This morning, the reality has caught up with me. Singapore's first Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, after more than 40 days of treatment for acute pneumonia, has passed away peacefully at the Singapore General Hospital, at the age of 91.
Coincidently, this day is my 33rd birthday. My birthdays will never be the same again. Initially, I was thinking of mourning on his passing for my every birthday. But I want to be positive and productive. So, I've decided for my birthdays, I am going to thank him and be grateful to him for building up Singapore, be grateful for whatever I have, and to stay useful to the society, as my little way to repay this great man of Singapore. *Salutes*
So, on this sombre Monday morning, my hero died, at 3.18am.
For starters, I have never met my paternal or maternal grandfather. Not even a photo or even a brief physical description. They passed away when my parents were still kids. So, as I grow up with a gaping empty space in my heart yearning for a father figure, which is made worse by my problematic parents, I 'created' an imaginary grandfather, whom I often see on the TV and other forms of media. He is Mr Lee Kuan Yew. It really helped that we share the same surname: Lee.
Mr. Lee is one of my greatest source of inspiration and a source of courage to soldier on. This is due to the way he portrayed his immense passion, guts and gumption in building up our nation, day in, day out, defying all odds and doing the impossibles, for more than 50 years of his life.
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| I just came back from the market at 7 plus and I couldn't believe what I've just read on the TV. Mr Lee has just left us. I sat down in front of the TV watching this morning news and, like any other grand-daughter would at the death of her grandpapa, cried and cried again. Goodbye Grandpa. Indeed, he is the father or grandfather of Singapore. |
As my child came up to sit on my lap, telling me not to be sad, I am all the more deeply thankful to Mr. Lee for all his contributions to creating such a safe, stable and beautiful island that my child and the future children of Singapore can grow up, play, work, thrive and live happily in.
All this, no less, from a backward island of mud and villages, to today's modern infrastructures, as seen before my very own eyes. PS: I could still remember clearly that very day my whole family moved out of our wooden house in a
village into a public housing unit made of bricks and concrete, completed with nicely paved roads and pathways.
Furthermore, he created a society where everyone is given equal opportunities to excel in life regardless of your race, religion, how wealthy your family is or who you know. Coming from a dysfunctional family, I was given the chance to receive university education and subsequently, was able to earn a decent living and start a family. And now, I am waiting for the completion of my brand-new public flat and is expected to move in by 2017. To me, this is the coveted, affordable home-ownership. I feel lucky to be in a society where everyday just gets better, if you strive hard enough. For this, I am deeply grateful. And I am sure, my husband, who has been crying secretly, feels the same way.
Perhaps the most useful thing I can do to thank him is to continue upholding some of the principles he thought was most important:
1. To be self-reliant or independent
2. To always be relevant and useful to the world/society
3. Be disciplined*
*Once, someone asked him why he was, even up to his old age, so disciplined (in working and learning) and he replied that if he weren't, there won't be today's Singapore. Indeed, if you want to succeed, you simply have to put in unwavering effort and commitment to achieve it.
As much as one might think today's Singapore is his dream come true, I would like to think
he is Singaporean's dream come true.
To Mr Lee, the most eloquent and lucid man that I've known, the man that has lived his life to the fullest (him being
so alive!), the man that I've always looked up to (I'll sit up and listen whenever he's on TV), may you rest in blissful peace with your beloved wife.
The only regret, however, was that I haven't meet this
superstar of my life in person, shake his hands and take a photo with him. Even more so, I have not given him a huge thank you hug :)
Below are my personal thoughts about one of Mr. Lee's books that I've read a few months ago.
Mr Lee Kuan Yew: One Man's View of the World:
An (political) eye opener! It's literally a quick tour of how the world has changed for the past three decades as I was growing up. He shrank the world into a nutshell. He took me (readers) through the political history: to the past, to the future, and then back to the present. What an amazing journey through the history. It felt like I was watching a historical movie.
All that political news (of which I usually have only half the idea of what's going on) - the news about USA, China, North Korea, Vietnam, Philippines and Japan, their political ties, relationships, the changing power scale, position and psyche - has finally began to make great sense to me. Now, the nightly news about the world has become so much more meaningful and interesting.
My question marks were all popped off: Why did our leaders and other countries' leaders going around the world, shaking hands and making friends? And why photos of it
have to be taken and published in papers? Why did one country intervened or stopped another for certain acts? What is actually going on? What's up with the shooting of machines up into space? Why the claiming of space's space? And why did the government gather the fruits of the country's labour (profit/taxes) and redistribute it in a certain way every year? But I am just beginning to understand the political scene.
Futhermore, he provided a virtual glimpse of the state of the world in the future, 20 years ahead and even beyond my lifetime, long after I pass away! PS: I personally liked the chapter which he talks about his personal life and also the pages of photos of his daily life and of his meetings with political leaders around the world.
