EULOGY BY MINISTER MENTOR AT THE FUNERAL SERVICE OF MRS LEE KUAN YEW, MANDAI CREMATORIUM, 6 OCTOBER 2010
The last farewell to my wife
Ancient peoples developed and ritualised mourning practices to express the shared grief of family and friends, and together show not fear or distaste for death, but respect for the dead one; and to give comfort to the living who will miss the deceased. I recall the ritual mourning when my maternal grandmother died some 75 years ago. For five nights the family would gather to sing her praises and wail and mourn at her departure, led by a practiced professional mourner. Such rituals are no longer observed. My family’s sorrow is to be expressed in personal tributes to the matriarch of our family.
In October 2003 when she had her first stroke, we had a strong intimation of our mortality.
My wife and I have been together since 1947 for more than three quarters of our lives.
My grief at her passing cannot be expressed in words. But today, when recounting our lives together, I would like to celebrate her life.
In our quiet moments, we would revisit our lives and times together. We had been most fortunate. At critical turning points in our lives, fortune favoured us.
As a young man with an interrupted education at Raffles College, and no steady job or profession, her parents did not look upon me as a desirable son-in-law. But she had faith in me. We had committed ourselves to each other. I decided to leave for England in September 1946 to read law, leaving her to return to Raffles College to try to win one of the two Queen’s Scholarships awarded yearly. We knew that only one Singaporean would be awarded. I had the resources, and sailed for England, and hoped that she would join me after winning the Queen’s Scholarship. If she did not win it, she would have to wait for me for three years.
In June the next year, 1947, she did win it. But the British colonial office could not get her a place in Cambridge.
Through Chief Clerk of Fitzwilliam, I discovered that my Censor at Fitzwilliam, W S Thatcher, was a good friend of the Mistress of Girton, Miss Butler. He gave me a letter of introduction to the Mistress. She received me and I assured her that Choo would most likely take a “First”, because she was the better student when we both were at Raffles College. I had come up late by one term to Cambridge, yet passed my first year qualifying examination with a class 1. She studied Choo’s academic record and decided to admit her in October that same year, 1947.
We have kept each other company ever since. We married privately in December 1947 at Stratford-upon-Avon. At Cambridge, we both put in our best efforts. She took a first in two years in Law Tripos II. I took a double first, and a starred first for the finals, but in three years. We did not disappoint our tutors. Our Cambridge Firsts gave us a good start in life. Returning to Singapore, we both were taken on as legal assistants in Laycock & Ong, a thriving law firm in Malacca Street. Then we married officially a second time that September 1950 to please our parents and friends. She practised conveyancing and draftsmanship, I did litigation.
In February 1952, our first son Hsien Loong was born. She took maternity leave for a year. That February, I was asked by John Laycock, the Senior Partner, to take up the case of the Postal and Telecommunications Uniformed Staff Union, the postmen’s union. They were negotiating with the government for better terms and conditions of service. Negotiations were deadlocked and they decided to go on strike. It was a battle for public support. I was able to put across the reasonableness of their case through the press and radio. After a fortnight, they won concessions from the government. Choo, who was at home on maternity leave, pencilled through my draft statements, making them simple and clear.
Over the years, she influenced my writing style. Now I write in short sentences, in the active voice. We gradually influenced each other’s ways and habits as we adjusted and accommodated each other. We knew that we could not stay starry-eyed lovers all our lives; that life was an on-going challenge with new problems to resolve and manage.
We had two more children, Wei Ling in 1955 and Hsien Yang in 1957. She brought them up to be well-behaved, polite, considerate and never to throw their weight as the prime minister’s children. As a lawyer, she earned enough, to free me from worries about the future of our children.
She saw the price I paid for not having mastered Mandarin when I was young. We decided to send all three children to Chinese kindergarten and schools. She made sure they learned English and Malay well at home. Her nurturing has equipped them for life in a multi-lingual region.
We never argued over the upbringing of our children, nor over financial matters. Our earnings and assets were jointly held. We were each other’s confidant.
She had simple pleasures. We would walk around the Istana gardens in the evening, and I hit golf balls to relax. Later, when we had grandchildren, she would take them to feed the fish and the swans in the Istana ponds. Then we would swim. She was interested in her surroundings, for instance, that many bird varieties were pushed out by mynahs and crows eating up the insects and vegetation. She discovered the curator of the gardens had cleared wild grasses and swing fogged for mosquitoes, killing off insects they fed on. She stopped this and the bird varieties returned. She surrounded the swimming pool with free flowering scented flowers and derived great pleasure smelling them as she swam. She knew each flower by its popular and botanical names. She had an enormous capacity for words.
