LKY passed away at the age of 91 yrs old on 23/3/15.
Then it goes like this 91-23-3-15 = 50.
So Singapore celebrate SG50 this year.
Lee Kuan Yew cried for Singapore 50 yrs ago about the separation with Malaysia.
So 50 yrs later, that is today, now the nation cries for him.
Amazing.....
白振华 is a useless prick. Isn't he in china now?
Iris, thank you for sharing this video.
This song may not mean anything to the young, but I felt so emotional on hearing it.
I am a baby boomer, and so, saw poverty in Singapore firsthand. There weren't enough housing in those days, many families had to share a very old and dirty house. My paternal and maternal grandparents both lived on the second storey of a shophouse. They were both old rent- control shophouses. The downstairs of my paternal grandparents' house was a paper mill and the downstairs of my maternal grandparents' house was a coffeeshop, selling chinese and indian food.
I was fortunate to grow up with great-grandparents as well. One of them had binded feet and lived to her mid eighties. In those days, believe me, it was horrible if you have to do your business. There were no flush toilets, toilets were the squatting type, so how did old folks eased themselves when their legs were weak?
So I asked my mum how did my great-grandparents managed to do their "big and small business." My mum replied that they did their business in the spittoon and their children would clear it for them once or twice a day. Weren't children in those days wonderful? My older cousin and I were also told to run dangerous errands like buying opium for my granduncle. In those days, it was not uncommon to smell opium on the corridors of old shophouses.
Then came the hero, Lee Kuan Yew, a man way ahead of his time. With his brilliance and exceptional qualities, the world could be his oyster. If he had not become the Prime Minister of Singapore, he could be a Warren Buffet, Ny Teng Fong, Li Ka Shing etc. Instead, he used his talents and strengths to help all of us have better lives and a beautiful environment.
Quote MMlee, "What have I given up? My life."
MMLee Sir, rest assured that you had not given up your life in vain. We realize now that you were a very GIVING person . We admire the exemplary life you lived, your hard work and sacrifice to build this beautiful and comfortable city.
If only, you could see the crowds, the outpouring of grief and sorrows, then you would have added that it was a life well lived. A very meaningful and fulfilling life, as you had helped countless people.
I have never met you, and had never thought that I could be so affected by your demise. Rest in peace sir, you are very well loved and appreciated by us. You will always hold a special place in our hearts.
Politics and country management and the ability to start and build big businesses are really 2 different things altogether, and hence it is a misconception that just because a person is a very good politician and successfully grow a country means he can become billionaire through doing businesses!
My above comment is not to demean Mr Lee, who had contributed greatly to what Singapore is now, but to point out a misconception and a myth.
So far, we have not seen any Singapore politician who discontinued from politics had become billionaire through starting his own businesses or even planted themselves into the top-most post in a big MNC......
New Zealand MPs pay tribute to former Singapore PM Lee Kuan Yew following his death at the age of 91
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TouD4zCTjH0
Thanks for sharing with us your experience. Only the older generations will know the hard life before "today's" Singapore.
Mr Lee Kuan Yew is a VERY GREAT MAN, beside saluting to him, we should also salute to those people (ministers and workers) who stand side by side to support him and help to accomplish the tasks. If without anyone of them, Singapore will not be what it is today.
Mr Lee Kuan Yew is really a GREAT MAN, he is selfless, he devoted all his time, uses whatever he can to fight for Singapore to become what it is today. He treated Singapore like his own baby and immediate family. Sometimes I just wonder is Mr Lee KY send by the GOD to help to create Singapore.
Someone sweet wrote tis :
李氏一代贤
光荣入土安
耀绩留百世
先苦后留芳
生平忧狮城
一生为人民
路途不平坦
走遍全世界
好评如雷耳
了無牵挂去
Vertically it reads
李光耀先生一路走好了
Another nice poem:
再说永別不容易
见了心酸眼泪流
了別红尘众民哭
李氏一生为邦国
光用双手建家园
耀眼之时终到尽
先人种树后人享
生尽名留后人仰...
谢谢你。
Yes, because he is a great politician, and he contributed greatly to Singapore!
However, you are trying to equate a great politician to being able to become a BILLIONAIRE (like Warren Buffett or Li Ka Shing etc) if he was not in politics is just too simplistic and ignore the FACTS that great politicians do not make good successful businessmen! We have to be realistic that NOBODY is good in everything and he could have flop if he is a businessman rather than a politician just like we expect Warren Buffett or Li Ka Shing would probably flop if you ask them to be politicians rather than to be investor/businessmen right?
Who cares whether Mr. LKY would be a billionaire or not?
I would never compare LKY with Buffett or Li Ka SHing because they are not on the same ladder or level.
