Lee Kuan Yew, GCMG, CH (1923-) also Lee Kwan-Yew) is a Singaporean statesman. He was the first Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore, from 1959 to 1990, and was one of the longest serving Prime Ministers in the world. As the co-founder and first secretary-general of the People's Action Party (PAP), he led the party to a landslide victory in 1959, oversaw the separation of Singapore from Malaysia in 1965 and its subsequent transformation from a relatively underdeveloped colonial outpost with no natural resources into a 'First World', Asian economic power.