She had majored in English literature at Raffles College and was a voracious reader, from Jane Austen to JRR Tolkien, from Thucydides’ The Peloponnesian Wars to Virgil’s Aeneid, to The Oxford Companion to Food, and Seafood of Southeast Asia, to Roadside Trees of Malaya, and Birds of Singapore.
She helped me draft the Constitution of the PAP. For the inaugural meeting at Victoria Memorial Hall on 4 November 1954, she gathered the wives of the founder members to sew rosettes for those who were going on stage. In my first election for Tanjong Pagar, our home in Oxley Road, became the HQ to assign cars provided by my supporters to ferry voters to the polling booth. She warned me that I could not trust my new found associates, the leftwing trade unionists led by Lim Chin Siong. She was furious that he never sent their high school student helpers to canvass for me in Tanjong Pagar, yet demanded the use of cars provided by my supporters to ferry my Tanjong Pagar voters.
She had an uncanny ability to read the character of a person. She would sometimes warn me to be careful of certain persons; often, she turned out to be right. When we were about to join Malaysia, she told me that we would not succeed because the UMNO Malay leaders had such different lifestyles and because their politics were communally-based, on race and religion. I replied that we had to make it work as there was no better choice. But she was right.
We were asked to leave Malaysia before two years.
When separation was imminent, Eddie Barker, as Law Minister, drew up the draft legislation for the separation. But he did not include an undertaking by the Federation Government to guarantee the observance of the two water agreements between the PUB and the Johor state government. I asked Choo to include this. She drafted the undertaking as part of the constitutional amendment of the Federation of Malaysia Constitution itself. She was precise and meticulous in her choice of words. The amendment statute was annexed to the Separation Agreement, which we then registered with the United Nations. The then Commonwealth Secretary Arthur Bottomley said that if other federations were to separate, he hoped they would do it as professionally as Singapore and Malaysia. It was a compliment to Eddie’s and Choo’s professional skills. Each time Malaysian Malay leaders threatened to cut off our water supply, I was reassured that this clear and solemn international undertaking by the Malaysian government in its Constitution will get us a ruling by the UNSC (United Nations Security Council).
After her first stroke, she lost her left field of vision. This slowed down her reading. She learned to cope, reading with the help of a ruler. She swam every evening and kept fit. She continued to travel with me, and stayed active despite the stroke. She stayed in touch with her family and old friends.
She listened to her collection of CDs, mostly classical, plus some golden oldies. She jocularly divided her life into “before stroke” and “after stroke”, like BC and AD.
She was friendly and considerate to all associated with her. She would banter with her WSOs (woman security officers) and correct their English grammar and pronunciation in a friendly and cheerful way. Her former WSOs visited her when she was at NNI. I thank them all. (Listed in Appendix A)
Her second stroke on 12 May 2008 was more disabling. I encouraged and cheered her on, helped by a magnificent team of doctors, surgeons, therapists and nurses. (Listed in Appendix B.)
Her nurses, WSOs and maids all grew fond of her because she was warm and considerate. When she coughed, she would take her small pillow to cover her mouth because she worried for them and did not want to infect them.
Her mind remained clear but her voice became weaker. When I kissed her on her cheek, she told me not to come too close to her in case I caught her pneumonia. I assured her that the doctors did not think that was likely because I was active. When given some peaches in hospital, she asked the maid to take one home for my lunch. I was at the centre of her life.
On 24 June 2008, a CT scan revealed another bleed again on the right side of her brain. There was not much more that medicine or surgery could do except to keep her comfortable.
I brought her home on 3 July 2008. The doctors expected her to last a few weeks. She lived till 2nd October, 2 years and 3 months. She remained lucid. They gave time for me and my children to come to terms with the inevitable. In the final few months, her faculties declined. She could not speak but her cognition remained. She looked forward to have me talk to her every evening.
Her last wish she shared with me was to enjoin our children to have our ashes placed together, as we were in life.
The last two years of her life were the most difficult. She was bedridden after small successive strokes; she could not speak but she was still cognisant. Every night she would wait for me to sit by her to tell her of my day’s activities and to read her favourite poems. Then she would sleep. I have precious memories of our 63 years together.
Without her, I would be a different man, with a different life. She devoted herself to me and our children. She was always there when I needed her. She has lived a life full of warmth and meaning.