He might not be a billionaire, but he has made many people be billionaires. He is the FATHER of many billionaires. Is't it
great enough?
To succeed as a POLITICIAN and to succeed as a BILLIONAIRE BUSINESSMAN need very different attributes and capabilities, and now that you agreed that you cannot be good in everything, so are you admitting that it is your mistake to say that if Lee Kuan Yew didn't go into politics and become a businessman, he would be a BILLIONAIRE and comparable to the like of Warren Buffett and Li Ka Shing etc?
Sorry, Kelonguni, let me voice out 1 more time.
Mr LKY is such a great man with great mind and ideas. Not all politicians have these capabilities. I won't be surprised if he chooses another path and becomes a billionaire. Somehow it is also right to say that a person who is good at this thing doesn't mean that he/she is also good at another thing but Mr LKY is different, he had a foresight. GREAT GREAT MAN.
1 more thing, Mr LKY has a great heart too, he couldn't bear to see "us suffer" and "being bullied", maybe because of this that made him to make up his mind to transform Singapore from "nowhere" to such a beautiful and reputabale country.
really?
how abt l&l handling hdb business for how many umpteen years?
isnt that a money spinner?
the removal of estate duty before a certain person death?
as for misconceptions:
people assume (incorrectly) that owning and controlling are the same thing.
personally i would prefer controlling than owning billions, like for example controlling billions in GxC, Tx, CxF.
billionaire politician doesnt sounds so good to the hoi polloi.
the best part is (perhaps) a dead man cant sue for libel, so there is one less person to sue the opposition to bankruptcy.
well, it is the in thing to do now.
just like queueing for hello kitty was once the in thing.
what is all this stuff for lky abt?
first thing first. honor your parents first while they are alive. not when they are dead.
dont know why people can queue patiently for hours to pay respect to lky, but very impatient with their elderly parents
I quite agree with you, hopeful. I guess some of them just like to join the crowd but of course definitely there are people who sincerely and gratefully wanted to pay Mr LKY their last respect.
Lots of children take for granted when their parents are around. I wonder how many people realise that most people tends to be more courteous and can talk patiently to his/her friends or colleagues or even to strangers rather than to their siblings or parents or even to their children (if any).
Last edited by irisng; 28-03-15 at 23:03.
Did anyone of you watch a video at U-Tube regarding about a 17 to 18 years old boy (Amos Yee) negative remarks against Mr LKY?
I suppose then you would say that The Straits Times must have been very insensitive and NOT sensible for publishing below letter telling us to Recognise imperfections of Mr Lee Kuan Yew???
The Straits Times
www.straitstimes.com
Published on Mar 28, 2015
Recognise imperfections without diminishing stature
I AM greatly saddened by Mr Lee Kuan Yew's death. He was a great leader and deserves our respect for making Singapore the great country it is today.
However, I am concerned that many Singaporeans have been accused of being "disrespectful" of Mr Lee by mentioning some of his mistakes or policies they disagree with. Mr Chia Boon Teck has even called for such speech to be punished with punitive action ("Take the disrespectful to task"; Forum Online, yesterday).
Mr Chia's suggestion is a disproportionate curtailment of free speech. It seems excessive to take punitive measures, seeing that there is no third-party harm or jeopardy to national security arising from such expression.
Instead, we should rely on the marketplace of ideas. Free debate on Mr Lee's legacy should be allowed and netizens should act as a check and balance on one another to regulate against inappropriate comments.
This is, in fact, better than punitive means; punishment would likely increase resentment towards Mr Lee. Persuasion may, instead, convince individuals to be more respectful during discussions.
Moreover, by deeming the discussion of Mr Lee's faults taboo, we lionise him excessively and present an inaccurate picture of the man to future generations.
For all his great deeds, Mr Lee also made mistakes. Some of his policies, such as the "Stop at Two" policy, led to undesirable outcomes like an ageing population. His strict governing style has also been the subject of much controversy.
In order to give Mr Lee an honest assessment, we should recognise these imperfections without diminishing his stature, as historians do with other great figures, from Winston Churchill to Thomas Jefferson.
This will allow future generations to better relate to him as it gives his legacy a human touch. It also allows them to learn from both his errors as well as his successes.
However, by lionising him to the point of ignoring his weaknesses, we risk mythologising him into an "ubermensch" that future Singaporeans cannot relate to. By glossing over his mistakes, they may be deprived of important lessons that may help them avert the mistakes of their forebears.
Mr Lee himself has acknowledged that he is not perfect.
As a man who did not take to heart how others perceived him, he would not want the value of his legacy to be lost for the sake of universal laudation.
Free debate will allow for a more meaningful discussion of Mr Lee's place in history.
Ng Qi Siang