born into a wealthy chinese family,lee kuan yew attended law school at cambridge in britain,and afterward he returned to singapore to practice law. as an advocate of independence,lee formed the people's action party (pap),traveled to london,and eventually helped negotiate singapore's independence from great britain.after lee's party won the first election in 1959,lee assumed the office of prime minister,a position he held until 1990,in part because the main opposition party boycotted elections for years.