I should find solace at her 89 years of her life well lived. But at this moment of the final parting, my heart is heavy with sadness.
______________________________
Pictures from the Straits Times
______________________________________________
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vendetta?
agreed with what you said.
you are stating facts,mere facts.
those who deny the facts are merely denying the truth.
i hate liars and hypocrites especially those who made themselves look so moral.
other ppl have got to suffer,they merely empty talk.
Petrus
“Also, please spare me your narrow-mindedness and shallowness once and for all…just because I ask for decency in comments here does not make me a PAP bootlicker! And just because you choose to kick PAP asses around in TOC does not make you a self-proclaimed opposition “hero” either! The statement “only empty vessels make the most noise” has its meanings, don’t you think so.”
you obviously do not know how to read or read what you want to read.
where are my comments indecent?
who is going arund TOC acting like a self-proclaimed opposition hero?
and,by the way,yes i do understand empty vessels make the most noise as i think i bump into one here.
TOC is niether pro nor against opposition,it is an unbiased portal for unbias bloggers.
if you like somehting more to your slant,go to THE STRAITS TIMES.
pao kong 7 October 2010
“other ppl have got to suffer,they merely empty talk.”
thanks for your rejoinder.
i agree with your observation.
regards.
Jenn
Who says his policies are perfectly flawless?
If you realize, in your puny little heart, no policies can EVER satisfy everyone. Not one policy, you COULD even THINK of.
You speak as if you know what GREAT LOVE is.
But if you are a great person of big heart, no use bearing grudges till you die. It won’t make a
difference I guarantee you
………….
wah 104% fuLLEE agreed with YOU on your above ^thesis^..
UNFORTUNATElee
you are talkin to the WRONG bloke…
this should be DIRECTED to the heartbroken widower
………….
i asked YOU 1 simple Q
can you raised the titanic…
ere you are
mentioned bout GREAT love and GRUDGES..
other countries can managed so well on their owned WITHOUT neoposim includin east europeans who are much much POORER
under the hands of coldminer/shipyard worker includin homebound mothers/grandmother…
YET their peasants are happy and contented….
be for ONCED travelled the world WITHOUT your louis vuitton luggages..see with your owned EYES..than come back to discuss bout GREAT love bein impaired…
Quote “This world is created with inequalities all over, nobody owes anyone a living, the difference is that this elderly statesman who is respected by other world leaders and still is today had fostered an environment where we are given a chance to try our best to achieve what one can within his/her potentials.”
Totally agreed with you Observer. MM has done a lot for the country. It is the later generation of leaders who had failed him miserably. The majority of Singaporeans, has undeniably benefited from his policies and actions in one way or another, be it living in a law-abiding society, having safe water to drink and quality education system to pursue their dreams. In the universal law of cause and effect, there is no absolute right or wrong in every action. Despite some of the government’s policies which may be hard implemented and difficult to swallow by many, there will definitely be positive and negative gains that come along. It depends on whether the challenged want to overcome adversities themselves and become stronger at the end of the day.
MM I wish you well and please take care.
A million Singaporeans share your anguish MM…
This is a reminder that, in spite of the concrete, the pallid, inflexible government policies that we sometimes encounter, the stern no-nonsense (or no appeal + no =real= consultation) policy-making …we are still romantic Singaporeans at heart.
And also, incredibly, our most paternal (or, paternalistic!) public figure is also a romantic, and also human.
Today, we have seen one of our most formidable leaders show his human side, a side rarely seen by Singaporeans. He is a man who lost the love of his life, and his face shows it.
Take care, MM.
WishMMWell
MM has done a lot for the country. It is the later generation of leaders who had failed him miserably. The majority of Singaporeans, has undeniably benefited from his policies and actions in one way or another, be it living in a law-abiding society, having safe water to drink and quality education system to pursue their dreams
…………
who are the majority that benefit from leekuanyou rulin and leaderships?
cared to name a few?
what education/safewater are you mubblin?
in south africa..nobody got to be educated? and south africans mus be drinkin urines from zebras right?
if mental minister bein MENTAL..why don’t he removed the lower useless eatricewasteseeds cabinet ministers?
if not why not? all are his NEPHEWS har?
law abidin country? where somebody beat you up and caused you bleedin..you seek polis actions..they tell you to sue the bullies with a private court orders?
are you braindead as well?
which university YOU graduated from? since you BOOAST so LOUD bout bein highLEE educated by our ^impressive^ education systems…
and what is YOUR dream after you wore that square hat? worked for temasick inc perhaps?
