My Last Mile with MM Lee Kuan Yew

Walking Through History

by MIKOspace

On yet another hot Spring Wednesday, the skies waver between gloom and shine midweek in the time of national mourning

over the passing of our beloved MM Lee, Founder of Singapore and Father of all Singaporeans.

For none desiring him to go so soon before their children and grandchildren could know the Man without whom, there is no modern Singapore as the World knew us.  I did not know that I would be walking through History as I join the queue to pay my last respect to MM Lee Kuan Yew as he lays in state at Parliament House.

My Q position was only 3km long from the House and the journey took almost 6 hours.

The Q snakes along both banks of the Singapore River from South Bridge Road through Clarke Quay along UOB Plaza through Battery Road, to swing around Standard Chartered Building and MayBank, passing by Bank of China whose staff passed out bottled water, before crossing Cavenagh Bridge at One Fullerton arriving at the Asian Civilisation Museum next to Parliament House.

Along Clarke Quay, I looked out at the Singapore River; saw flashes of the tongkangs and bumboats that once dominated the River so central to our economic survival those early days.  They are gone now.  Looking ahead beyond Cavenagh Bridge, the skyline of Opera House and Marina South loomed, flanked by One Fullerton, formerly the General Post Office; the old and new have co-existed as Singapore developed from 3^rd World to 1^st in just 40 years led by MM Lee Kuan Yew.

He promised in 1965: “I will make this a Metropolis in 10 years!”.

He delivered as he always does in whatever he promises.

As the Q moves at a snail pace, at times only 15 meters in an hour, I could only begin to grasp the true meaning of the moment; for just a stone’s throw away, the Stock Exchange and Banking Sector continue their hustling and bustling wheeling and dealings

amidst other commercial and trading activities, seemingly oblivious of the solemn ceremony taking place; Singapore as a global financial hub continues in vibrancy unabated with the heartbeats of the Man whose own heart has ceased; for as he laid in state, MM Lee’s energy and vitality continue in the daily life of Singapore. The Man has not just given his life and all to Singaporeans; MM Lee has in fact interred in the Singaporean soul the embodiment of his spirit, dreams and aspirations of an exceptional Singapore nation in the global community, of a free, prosperous, racially harmonious, sovereign nation deserving of respect, admiration and friendship by all.

And after nearly 6 hours, I arrived; to walk past his body with a momentary pause of respect and remembering our first meeting in 1983; this last mile’s walk with him will always be cherished. Even in death, he has reminded me and all Singaporeans, Singapore in not easy; it takes hard work, dedication, vision, perseverance, resilience and Leadership.  And so he left as he has lived, not a monument to his name nor his image on any ornaments, with just the grateful hearts of millions of Singaporeans privileged and honoured to know and have him for many seasons of his life.

“Goodbye, my Leader, Mentor, Brother and Friend”.

I could still sense his heartbeats continued strong as he laid resting at last; his work unfinished but for us to build upon by remembering his pillar legacies based on social peace with justice, regardless of race, language or religion, on this tiny sunny island by the sea.

Read Full Posts:

Last Walk with MM LKY (with Pix)

Obituary 2015 – Lee Kuan Yew

Lee Kuan Yew - People queuing to pay last respect

I made a trip down to the Padang and Parliament House to take some photos on the people turning up to pay their last respect to LKY.

The photos run in sequence from the top to the bottom with people arriving and moving into the holding area at the Padang. The Padang was dotted with army tents to provide some cover from the sweltering heat while the queue zigzaged from one side of the field towards the Esplanade. After crossing the road they moved towards Victoria Concert Hall, going through the underpass beneath St Andrew Road to emerge in front of the Asian Civilisation Heritage Centre. From there they walked along the Singapore River towards the new Parliament House.

Another queue in front of the City Hall/Supreme Court was formed for the seniors and children for a shorter route to the Parliament House.

Donation for Mysingaporenews Collection book

Hi, 5 more days to my crowdfunding for Mysingaporenews Collection Book.
Still need more orders or donations for those who wanted to help. I havc placed a paypal facility on the top left corner of this blog for this purpose after receiving comments that some prefer to use paypal.

Instructions

After hitting the paypal 'Buy Now' button, for Description just type 'Book'
As for Item, just key in amount eg 100 for $100 and hit update.
Then continue with the particulars of donors on the right side of same page.

