The news of the death of Lee Kuan Yew at 3.18am on 23 March 2014 which I received in the morning was initially treated with skepticism and was suspected as another hoax. I googled CNN and BBC and all reported the passing of LKY. Then, Sam whatsapped, "Hey Dad, LKY passed away for real". That message put all my doubt away. LKY, the Founding Father and first Prime Minister of Singapore has indeed left this world.
I did feel a sense of loss on knowing that LKY has finally gone. This was probably because of two reasons. One is that two of my children are now working in Singapore. One in fact is going to get married to a Singaporean. Second is because of historical sentiment - I grew up at one period of my life when Singapore was part of Malaysia.
Now that Peninsular Malaysia politics is increasingly moving toward racism, bigotry and Islamisation, East Malaysians (Sabah and Sarawak) are feeling more and more alienated from the original agreement in the formation of Malaysia. Some even go as far as to argue that a referendum of some sort should have been conducted by the remaining partners, Malaya, Sabah and Sarawak on the validity of this union when Singapore was "asked" to leave this federation.
Before 23 March 2015, LKY was the last founder of Malaysia still alive. Now that he is gone, any chance of getting evidence and verification on the founding agreement from someone in the know of this founding process is finally gone. The sense of loss is therefore understandable.
LKY is admired as a great and visionary leader of our time. His foresight and determination to single-handedly transform Singapore from a backwater kampong to an ultra modern city state is unparalleled and an indisputable fact. It did cross my mind many times to guesstimate the kind of Malaysia would be like if Singapore is still part of Malaysia. That exercise of course is futile but nevertheless is good for keeping the mind active.
LKY was quoted to have said at one time:
"I am no longer in active politics. It's irrelevant to me what young Singaporeans think of me. What they think of me after I am dead and gone in one generation will be determined by researchers who do PhDs on me.
I did what I thought was right, given the circumstances, given my knowledge at the time, given the pressures on me at the time. That's finished, done. I move forward. You keep on harking back, It's just wasting time.
I have no regrets. I have spent my life, so much of it, building up this country. There is nothing more that I need to do. At the end of the day, what have I got? A successful Singapore. What have I given up? My life."
He will be remembered as one among the rare species of Great Men of the past such as Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela. His passing will be missed for a very long time.
I did feel a sense of loss on knowing that LKY has finally gone. This was probably because of two reasons. One is that two of my children are now working in Singapore. One in fact is going to get married to a Singaporean. Second is because of historical sentiment - I grew up at one period of my life when Singapore was part of Malaysia.
Now that Peninsular Malaysia politics is increasingly moving toward racism, bigotry and Islamisation, East Malaysians (Sabah and Sarawak) are feeling more and more alienated from the original agreement in the formation of Malaysia. Some even go as far as to argue that a referendum of some sort should have been conducted by the remaining partners, Malaya, Sabah and Sarawak on the validity of this union when Singapore was "asked" to leave this federation.
Before 23 March 2015, LKY was the last founder of Malaysia still alive. Now that he is gone, any chance of getting evidence and verification on the founding agreement from someone in the know of this founding process is finally gone. The sense of loss is therefore understandable.
LKY was quoted to have said at one time:
"I am no longer in active politics. It's irrelevant to me what young Singaporeans think of me. What they think of me after I am dead and gone in one generation will be determined by researchers who do PhDs on me.
I did what I thought was right, given the circumstances, given my knowledge at the time, given the pressures on me at the time. That's finished, done. I move forward. You keep on harking back, It's just wasting time.
I have no regrets. I have spent my life, so much of it, building up this country. There is nothing more that I need to do. At the end of the day, what have I got? A successful Singapore. What have I given up? My life."
He will be remembered as one among the rare species of Great Men of the past such as Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela. His passing will be missed for a very long time.
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