"An arduous battle ... corruption has to be eradicated at all levels of government," said Lee, who was Singapore's prime minister from 1965 to 1990. He has since become an adviser to the current government led by his son and still retains enormous influence.

Lee, speaking at an international ethics forum organized in Kuala Lumpur by a Malaysian think-tank, said Singapore has managed to fight corruption by fixing government salaries at up to 80% of what is paid for equivalent posts in the private sector.

"Whether it is a policeman, an immigration official, a customs official, it is dangerous to have them grossly underpaid," said Lee, 81, who is on a four-day private visit to Malaysia.

"An important factor to keep corruption at bay is the salaries of ministers and government officials," Lee said. "When ministers and senior civil servants are paid salaries that are derisive compared to those of their counterparts, officials and ministers will be tempted to take gifts. And gifts lead to bigger gifts."

He said no political system in the world - including that of Singapore - could be free of corruption, but that the top leadership has to bear the pain of sacking close associates and colleagues if they are found to be involved in shady deals.

Lee noted two ministers in his former Cabinet were found to have taken inappropriate gifts from private builders. One of them was convicted and jailed for four years, while the other took his own life and left a suicide note accepting blame for his actions, Lee said.

Last year in Singapore, 125 corruption cases came under prosecution compared to 175 in 2003, Lee said, noting that Singapore has been rated as the least corrupt country in Asia by the Berlin-based anti-corruption group, Transparency International.

However, Lee warned there was no guarantee that Singapore would remain relatively graft-free if the People's Action party, which has ruled the island nation since independence in 1965, is thrown out of power in the future.

He said the PAP has created safeguards in the system that would protect Singapore against corruption even after the PAP is out of power for one term. But there's no assurance that a new government wouldn't amend the constitution and weaken the system, he said.

Lee cited China and Vietnam as nations where the communist revolutionary zeal of early years eventually gave way to rampant and freewheeling graft after a free-market economy took root.

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