The second part of his book will deal with Singapore's post-independence years and the country's struggle for success.

Disclosing this yesterday, Mr Lee said that he had completed the draft of both parts of his book in the middle of last year and his publishers had decided then to put out both volumes together this year, to coincide with his 75th birthday today, Sept 16.

But the Asian economic crisis had changed this plan, as his chapters on Asean and its leaders had to be updated in the light of the fast-changing events, he said.

He hoped to revise these chapters by May next year so that the book could be in the bookshops by September or October.

Asked repeatedly by reporters to disclose some of the highlights of volume two, he smiled and said: "Wait for the book."

Why papers ran extracts: It would not have made any difference if his memoirs or extracts of it were published a week or even a year later, said Mr Lee Kuan Yew, noting that there was never an appropriate time.

He was responding to a reporter's question on why The Sunday Times had chosen to publish last Sunday, extracts of his book which dealt with Singapore's troubled relations with Malaysia during its two-year merger, at a time when ties between the two countries were tense.

"You better ask The Sunday Times," replied Mr Lee, to laughter.

He added that it was the practice of newspapers to publish extracts of major books or memoirs before a book was launched.

This had been done by newspapers in London when former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher published her account of her years in Downing Street.

The Sunday Times in Singapore had done the same, to arouse the interest of its readers, he said.

Other publications, such as regional magazines like Time, Asiaweek, as well as newspapers such as Hongkong's South China Morning Post, were also doing so.

As for the timing, Mr Lee said that this was irrelevant, since there was "never an appropriate time".

Pride and pain: His greatest source of pride, said Mr Lee Kuan Yew, was that he had put in place a younger team of leaders who were able to carry on the job of making Singapore succeed.

"I did not leave Singapore without a leadership capable of carrying on the work," he said, noting that the challenges of the future were as large as those that he and his colleagues had faced in the 1960s.

And what is his greatest regret?

"That Singapore was turfed out of Malaysia," he said.

"If things were different, we might have achieved all this throughout Malaysia. But the cards were stacked differently."