Mr Lee Kuan Yew (李光耀先生), a name so familiar yet not so familiar by the younger generation of Singaporeans. This is because by the time when we the late 80s kids (1988 for my case) start to know about the world, Mr Goh Chok Tong was already the Prime Minister.
The Lee Kuan Yew we all knew are then only read through history texts and books. We hardly get to know him except occasionally seeing him on TV giving out speeches and holding dialogue sessions. Then, I remember he was a very well respected man. I remember my parents always telling me that without Lee Kuan Yew, there wont be Singapore today. And so was the same words coming from my grandparents.
Then,
fast forward, came the online era where information is spread more
freely and came the era of internet dominance and the outburst and
emergence of the opposition parties etc, the Lee Kuan Yew we all get to
know are suddenly being depicted by some as a dictator, a ruthless
leader, and many other ugly names you can think of, hoping to smear
the reputation of the great man. One even stood to say "He did nothing
for me, so I dont feel anything."
Well for once
I felt anger, I felt hurt, I felt as though someone had insulted my
family. I dont know how, I dont know why but to me there is only a sense
of deep gratitude for Mr Lee. I felt I needed to stand up for him now,
like how he stood up for Singapore then. Perhaps it's true by the time
he was born, like I said, Mr Lee was no longer the Prime Minister, so he
felt nothing thinking that Mr Lee has not done anything for him. He did
not realise that everything Singapore is was down to this great value
man.
Sure of course he did not single handedly build Singapore up, how could he? Noone could. But he did select the team who joined him, delegating the right task to the right people and because of these wise decisions, brought progress to our country. Steve Jobs too didn't single handedly build Apple. If you notice, the chief software engineer, the chief design engineer, chief marketing director of Apple, are all not him. He had an idea in his brain and he chose the team to build his idea and that's how he revolutionise Apple. This was the case of Mr Lee Kuan Yew. He wasn't exactly a Jack Of All Trades but he had a vision. He knew what kind of Singapore he wants to build and he found the right team to help achieve this one goal.
Comparing
the development of Singapore against our neighbours, dont you feel
proud to be born here? Year in and year out, we get people from
neighbouring countries all wanting to come here to work, we seldom hear
of our countrymen needing to go overseas to seek for better jobs. We
have the luxury of staying here to work and be with our families, being
the bosses of others etc. All these from what? The strict education
system made compulsory by Mr Lee. And now we have one of the best
education system in the world.
This, is just
one of the many great things our founding father had done for us. We
should all feel grateful for this man has lay down his entire life to
our country, to make sure generations to come for Singapore is well
taken care of. His work for 30 years, ensures peace, stability and
development for us for perhaps the next 100 years to come. He has lay
down a foundation so strong that he knew whoever who manages Singapore
after him will know how and what to do.
Thank you Mr Lee Kuan Yew. You will be fondly remembered and thank you for your hard work and effort for the past 50 years. You can finally rest for good now. Dont worry, we will all as Singaporeans, continue to make Singapore a better place for everyone to live in.
Let's
all now give a minute of silence for this great man, this man whom you
may not know but is the reason of all the luxury you are enjoying now
including your running water and HDB flst you live in now, and remember
him as a legend who has spent his entire life building Singapore. To the
younger generations, he is the Steve Jobs of Singapore. Except he
didn't build a phone, he built an entire country, from scratch.
We will never be able to thank you enough for all that you've done for us, for Singapore. Rest in peace, Mr Lee Kuan Yew. You are in our thoughts and prayers. Our heartfelt sympathy goes out to PM Lee Hsien Loong and family 李光耀先生，一路走好！