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i think election really coming...
No matter how good she portray PAP to be, I am very sure that I will not vote for them! PAP is in my context disgusting! With ministers like Lim Boon Heng around, I will not even have the slightest thought of voting for them.
Lim Boon Heng, do you remember how you stare at me, giving me the idea that I should not mess with you.
Of all PAP cahoots, you are the worst! Maybe that's why PM put you now in the PMO. But I really hands down for you cos' you are the number 1 actor. Not joking, if you join TCS, you will make it!
Oct 24, 2010
Raise your glass to our unsung heroes
It is important to honour the people who work behind the scenes to help leaders succeed
By Lee Wei Ling
I have been wondering how to bring to the public's attention Singapore's unsung heroes. Many of them remain unsung until some event brings them to the public's attention.
One example would be my mother, Madam Kwa Geok Choo, who passed away on Oct 2. She had been at my father Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew's side for more than six decades, and had, in her quiet way, imprinted herself on the Singaporean psyche without intending to do so.
When she died, there was such an outpouring of goodwill from people from all walks of life. Nothing will take away the pain her passing has caused my family, but we take comfort in the fact that her contributions to Singapore were recognised.
Early last week, The Straits Times portrayed another unsung hero - PUB veteran Yap Kheng Guan, 58, who helped design the drainage system that reduced the flood-prone areas in Singapore by 98 per cent. He carried out his duties quietly and diligently over decades, and most of us would not have known of him if this newspaper had not written about him.
Another example of long, devoted service is PUB chairman Tan Gee Paw, who topped this year's list of National Day honourees. The 67-year-old Mr Tan devoted his entire career to the environmental and water sector. Under his leadership, the PUB undertook a number of initiatives, including the Newater programme.
Mr Tan's predecessor at PUB, Mr Lee Ek Tieng, 77, cleaned up the Singapore River, among his many accomplishments. Singapore's economic adviser then, Dr Albert Winsemius, had told my father: 'The day you find live fish in the Singapore River, that day you would have made a big leap forward from the old Singapore to the new.'
It was Mr Lee, PUB chairman from 1978 to 2000, who helped my father attain that vision.
I remember my first overseas holiday in December 1967, when my brothers and I accompanied our parents to Cambodia. Mr Jek Yeun Thong, then Labour Minister, was also on the trip. I remember him exclaiming when he encountered Evian water for the first time: 'What is so special about Evian? It tastes like Singapore tap water.'
This was a tribute to the PUB. Singapore had potable water early in its history. Our purification process was so effective, there was no need to add large amounts of chlorine. Hence the water is pleasant to drink, even straight from the tap.
We take all this for granted now, forgetting the toil of many who made all this possible. We owe the unsung heroes of the PUB a huge debt. Malaria, typhoid, cholera and malnutrition - these were some of the public health issues here that were resolved in large part because of the sanitation, sewage and the water processing and delivery systems that the PUB built up.
There were also many unsung heroes among the political Old Guard, people who risked their lives to bring about the society that we know today. Other than the famous 'sung' names we all know - Lee Kuan Yew, Goh Keng Swee and the other 'founding fathers' - there were also many 'unsung' names, people I remember from my childhood.
There was, for instance, Mr P. Govindasamy, a mail officer, who was one of my father's earliest supporters from the early 1950s. He later became an MP in 1963, defeating none other than Mr David Marshall in Anson.
Haji Yaacob Mohamed was another among the early MPs who stood up to be counted. Born in Malaya and educated in a religious school, he came to Singapore in the early 1950s, working first as an itinerant barber before becoming a religious teacher.
He first joined Umno, but found it too conservative and not egalitarian enough, so he joined the People's Action Party (PAP) in 1957. He later became a parliamentary secretary and eventually a minister of state.
Along with a small band of Malay MPs, he remained committed to building a multiracial society - a Malaysian Malaysia first, and later a Singaporean Singapore - despite enormous pressure from Umno while Singapore was part of Malaysia. That took conviction and guts.