would there be so much fuss if the funeral is kept strictly private, bare minimal media coverage? for a non-official office holder. the state funeral seems questionable. if it remained as a family affair closed off to the public, there will likely be less fodder, wouldn’t it?
if MM truely wishes for a moment to grieve in private, would MSM dare turn the spotlight on Mdm Kwa’s passing? what more our PM relationship with MM.
what is more disrespectful? to speak the ugly truth or to barge into a wake & make it into a circus? why blame the reaction from the public when they not the 1s turning this whole episode into a farce? would anyone just barge into a wake to take pictures, record clips or speak to the family members without permission? try doing all that to grieving family members at HDB void deck loh, lol…
am i wrong to say that Mdm Kwa’s death has been fully milked for all the publicity it could get?
mice is nice 8 October 2010
would there be so much fuss if the funeral is kept strictly private, bare minimal media coverage? for a non-official office holder. the state funeral seems questionable. if it remained as a family affair closed off to the public, there will likely be less fodder, wouldn’t it?
if MM truely wishes for a moment to grieve in private, would MSM dare turn the spotlight on Mdm Kwa’s passing? what more our PM relationship with MM.
……………………………
ha ha ha…
indeed PRIVATE..so private that hte military was roped in…
http://yfittopostblogsg.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/512afp_lkyprocession.jpg
photo courtesy of the above…
the procession is so GRAND that the former 1st lady mrsongtengcheong can even dreamed…
wondered who is footin the funeral xpenses ere..ahkong siow AGAIN?
Collin, 7 October 2010
eh, where did you get those figures? did you include a detailed breakdown of it too?
% native born
% minted from 5 years back
% what’s the age group? children under 5 shouldn’t be included wan leh.
how come only 1 million?? maybe ST should have a poll…
XD
What I find difficult to understand is WHY none of Mrs Lee’s own family were ever in the picture, interviewed or spoken about?
Did she not have any siblings, cousins or family?
I wont bother asking The ST, as they have not the guts to ask even a simple honest question.
Meantime RIP, Mrs Lee.
ihavNOtearforyou, 8 October 2010
hmmm, i wonder if the guards at the gate got do their job or cos its a wake, so dun need to go through security check?
what if army bigwig demand same treatment for some special reason?
i also wish to know who foots the bills. i think those few days the coverage in the papers is just a few “peanuts” sponsored by SPH?
to Buffy, Emily, Petrus, jenn, Tay.
kindly read and digest this statement in LKY’s eulogy for Mdm Kwa.
“She warned me that I could not trust my new found associates, the leftwing trade unionists led by Lim Chin Siong.”
do you people think it is appropriate for a eulogy, casting a slur on a dead man who was his comrade at that point in time ?
where is LKY’s sense of decorum if any ?
your objective comments please ?
ps: last count was 10,000+ readers and still increasing.
@Mice Is Nice:
I think the heavy media coverage is partly due to the fact that Mdm Kwa is, after all, the MM’s wife and partly because ST has nothing to report about.
Leading up to Mdm Kwa’s death, ST had nothing much to report about. The sad demise of Mdm Kwa, however, gives them a chance to sensationalise everything and increase sales of the newspaper.
Just wondering. I wonder what would Mdm Kwa respond to all these media coverage if she had the chance to. Hmm…
I agree that MM may have make some mistakes but he is definitely not a mistake to Singapore.
RIP Mrs Lee.
Tjin 8 October 2010
@Mice Is Nice:
I think the heavy media coverage is partly due to the fact that Mdm Kwa is, after all, the MM’s wife and partly because ST has nothing to report about.
……….
AND?
the former OFFICIAL 1st lady mrs ongtengcheong is nobody? that her poor beloved respected hubby asked on OUR behalves how much is left in the mas safes?
why news not worthy enough or its takes 56 printermen to do the printin in 56 nights perhaps?
you sureLEE can THINK what is good for the LEEs…
other people? expendable perhaps?
rat is not so nice 8 October 2010
I agree that MM may have make some mistakes but he is definitely not a mistake to Singapore.
………
based on?
comeon please shared his ^LEFTOVERs^ good quality…
drgohkenswee/ratjaratnam must be juz carefares/lobos(military jargon) perhaps?
if YOU make a mistake liked drivin into a buslane/parkin on a yellowdoublelines..you get a summon..you pay for that mistakes or not?
and wongcantsink/shortleggs ministers make no mistakes? ow come THEY are still aroun? maybe the 66% singapooriums didnt asked them to be remove @ all..
so whose mistakes is it?
blamed on COMPLAINTCENTs perhaps?
or maybe leekingyou infamous words
WE VOTE for them with our eyes OPENed?
