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Passing of Mr Lee Kuan Yew

Which world leader will NOT make it for the funeral

  • Obama

    Votes: 13 59.1%
  • Cameron

    Votes: 7 31.8%
  • Putin

    Votes: 13 59.1%
  • Abbott

    Votes: 6 27.3%
  • Merkel

    Votes: 7 31.8%
  • Xi

    Votes: 10 45.5%

  • Total voters
    22
Nothing but respect for this man.


http://mothership.sg/2015/03/singapores-greatest-generation-and-the-man-of-tomorrow/


I first met Mr Lee Kuan Yew in 2007, while moderating a closed-door dialogue with young Singaporeans. The format was unconventional. Four youths in their late teens to early thirties gave presentations on political competition, economic development and our social fabric. The youth audience then discussed and debated among themselves, with Mr Lee watching for the most part, before sharing his own views and fielding questions afterwards.

Even in his mid-eighties, he was a formidable physical and intellectual presence. My youthful compatriots were polite but pulled no punches, and Mr Lee gave as good as he got. What struck me was Mr Lee’s keen intellectual curiosity despite his age. He had made the time to engage with us younger folk and was keen to listen, learn and understand, even if he did not always agree.

What struck me was Mr Lee’s keen intellectual curiosity despite his age. He had made the time to engage with us younger folk and was keen to listen, learn and understand, even if he did not always agree.
But time waits for no man. Some leaders are cut down in their prime, like John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King. The rest grow old: Charles de Gaulle and Winston Churchill, Nelson Mandela and Deng Xiaoping. Even the luminous among us are also flesh and blood.

Lee Kuan Yew’s place in the world

Bending the arc of history requires will and vision. While fire in the belly is easily found in tumultuous times, clear-sighted vision is precious and rare.

In each era of global transformation, the path is often unclear: in the days of post-colonial independence; in the long night of the Cold War when great nuclear powers fought proxy battles using small states as chess pieces to be pushed and sacrificed; in the new dawn of a resurgent East Asia.

Yet each time Mr Lee saw what needed to be done and — with blood, sweat, toil and tears — helped steer that arc towards survival and a brighter future for Singapore.

Because of what Mr Lee and Singapore had accomplished, other world leaders took his views seriously: no small achievement given Singapore’s tiny size. By helping and advising other countries, Mr Lee helped Singapore and Singaporeans gain international recognition and open doors to new markets.

Because of what Mr Lee and Singapore had accomplished, other world leaders took his views seriously: no small achievement given Singapore’s tiny size. By helping and advising other countries, Mr Lee helped Singapore and Singaporeans gain international recognition and open doors to new markets.
For example, his discussions with Deng Xiaoping shaped the path of Deng’s reform policies. The ensuing booming Chinese economy improved the lives of a billion people and created many opportunities for Singaporeans, while providing an Eastern engine to balance cyclical fluctuations in the Western hemisphere.

It is one thing to read world leaders’ views of Mr Lee, quite another to hear their respect and admiration firsthand. In 2008, I represented Singapore at a Youth Forum organised by the InterAction Council. Delegates had the chance to interact with each other, as well as Council members. In conversation, retired leaders from the East and West, developing and developed nations, Left and Right — all spoke highly of Mr Lee and Singapore. An uncommon consensus, transcending geography, politics and ideology.

Lee Kuan Yew’s domestic legacy

Some of Mr Lee’s tough methods may seem out of place today, but he did what he felt was needful, in an era where political pugilists were aplenty and knuckledusters abounded.

Indeed, all democracies must navigate a balance between realism and idealism, action and process, substance and form. In an imperfect world, how do countries reconcile the human need for compassion and ideals in internal governance, against the harsh external environment of geopolitical reality?

Mr Lee was clear-eyed and hard-nosed about a world of self-interested countries and power blocs. Yet his team invested in and looked after Singaporeans: building homes, livelihoods, education and opportunities for all to improve their lot in life.

He contributed a value system which guided policymaking:

Meritocracy – the best person for the job regardless of race, language, religion or personal background;

Clean government, a radical idea in an era when corruption was accepted as an inevitable way of life;

Self-reliance, because a country unable to sustain itself must starve and fail, or live on its knees as the servant vassal of a larger power;

Multi-racialism, when so many other post-colonial states were organised along sectarian and tribal lines, with ensuing strife.

And running through it all, the golden thread and prime directive of a fair and just society.

Policies can be changed or replaced, policymakers can come and go, but that deep sense of mission and enduring values are anchors in a complex and changing world.

Building on Lee’s legacy to be a beacon to the world

There is a deeper historical significance to Singapore’s survival, which is part of Mr Lee’s contribution to the world.

