It was published in Russian at the direction of the President of Tatarstan in the summer of 2011. The English original of the book was published by the Singaporean publishing house Straits Times Press in January 2011 (original title Lee Kuan Yew: Hard Truths To Keep Singapore Going).Publishing, as reported in the annotation , is aimed at "young Singaporeans". The book is based on 16 interviews with Lee Kuan Yew conducted by seven local journalists in 2008-2009. “Why did I write this book? I want readers to know the hard truth,” he states. The book answers the questions about why it is difficult for Lee to find a common language with political opponents. Is Singapore's growing religiosity having a positive or negative impact on its economy? How is a small country affected by the rise of China and India? Why is rich Singapore so stingy when it needs to shell out for the poor and disadvantaged? To questions that also face both the Russian and Tatarstan economies, Lee gave rather contradictory answers, according to the annotation to the English edition. The 458-page book, based on 32 hours of interviews, portrays Lee as "politically incorrect," often impatient and disdainful of the opinions of those who criticize his worldview. But he stands his ground, although he finds time to look back and admit that he could have been more accommodating and acted differently. Earlier, in 2005, Lee Kuan Yew’s book “Singapore History: From the Third World to the First” was already published in Russia.