Elon Musk praises the first prime minister of Singapore as 'brilliant' in response to a glowing blog post about the country's airport

Musk shared a blog lauding Lee Kuan Yew's foresight in developing Changi Airport. Lee transformed Singapore into a global financial hub. 

• Elon Musk praised Singapore's first prime minister, calling him a 'brilliant' man.
• Musk shared a blog lauding Lee Kuan Yew's foresight in developing Changi Airport.
• Lee's policies rapidly transformed Singapore into a prosperous global financial hub. 

Elon Musk said that Singapore's first prime minister, touted as the country's founding father, was a "brilliant" man.

On Thursday, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO reposted a blog piece by newsletter writer George Mack, who praised Lee Kuan Yew's foresight and immigration policies.

Mack wrote about Lee's efforts in conceiving Singapore's Changi Airport, which has been named the world's best airport 12 times by London-based research firm Skytrax.

"He was brilliant," Musk wrote of Lee.

This is not the first time Musk has lauded the late prime minister. He previously called Lee a "genius" for installing air-conditioning units in public service buildings to boost productivity in the humid, tropical country.

To be sure, Singapore also draws critique on the global stage on topics including its policies towards low-income workers, freedom of speech, and human rights issues relating to the LGBTQ+ communities.

Lee served as prime minister from 1959 to 1990 and died in 2015.

Here are three things to know about the man credited for building up the prosperous Southeast Asian country:

1. Singapore's award-winning Changi Airport was Lee's brainchild.

Before Singapore's Changi Airport became operational in 1981, the island state had a small commercial airport located inland on the east side of Singapore, called Paya Lebar Airport.

While efforts had begun to expand Paya Lebar Airport, Lee envisioned a much bigger airport located on the coast of the island, which could be expanded in the future by reclaiming land from the sea.

"By mid 1970s, it was clear that Paya Lebar Airport would not be able to cope with the growing traffic for much longer," Lee said in 2006, at Changi Airport's 25th anniversary dinner. "We needed a bigger airport, with at least two runways."

The new Changi Airport was planned to be five times bigger than its predecessor. And Lee wanted the airport to be an extension of Singapore's image as a garden city, The Business Times reported in 2015.

He wanted a lot of trees planted and said that he wished to "see a jungle" when driving from the city to the airport, located on the island's easternmost tip.

As of 2024, the airport has four functioning terminals with a fifth expected to open in the mid 2030s.

In 2023, it saw passenger traffic of 58.9 million people. Skytrax called it one of the "busiest passenger hubs" for Southeast Asia.

2. Lee's policies transformed Singapore into a global financial and trading hub.

After Singapore's independence from British colonial rule in 1963 and its separation from Malaysia in 1965, the country was left with few resources, rampant unemployment, an overpopulation problem, and a lack of good public housing.

Fast forward about 60 years, and the country has the highest GDP per capita in Asia. Its unemployment rate is low, at 2.0% as of December 2023.

Lee gave Singapore's principle architect, Liu Thai Ker, the ambitious goal of resettling everyone living in slums by 1982, The New York Times reported. And it worked: 77% of the population lived in state-subsidized housing, as of 2022.

Singapore also holds the spot of Asia's top financial center, outranking Hong Kong in the latest edition of the semi-annual Global Financial Centres Index.

Singapore's growth has largely been credited to Lee's policies of attracting foreign investment and strengthening international ties.

3. Lee's robust immigration policies brought in skilled labor into Singapore

Lee saw the benefits to attracting skilled foreign talent to boost the country's productivity and spur Singaporean workers.

One way he did this was by building a world class public education system, drawing in foreign students.

The country's largest public universities, National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University, ranked 8th and 15th, respectively, in the 2025 QS top universities rankings.

The universities ranked higher than American universities Cornell, Princeton, and Yale.

Lee reiterated his stance on foreign talent in 2011 when, at age 87, he was asked for his views on Singapore's "ability to absorb" foreign professionals in future.

"If Singapore depends on the talent it can produce out of 3 million people, it's not going to punch above its weight," Lee responded.

Like other developed countries, Singapore is now tightening its rules for hiring foreigners by raising the minimum salary required to qualify for an employment visa.