent.

— Lee Kuan Yew

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "I have visited (Burma) and I know that there is only one instrument of government, and that is the army...If I were Aung San Suu Kyi, I think I'd rather be behind a fence and be a symbol than after two or three years, be found impotent." in the context of "SM Lee Kuan Yew, Reuters (6 June 1996), which sparked a flurry of protests from Burmese students." to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Lee Kuan Yew" (Quotes, 1990s) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Lee Kuan Yew

About Lee Kuan Yew

Lee Kuan Yew (16 September 1923 – 23 March 2015) was a Singaporean politician. He was the Secretary-general of the People's Action Party (1954–1992) and Singapore Prime Minister (1959–1990), Senior Minister (1990–2004), Minister Mentor (2004–2011).