There were many others like Haji Yaacob among the PAP stalwarts of those days. I remember in particular Mr Ch'ng Jit Koon, 76, who helped my father in Tanjong Pagar, and Mr Fong Sip Chee. They both rose to become ministers of state. And in the National Trades Union Congress, when it was just a rump against the many unions allied to the Barisan Sosialis, there were stalwarts like Mr __ See Beng and Mr Seah Mui Kok. They later became MPs.
All these men - and a few women too, like Madam Chan Choy Siong - were people of rare courage. They joined the battle when there was no assurance of victory. Many expected to be defeated, but they fought on nevertheless. They were driven by principles, conviction and passion.
An archetypal figure from that era is Mr Chan Chee Seng, 77. He was Chinese educated, so the Barisan Sosialis assumed he would be an easy target for conversion to its cause. But Chee Seng was like a rock - immovable.
My father recounted to me recently how, when the pro-communist left split from the PAP in 1961 to form Barisan, they also took with them many PAP branches - including the furniture, such as it was, in the premises.
So my father and Chee Seng decided to retrieve the items. They walked into the hostile premises, including the homes of leftists, to which the items had been removed, retrieved the PAP's property and walked out.
Laughing, my father recalled that Chee Seng had a black belt in judo (second dan) and looked it. The Barisan chaps wisely decided to leave him alone. Even now, 50 years later, Chee Seng still has an athletic physique.
Chee Seng, incidentally, was also the reason why the PAP survived a vote of confidence in the legislative assembly in July 1961 by just one vote. It was he who persuaded a Malay woman legislator, Madam Sahorah Ahmat, who had been wavering, to leave her hospital bed and travel to the assembly by ambulance. History would have turned out very differently if Chee Seng had not persuaded Madam Sahorah.
In any organisation, there will be those who stand out, the leaders, and those who are followers. An important but small group in between consists of our unsung heroes - not among the foremost leaders of their times, but without whom the leaders could not have accomplished anything.
I believe that it is important to remember and honour such men and women - not because they want recognition, but to encourage more people to emulate them in doing what is good and right, regardless of whether the deed brings personal glory.
The writer is director of the National Neuroscience Institute. Send your comments to [email protected]
No matter how good she portray PAP to be, I am very sure that I will not vote for them! PAP is in my context disgusting! With ministers like Lim Boon Heng around, I will not even have the slightest thought of voting for them.
Lim Boon Heng, do you remember how you stare at me, giving me the idea that I should not mess with you.
Of all PAP cahoots, you are the worst! Maybe that's why PM put you now in the PMO. But I really hands down for you cos' you are the number 1 actor. Not joking, if you join TCS, you will make it!
Oct 24, 2010
Raise your glass to our unsung heroes
It is important to honour the people who work behind the scenes to help leaders succeed
By Lee Wei Ling
I have been wondering how to bring to the public's attention Singapore's unsung heroes. Many of them remain unsung until some event brings them to the public's attention.
One example would be my mother, Madam Kwa Geok Choo, who passed away on Oct 2. She had been at my father Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew's side for more than six decades, and had, in her quiet way, imprinted herself on the Singaporean psyche without intending to do so.
When she died, there was such an outpouring of goodwill from people from all walks of life. Nothing will take away the pain her passing has caused my family, but we take comfort in the fact that her contributions to Singapore were recognised.
Early last week, The Straits Times portrayed another unsung hero - PUB veteran Yap Kheng Guan, 58, who helped design the drainage system that reduced the flood-prone areas in Singapore by 98 per cent. He carried out his duties quietly and diligently over decades, and most of us would not have known of him if this newspaper had not written about him.
Another example of long, devoted service is PUB chairman Tan Gee Paw, who topped this year's list of National Day honourees. The 67-year-old Mr Tan devoted his entire career to the environmental and water sector. Under his leadership, the PUB undertook a number of initiatives, including the Newater programme.
Mr Tan's predecessor at PUB, Mr Lee Ek Tieng, 77, cleaned up the Singapore River, among his many accomplishments. Singapore's economic adviser then, Dr Albert Winsemius, had told my father: 'The day you find live fish in the Singapore River, that day you would have made a big leap forward from the old Singapore to the new.'
