TRIBUTE TO MR LEE KUAN YEW

If anyone were a dream chaser, it would be our late Minister Mentor, Mr Lee Kuan Yew, who envisioned big dreams for Singapore and invested his whole life in building the nation.

Singaporeans hung their heads low as the solemn news broke on Monday morning. "The Prime Minister is deeply grieved to announce the passing of Mr Lee Kuan Yew, the founding Prime Minister of Singapore. Mr Lee passed away peacefully at the Singapore General Hospital today at 3.18am. He was 91," said the PMO. Business and traffic went on as per normal, but it was quieter than usual. Where Singapore was once a tiny fishing village with yellowed waters that reek of urine and pollution; its streets stink of social unrest, the man who cried ‘Merdeka! Merdeka!’ led us through an exodus from a third world city to a developed and flourishing global trading hub in a short span of 50 years. Beginning from Singapore’s most turbulent years of rioting and disharmony, Mr Lee had never once stopped looking out for Singapore. In his 1988 National Day Rally, he said, "Even from my sickbed, even if you are going to lower me to the grave and I feel that something is going wrong, I will get up." Ever since he resigned from his Prime Minister’s post in 1990, he has kept his word by taking on the role of Minister Mentor in 2004, where he guided the current leaders of Singapore in driving the nation to excellence, all the way to the last years of his life. It’s sad that most of us only dig up our lion city pride during events such as this. Over the years, we cannot deny that we have become more and more complaining citizens, taking for granted the many things we ought to be grateful for, such as having drinkable tap water, a clean and green environment and low crime rate, which was absent 50 years ago. Without Mr Lee, Singapore may not be what she is today. For a country with no resources except for a small pool of locals to progress this much, one could say that Singapore slayed.

Mr Lee has been an inspiring leader, husband and father to many and his legacy shall continue to live on through the fruits of this city.

THANK YOU MR LEE.