SINGAPORE – On the 10th anniversary of Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s death, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong called on Singaporeans to honour the legacy of Singapore’s founding father through their actions.
Modern Singapore stands as a testament to Mr Lee’s vision for the nation, having become a clean and green city-state that is “admired and respected around the world”.
“Together with his pioneering team, Mr Lee defied the odds to build a nation anchored in meritocracy, strengthened by economic resilience, and held together by a deep commitment to harmony,” said PM Wong in a Facebook post on March 23.
He added: “The Singapore story is still being written. Together, let’s forge a brighter future worthy of the foundation he laid.”
Mr Lee became Singapore’s prime minister in 1959, serving in that office until he stepped down in 1990. He remained in politics as a senior minister and minister mentor until his retirement in May 2011. He was then appointed as senior adviser to the GIC sovereign wealth fund.
Mr Lee died on March 23, 2015, at 91.
“Ten years on, the recent rains remind us of that solemn day in March 2015, when Singapore stood united under heavy skies to bid farewell to our founding prime minister, Mr Lee Kuan Yew,” said Prime Minister Wong.
Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who was Mr Lee’s eldest child, also marked the 10th anniversary of his father’s death with a Facebook post.
“Singaporeans remember him for all he did for the nation. To me and my family, he was our father or grandfather, and meant the world to us. May we live up to his hopes and expectations, and always do him proud,” said SM Lee.
President Tharman Shanmugaratnam paid tribute to Singapore’s growth under Mr Lee’s charge, saying the nation would have looked very different if not for him.
“We survived as a small nation, became a multiracial society, and kept climbing up in the world because of him, the team he led, and his insistence that every generation should have its own leaders – and its own ideals and aspirations for the future,” said Mr Tharman on his Facebook.
He added that Singaporeans can live up to Mr Lee’s legacy by constantly imagining a better future, working to make it possible, and to become a nation that uplifts every citizen.
On March 22, a ceremony was held at Duxton Plain Park in Tanjong Pagar GRC to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Mr Lee’s death.
Mr Lee was Tanjong Pagar’s first MP, after being elected in 1955 when it was a single-member constituency. He remained MP of the constituency for almost 60 years.
The ceremony was attended by three out of five Tanjong Pagar MPs: Education Minister Chan Chun Sing, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Indranee Rajah, and Ms Joan Pereira.
Mr Koo Tsai Kee, former MP of the Tiong Bahru division under Tanjong Pagar GRC from 1991 to 2011; and Ms Rachel Ong, an MP for West Coast GRC, were also in attendance. Under the latest changes to the electoral boundaries, parts of Ms Ong’s Telok Blangah ward in West Coast GRC have been ceded to Tanjong Pagar GRC.
All five placed bouquets of yellow and white chrysanthemums at the foot of the Lee Kuan Yew memorial tree to mark Mr Lee’s death anniversary.
(From left) West Coast GRC MP Rachel Ong, Tanjong Pagar MPs Indranee Rajah and Chan Chun Sing, Radin Mas MP Melvin Yong, Tanjong Pagar MP Joan Pereira and former Tanjong Pagar GRC MP Koo Tsai Kee observing a minute of silence at a ceremony at Duxton Plain Park on March 22 to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Lee Kuan Yew’s death.ST PHOTO: NG SOR LUAN
The memorial tree was planted at Duxton Plain Park a month after Mr Lee’s death. Its planting was witnessed by then Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, along with some 500 residents from the constituency. Among his many accolades, the founding father of the Republic was known as Singapore’s Chief Gardener.
Said Ms Indranee on March 22: “What he did for Tanjong Pagar, he also did at scale for the whole country. He oversaw this extraordinary transformation of Singapore in its journey from Third World to First.”
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