In too many places, even among the developed nations, the values that guide Singapore are still more aspiration than reality.

Communal and ideological forces have not gone away in the era of globalisation — if anything, they are resurgent. With ageing populations, fiscal sustainability and self-reliance are deep concerns for many countries, as they debate whether to burden their children with debt to maintain the present generation’s privileges, or to tighten their belts to give their descendants a fair shake.

Against this backdrop, the Singapore vision of a clean, meritocratic and self-reliant multi-racial society is more relevant than ever.

In surviving and thriving, Singapore can be a beacon unto others — living proof that one united people can transcend geography and history through will and effort, to build an equitable and fair society based on timeless values. A shining city, a light among nations.

Mr Lee, in captaining that greatest generation of Singapore pioneers, leaves an enormous legacy for Singapore and the world. We will not see his like again. But the dream lives on, and it is testimony that the dream outlives its first foundations, its first dreamer.

Indeed, for several years now we have been building on Mr Lee’s legacy. And we should continue to do so.

There is still so much for our generation to do. A nation is more than bricks and mortar. It is people, families and communities. Values, cohesion and resilience. We can transform the intangible landscape, the way Singapore’s physical fabric has been transformed over 50 years.

The potential resides within every one of us to build on Mr Lee’s legacy and continue the dream.

We can continue living the values that will lead us to become a greater society and a greater people.

We can dare to build a future tomorrow that seems beyond the realm of possibility today.

We can find the fire, iron and courage to lay it all on the line for Singapore and our fellow Singaporeans.

Together, we can accomplish wonders.

Long may the Singapore dream continue, from strength to strength.
 
Yesterday's heavy rain was a sign of the impending loss. The Heavens cried.
He chose to leave without disturbing us, our sleep. He left quietly.
One friend mentioned there is an old saying, the ideal time to leave the world is before breakfast, as that means he left leaving the full three meals for his descendants.

By the time he kicked the bucket, I had finished breakfast! :rolleyes:
 
A sad tribute by Minister K Shanmugam.
"Mr Lee is no more.
I am tearing as I write this.
What is there to say about Mr Lee Kuan Yew that has not already been said?
On the broad canvas that Mr Lee made, millions of good life stories were written in Singapore.
Mr Lee made these life stories possible: People who started out with almost nothing and moved up to better lives, better jobs, better flats.
In this small city, with peace, harmony and security.
My life story is in many ways the life story of many Singaporeans.
I was born in March 1959. Mr Lee and the PAP first won elections in May 1959, two months after I was born.
Like most Singaporeans, I was a direct beneficiary of Mr Lee’s policies. These policies created a society based on meritocracy, equal opportunities, clean and efficient government, good education for all.
My family had no social capital and very little economic capital.
Mr Lee and his policies ensured that neither my background nor the colour of my skin, nor my religion, were hurdles in getting opportunities. I got a good education in a neighbourhood primary school, got into RI, got into law school and had no difficulty getting a job.
My family moved to a 3-room flat in 1975 – our first property. And we upgraded after that.
My brother and I graduated. We were able to give a good upbringing to our children.
This story, in broad terms is the story of Singapore, and the story of most Singaporeans – in that many of us started with very little, but all of us were all offered good educational opportunities, decent jobs and better housing.
The vast majority of Singaporeans benefitted. How well we did, and where we ended up, depended on individual effort and some luck.
Singapore is almost unique in the post-World War II world in having started so poor and succeeding so well.
Mr Lee and his team made that possible.
His intellect, fervour and passion for Singapore and Singaporeans won him the respect of global leaders like Richard Nixon, Deng Xiaoping, George H W Bush, Bill Clinton, Henry Kissinger, Tony Blair, Margaret Thatcher and other world leaders.
Mr Lee has been described by global leaders as “the preeminent elder statesman of our generation,” a strategic thinker, a political mastermind, an individual with “a steadfast voice of reason, clarity and hope.”
He put Singapore on the world map.
I first met Mr Lee when I was 28. He was amongst those who interviewed me before deciding to field me as a candidate for elections. He questioned me on a variety of topics for 45 minutes. It was an unforgettable experience.
Over the years, I have dealt with him on different issues.
The Mr Lee I dealt with was a practical, no-nonsense man. His sharp intellect meant going straight to the heart of any issue. There was no small talk or superficiality. Every breathing moment for him was spent thinking about Singapore and Singaporeans. There was an unwavering tenacity to ensure that Singapore succeeded.
I had never imagined a Singapore without Mr Lee.
But as he lay in hospital, on life support, I began to think of what I had never wanted to accept: that we are likely to lose Mr Lee.
Each time I think about him now, I tear. Each time I read a tribute to him, I choke. It is difficult to describe in words, the grief I feel.
Mr Lee himself was matter-of-fact about death: He said: “I am not given to making sense out of life – or coming up with some grand narrative on it – other than to measure it by what you think you want to do in life. As for me, I have done what I had wanted to, to the best of my ability. I am satisfied.”
Everywhere you turn: from the housing estates, the clean and efficient roads, the corruption-free system, the schools, the world-class universities, the leading financial centre that we are today, the good jobs and good quality of life our people have, the hospitals, the clean green environment, the vibrancy of this metropolis, the fact that it is now one of the great cities of the world with a GDP almost equal to that of Malaysia, a much bigger country, with a bigger population and a huge amount of resources. Mr Lee was the chief architect of the system that produced all of this. Mr Lee oversaw the transformation of Singapore.
Very few have made so much difference to so many in so little time.
No one else has built a country out of almost nothing, and in the face of so much adversity.
Singapore without Mr Lee Kuan Yew will never be the same.
Mr Lee’s speeches are full of passion and very inspiring. I included clips that feature such speeches by Mr Lee.
May God bless his soul."
 