Many thanks.

Redbean

Jokowi got fixed by Japan

In his official trip to Asia’s two biggest economic power, Japan was his stop to be followed by China to end his trip. In his first day in Japan, the Japanese paper flashed his remark that China’s claim in the South China Sea based on the 9 dashes has no legal basis in international law. This put him in an awkward situation when he next visits China to meet its leaders. Jokowi is now seen as taking the side of Japan and opposing China’s claim.
 
Jokowi has come to clarify his position today, claiming that Indonesia is a neutral party and would not take sides. His comment was only referring to the 9 dashes but not China’s claim as a whole. China has been diplomatically quiet about his comment and not wanting to say things in view of his scheduled official visit. The issue would definitely be top of the agenda when he is in Beijing.
 
The purpose of Jokowi’s visits to the two countries is to seek more economic cooperation and participation of the two countries in Indonesia’s big economic plan. The funding and know how of the two countries are greatly sought after by Indonesia. Did Japan corner him to make his anti China comment in return for Japanese investment in Indonesia? And how would this affect China’s position and how much would China put in eventually towards the infrastructure development of Indonesia would be telling.
 
Jokowi would have a tough time explaining his position that the Japanese have deliberately flashed in their media. He would still be warmly received in Beijing as Indonesia is still a very important partner to China in the region. There could or may not be any impact with respect to how much China would be willing to invest in Indonesia and if the assessment is a not too friendly Indonesia, there would definitely be a toning down on the final bundle.
 
How much would Jokowi get from Japan and China would be interesting to watch. Let’s hope Japan would not make another announcement that Indonesia has signed a defence pact with Japan. That would seal the fate with China and scuttle a lot of projects in the pipeline…and a wasted trip.

Lee Kuan Yew – Asian of the Year

I must admit that I was taken by surprise to see the massive queues of Singaporeans lining up to show their last respect to LKY. I am surprise not just by the numbers but the genuine spontaneous turnout not of the Ah Mah and the Ah Pek types that many would quickly jump to conclusion that they were there because of the chicken rice and the free transportation. The crowd were mostly from the young and rebellious group that would likely to vote against the PAP in view of their youthful angst against authority. They came in droves and droves to wait for 4 to 8 hours, braving the tropical heat of the day and the still of the night, to bow to the LKY resting in state in Parliament House. They have forgone their good times in the pubs or in their favourite haunts in Orchard Road to be there just to catch a glimpse of the man that made their lives better, the true beneficiaries of Singapore’s progress and prosperity, a generation that has not seen hardship and poverty except in some individual cases.

Since no organisation thinks it appropriate to do so, Mysingaporenews will, in all its audacity, confer its own version of the Asian of the Year Award to Lee Kuan Yew posthumously. I should have given him the Award earlier but thinking that he would have lived for many more years and would be getting the Award from the Straits Times in due course. So I withheld this self arrogated initiative till now. If I can remember, one of the main criteria for such an award is for a leader to have met many many leaders of the world.

On this point alone, LKY was at least 4 times over qualified and beat anyone hands down. He met all the heads of govts of the world more than 4 times over during his 50 years in politics. From China he met Mao Zetung, Zhao Ziyang, Li Peng, Hua Guofeng, Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin, Hu Jingtao and the current Xi Jinping. From India, he met Nehru, Rao, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Manmohan Singh, not sure if he had met the ST Asian of the Year Modi. In the USA he had met Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, the two Bushes, Clinton, and Obama. From Britain there were Wilson, Callaghan, Heath, Thatcher, Major, Brown, Blair, Cameron, and probably a few ancient PMs.

Who can beat this kind of record? Of course in Malaysia he had met them all from Tengku to Najib. But the honour of being Asian of the Year is more than just meeting other heads of states. Not many PMs or Presidents had done and achieved as much as he had with his long tenure in office. This is a record that is not going to be broken for a long time to come.

Perhaps ST should come out with a more honourable award like Asian of the Century that would be more befitting to this man. It was a pity that the ST did not give him the Award as the Asian of the Year when he was still around. He missed the Nobel Peace Prize as well to complete his collections.

This unquestionable Asian of the Year is now RIP in Parliament House to receive the respectful bows of a people that are not ungrateful to appreciate what he had done for them and their country. Singapore is unlikely to produce another son on par with the likes of LKY in the next 50 years or 100 years.