It was Mr Lee, PUB chairman from 1978 to 2000, who helped my father attain that vision.
I remember my first overseas holiday in December 1967, when my brothers and I accompanied our parents to Cambodia. Mr Jek Yeun Thong, then Labour Minister, was also on the trip. I remember him exclaiming when he encountered Evian water for the first time: 'What is so special about Evian? It tastes like Singapore tap water.'
This was a tribute to the PUB. Singapore had potable water early in its history. Our purification process was so effective, there was no need to add large amounts of chlorine. Hence the water is pleasant to drink, even straight from the tap.
We take all this for granted now, forgetting the toil of many who made all this possible. We owe the unsung heroes of the PUB a huge debt. Malaria, typhoid, cholera and malnutrition - these were some of the public health issues here that were resolved in large part because of the sanitation, sewage and the water processing and delivery systems that the PUB built up.
There were also many unsung heroes among the political Old Guard, people who risked their lives to bring about the society that we know today. Other than the famous 'sung' names we all know - Lee Kuan Yew, Goh Keng Swee and the other 'founding fathers' - there were also many 'unsung' names, people I remember from my childhood.
There was, for instance, Mr P. Govindasamy, a mail officer, who was one of my father's earliest supporters from the early 1950s. He later became an MP in 1963, defeating none other than Mr David Marshall in Anson.
Haji Yaacob Mohamed was another among the early MPs who stood up to be counted. Born in Malaya and educated in a religious school, he came to Singapore in the early 1950s, working first as an itinerant barber before becoming a religious teacher.
He first joined Umno, but found it too conservative and not egalitarian enough, so he joined the People's Action Party (PAP) in 1957. He later became a parliamentary secretary and eventually a minister of state.
Along with a small band of Malay MPs, he remained committed to building a multiracial society - a Malaysian Malaysia first, and later a Singaporean Singapore - despite enormous pressure from Umno while Singapore was part of Malaysia. That took conviction and guts.
There were many others like Haji Yaacob among the PAP stalwarts of those days. I remember in particular Mr Ch'ng Jit Koon, 76, who helped my father in Tanjong Pagar, and Mr Fong Sip Chee. They both rose to become ministers of state. And in the National Trades Union Congress, when it was just a rump against the many unions allied to the Barisan Sosialis, there were stalwarts like Mr __ See Beng and Mr Seah Mui Kok. They later became MPs.
All these men - and a few women too, like Madam Chan Choy Siong - were people of rare courage. They joined the battle when there was no assurance of victory. Many expected to be defeated, but they fought on nevertheless. They were driven by principles, conviction and passion.
An archetypal figure from that era is Mr Chan Chee Seng, 77. He was Chinese educated, so the Barisan Sosialis assumed he would be an easy target for conversion to its cause. But Chee Seng was like a rock - immovable.
My father recounted to me recently how, when the pro-communist left split from the PAP in 1961 to form Barisan, they also took with them many PAP branches - including the furniture, such as it was, in the premises.
So my father and Chee Seng decided to retrieve the items. They walked into the hostile premises, including the homes of leftists, to which the items had been removed, retrieved the PAP's property and walked out.
Laughing, my father recalled that Chee Seng had a black belt in judo (second dan) and looked it. The Barisan chaps wisely decided to leave him alone. Even now, 50 years later, Chee Seng still has an athletic physique.
Chee Seng, incidentally, was also the reason why the PAP survived a vote of confidence in the legislative assembly in July 1961 by just one vote. It was he who persuaded a Malay woman legislator, Madam Sahorah Ahmat, who had been wavering, to leave her hospital bed and travel to the assembly by ambulance. History would have turned out very differently if Chee Seng had not persuaded Madam Sahorah.
In any organisation, there will be those who stand out, the leaders, and those who are followers. An important but small group in between consists of our unsung heroes - not among the foremost leaders of their times, but without whom the leaders could not have accomplished anything.
I believe that it is important to remember and honour such men and women - not because they want recognition, but to encourage more people to emulate them in doing what is good and right, regardless of whether the deed brings personal glory.
The writer is director of the National Neuroscience Institute. Send your comments to [email protected]
