Kuan Yew laid to rest

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Lee’s body is transferred atop a gun carriage from Parliament House during a funeral procession in Singapore. — AFP photo

SINGAPORE: Thousands of people including dignitaries all over the world bid farewell yesterday to one of the greatest leaders of the 20th century, Lee Kuan Yew, former Prime Minister of Singapore. Kuan Yew died last Monday morning at the age of 91.

The heads of state and world leaders who attended the State Funeral included Malaysia’s Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah, Brunei’s Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo, Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Australia’s Prime Minister Tony Abbott and former US President Bill Clinton.

In sombre mood and the rain falling, the state funeral procession for Kuan Yew passed through significant landmarks, such as the Old Parliament House, City Hall and the Padang, as well as heartland areas covering a distance of 15.4 km enroute to the state funeral service at the University Cultural Centre (UCC) located at the National University of Singapore.

Despite the rain, Singaporeans including public service officers from agencies braced the downpour and gathered along the route lining the streets to pay their final respects to the leader, who had transformed the country into one of the most modern and liveable cities in the world.

At the UCC, as the funeral service began, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Kuan Yew’s son, in his eulogy said: “This has been a dark week for Singapore.”

“The light that has guided us all these years has been extinguished. We have lost our founding father Mr Lee Kuan Yew, who lived and breathed Singapore all his life.

“He and his team led our pioneer generation to create this island nation.” He said Kuan Yew did not set out to be a politician, let alone a statesman, as a boy.

“In fact, his grandfather wanted him to become an English gentleman! But his life experiences left an indelible mark on him.

“He had been a British subject in colonial Singapore. He had survived hardship, danger and fear in the Japanese Occupation. These drove him to fight for independence,” Hsien Loong said.

He also said separation from Malaysia was Lee Kuan Yew’s greatest “moment of anguish”, but it also proved to be the turning point in Singapore’s fortunes.

Kuan Yew, Singapore’s founding prime minister championed independence for Singapore through ‘Merger with Malaya’, to form a new Federation of Malaysia.

“He worked tirelessly to bring this about, and succeeded.

“Unfortunately, soon afterwards the merger failed, and we were expelled from Malaysia,” Hsien Loong said.

From the ashes of separation, he said Kuan Yew built a nation. He said the easiest thing to do would have been to appeal to Chinese voters alone. Singapore would not be based on race, language or religion, but on fundamental values – multi-racialism, equality, meritocracy, integrity and rule of law.

Kuan Yew had declared: “This is not a country that belongs to any single community; it belongs to all of us.”

Hsien Loong said Kuan Yew insisted on keeping the mother tongues, even as English became the common working language. Above all, he said Kuan Yew was a fighter. In crises, he said when all seemed hopeless, Kuan Yew was ferocious, endlessly resourceful, firm in his resolve and steadfast in advancing his cause.

“Because he never wavered, we didn’t falter. Because he fought, we took courage and fought with him, and prevailed.

“Thus, Mr Lee took Singapore from Third World to First,” noted Hsien Loong. He noted one of Kuan Yew’s greatest legacies was preparing Singapore to continue beyond him. – Bernama