Tjin, 8 October 2010
i agree that the fact she is afterall Mrs LKY somehow means its not going to be ooh-so low key.
but as a mark of respect for the Lee family does SPH just go ahead & publicise her life to increase sales? if so if her funeral was to be a private affair, would they not have voiced out, or at least hinted.
for the wake to be held at Sri Temasek, its clear it will not be a low-key affair. its safe to assume that the media coverage is part of the “package” to raise the profile- above that of all other MIWs who have come to pass, who have served S’pore in top appointments. somehow it has diluted their contributions in comparison.
hmmm, the toxic sludge that’s happening in Europe can be further explored for example. so can the Commonwealth Games that officially openned so close to her untimely death.
Mdm Kwa would have just let MM decide? a woman of her times?
@train of thought:
A firm fist is sometimes necessary in restraining order in a country. It is like disciplining a child. Sometimes, you need to use a hard approach so that the child will learn and be kept in check, and that he’ll think twice before committing the same mistake.
It’s a matter of balancing the carrots and sticks. You can’t always give carrots, for it’ll spoil the people and make them unruly. Yet again, you can’t give them all sticks because it’ll only make them rebel. Thus, there is a need to have a delicate balance, and to give the people a hard approach to a problem if need be.
“a leader putting country and people before his family does not imply lowering standards in managing his family. it is a no brainer, a leader who has family problems will be distracted.
it is about working smarter to continue managing one’s family well.”
Fair enough, you are also right in a sense.
Let me remove this argument from the political background and make it more general
It depends on how the leader deals with any problem. Different leaders deal with all these problems differently. Some leaders are workaholics, choosing to devote themselves to the work and their workers, thus inevitably neglecting their family.
In fact, some who have family problems indulge themselves in their work in order to distract themselves away from their family problems. Yes, it happens.
Translating this back to the political argument.
As I’ve earlier said, there seems to be no public-private dichotomy for politicians. What they do in private is always being watched by the general public at large.
While they are in office, it is their responsibility to lead the people – no qualms about that.
However, the public will continue to stare at their family and how the politician behaves as a family man. If there is problems in the family, no matter how well the politician serves his fellow people, the public perception of that politician will drop.
Furthermore, what about if the politician finally retires from politics? There will always be a replacement to continue serving the public, but no one can replace him as the family man, no?
Thus, I feel that a politician must place his family a small notch above his people in terms of importance. Note that the keyword is “a small notch”
rat is not so nice, 8 October 2010
i hope MM acknowledges that too & make good on the mistakes before he departs.
his efforts in China could have been better spent here. or people may just ask if he’s MM of S’pore or China?
didn’t he too admit that S’pore is a work-in-progress?
@Mice Is Nice:
Hmm, fair enough. You’ve got a valid point.
With regards to the toxic sludge and the Commonwealth Games, I guess a possible reason why the coverage of the funeral garners more attention is because SPH, as the SINGAPORE Press Holdings, have the obligation to report what happens in Singapore first, and everything else second.
I do not mean Mdm Kwa any ill, but I must admit that the coverage in the papers is way too extensive. If it were MM Lee himself, I would understand because he did a lot for Singapore to bring it to where it is today.
As for Mdm Kwa? I feel that since she was more of a private woman, it would be more respectful to respect her privacy, even in her death. However, SPH is making this situation worse. Let the deceased enjoy her peace and her privacy, the way she did when she was alive.
Tjin
Thus, there is a need to have a delicate balance, and to give the people a hard approach to a problem if need be.
“a leader putting country and people before his family does not imply lowering standards in managing his family. it is a no brainer, a leader who has family problems will be distracted.
it is about working smarter to continue managing one’s family well.”
……………..
and who is hoching? if it was an ordinary mp/mployee of temasick inc…
what would leekingyou hav done as you phrased it so eliquentLEE…
…………………………….
a leader putting country and people before his family does not imply lowering standards
…………………
so where is leekingyou mental minister standards? ole indeed he is so wellmanaged in familLEE standards..that virtuaLEE his owned familLEE is UNTOUCHABLE…
so who is a NO BRAINER?
well beside YOU off course…
Tjin
because SPH, as the SINGAPORE Press Holdings, have the obligation to report what happens in Singapore first, and everything else second.