.....
He chose to leave without disturbing us ......

I hope that the timing was indeed his decision and choice. Medical science has allowed man to become mini-god; at times, manipulating the time of birth and death. This is what I dislike most about medicine and doctors.
 
Why is the presidential standard being flown at half mast? The head-of-state should stand above everyone else; it isn't the state flag.

10633572_881107298618644_1086532719717843384_o.jpg
 
Re: Alternative Location to Mourn The Passing of Lee Kuan Yew

Dear brothers and sisters,

good morning.

we are sad to know the passing of Lee Kuan Yew.

some of us may find it incovenient to go to Istana to mourn the passing of Lee Kuan Yew.

I want to know if any of you organize alternative location such as Hong Lim Park to mourn the passing of Lee Kuan Yew?

Nah... I prefer to have a 'get well soon' party for LKY now. :D
 
Let's see if LKY can manage to "get up" from ashes!

Prime Minister declares period of National Mourning for Mr Lee Kuan Yew - Channel NewsAsia


[video=youtube;0uKGtKtXc4M]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uKGtKtXc4M[/video]

Can roll on the grass and wail, not so painful. :rolleyes::D

For those planning to pay last respects, heard that the venue for ordinary members of public will be the Botanic Garderns.
Of all places, why Botanic Gardens? :confused:
I hope they do not spoil Botanic Gardens...after thousands have trampled on it....it will no longer be WORLD HERITAGE SITE. It should be done at the Padang...better still in the renovated CITY HAL, a fitting place to say goodbye!...Merdeka it was & MERDEKA!...he goes!
 
Re: Let's see if LKY can manage to "get up" from ashes!

Even his photo in this banner has an inhuman quality to it. :D


home-banner-1-bg-data.jpg


Hey Pinky, you want to be a filial son and mourn that is your personal business.

For many of us, it is...


[video=youtube;3GwjfUFyY6M]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GwjfUFyY6M[/video]
 
Any news on how long the public holiday will be?

Now that LKY is up the lorry have they announced how many days of public holidays Sporeans will be getting to mourn or celebrate:confused:
 
Re: Any news on how long the public holiday will be?

23rd to 29th March 2015.
 
Re: Any news on how long the public holiday will be?

It depends, if LHL follows it would be a bonus.
 
Why is the presidential standard being flown at half mast? The head-of-state should stand above everyone else; it isn't the state flag.

If Kwa Geok Choo could get a state funeral, anything is possible in the Leegime. ;)
 
Chee sends a condolence message

https://www.facebook.com/yoursdp/posts/10153380600783455

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong
Dr Lee Wei Ling
Mr Lee Hsien Yang,

On behalf of the members of the Singapore Democratic Party, I send you and your loved ones my deepest condolences on the demise of your father, Mr Lee Kuan Yew. In this time of personal grief, our thoughts are with you.

Chee Soon Juan
Secretary-General
Singapore Democratic Party
 
Re: Any news on how long the public holiday will be?

PAP will lose billions of dollars in SGX earnings if close for 3 days?

You know how greedy PAP is and dont give 2 hoots any holidays to Us.



23rd to 29th March 2015.
 
Re: Any news on how long the public holiday will be?

If you want, you can take a whole week off and spend your time doing nothing. That is also a holiday. But do not need till LKY kick the bucket.
 
Re: PM LEE speech jin emo

A real emotion is kept within
A motivated one is displayed for maximum effect
 
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