When you’re the leader of a nation your duties are rarely limited to simply governing — some go on talk shows, or pose with selfie sticks, while others have even been pictured riding shirtless on horseback.
Now that list has just been updated by Singapore’s Prime Minister.
On Monday, 63-year-old Lee Hsien Loong showed his hand at computer programming by publishing codes he wrote to solve Sudoku puzzles on his official Facebook page.
The post came after Lee said in a technology forum last month that he had programmed the Sudoku solver in C++ — a computer programming language — several years ago.
It has created considerable buzz on Facebook, attracting over 42,000 likes and being shared 14,500 times.
Internet users have also praised Lee’s skills.
A Twitter user in California wrote that Lee’s programming skills eclipsed President Obama’s efforts in December at a coding event in the White House.
One user even asked him to open an account on the code sharing website Github for others to modify his work. But Lee declined.
Lee studied mathematics and computer science at the University of Cambridge before obtaining a masters in public administration at Harvard University in the United States.
Emphasis on technology
Singapore’s population has one of the highest levels of computer ownership and Internet penetration in the world, according to the latest report by Infocom Development Authority of Singapore, or IDA, the government agency in charge of IT and telecommunications development.
In 2012, “About 85% of households had home computer access … about 84% of households had home Internet access and almost all of such households were connected to the Internet via broadband,” according to the report.
A report by PISA, an international survey that evaluated education systems worldwide by assessing 15-year-old students’ reading, math and science abilities, Singapore ranked second in math and third in science.
Lee’s post coincides ongoing efforts by the Singapore government to develop the wealthy city-state into a hub for technology startups.