…………
and ere you are AGAIN…
payin a near $1 just to read the 143th media….onLEE to read the ^GOOD^ juicy proporganda of singapoor?
and the commonwealth games is not impotent @ all..while our drbalekampon spendin of over $387 million$ on YOG is justifiable
sumore you/your fello lackies claimed it was a successFOOL events…
@ihavNOtearforyou
You’ll notice that the quote in inverted commas was taken directly from train of thought’s post, which is found in some of the older comments. You’re quoting from him, not from me.
@ihaveNOtearforyou:
Dood, you’re taking my comments out of context again. I was giving a possible reason why the media coverage on Mdm Kwa’s demise was overdone [=_=||]
Tjin 8 October 2010
@ihavNOtearforyou
You’ll notice that the quote in inverted commas was taken directly from train of thought’s post, which is found in some of the older comments. You’re quoting from him, not from me.
……………..
so i am indeed makin MISTAKEs ere..so what should i do? claimed the 1st ammendment acts or says it juz an honest mistakes…
ow many ^DEMERITs^ points should i receive?
btw..you didnt rebutt me on my challenge(s) on YOURs?
why my Qs too deep for you? you need a lifeline? who you want to call?
ok ok i say sorry to you for mixin YOURS with other lackies..to me a dog is a dog..
“I agree that MM may have made some mistakes but he is definitely not a mistake to singapore.”
Definitely cannot agree with your statement.
MM made his first big mistake, serving the Japs who invaded and occupied Spore in WW2. Subsequently he did good as a leader for about 20+ years.
And right now he will end with his last big mistake, putting in place a useless PM and a bunch of stooges to run S’pore.
Hence the correct statement should be:-
Each day MM clings on to power makes him a mistake to Singapore.
Tjin 8 October 2010
@ihaveNOtearforyou:
Dood, you’re taking my comments out of context again. I was giving a possible reason why the media coverage on Mdm Kwa’s demise was overdone [=_=||]
………..
and onced again the reason bein?
sph is a publishin company which charged a command market prize for readers to pay
this ^1st LADY^ funeral news is more precious than the ongoin commonwealth games..why india is too dirty for our journalists to do writeups?
we don’t needs a reason…the journalists do their jobs..afterall they are bein PAID…not bein told when/what to bark?
@ihaveNOtearforyou:
What is there to rebutt when all your arguments are not made towards my points?
Tjin 8 October 2010
@ihaveNOtearforyou:
What is there to rebutt when all your arguments are not made towards my points?
….
oic..so i must agreed/abide by YOUR points/views as well?
ello..if don’t know juz says
no comment..reply this phrase
UNDER THE 1st ammendment act i choose to remain SILENT
@ ihaveNOtearforyou
I will refute a few of your points. I find your inability to understand the realities and difficulties of running a state disturbing. Your claims to represent the majority of the citizens of singapore are also unsubstantiated. Even worse are your unsupported attempts to compare Singapore with foreign states and systems.
More so, I find your attempts to refute others’ points using ad hominem attacks repulsive and unhelpful. quite frankly, your comments do sound like something that comes form an enraged 12 year old.learn to be polite. Your frequent citation of the 1st ammendment is also rather out of context.
“other countries can managed so well on their owned WITHOUT neoposim includin east europeans who are much much POORER
under the hands of coldminer/shipyard worker includin homebound mothers/grandmother…
YET their peasants are happy and contented….
be for ONCED travelled the world WITHOUT your louis vuitton luggages..see with your owned EYES..than come back to discuss bout GREAT love bein impaired…”
“who are the majority that benefit from leekuanyou rulin and leaderships?
cared to name a few?
what education/safewater are you mubblin?
in south africa..nobody got to be educated? and south africans mus be drinkin urines from zebras right?”
There is no need to ridicule people for travelling the world with louis vitton bags. do you know the poster personally? for all you know he/she is a poor singaporean who has never set foot outside of singapore. second. what makes you think the poor peasants are happy. How you actually gone to europe and spent a lot of time there? do you know the problems with crime, corruption, the strikes, work stoppages, dissent, anger, poverty…have you actually paid attention to European politics?? In addition, do you actually know who runs the states of Europe? do you know most of them are well educated, upper middle class folks who arent miners/pesants etc? They are professional politicians. Some of them may have humbler backgrounds but most of them have degrees and are assisted by the best economists, specialists and sceintists they can hire. Fourth, who are the majority??? the majority are all of us. can you dare say that we are worse off than states in europe? or the US? HAVE YOU LIVED THERE. Every state has its problems. Singaproe has problems as well. But it is safe, prosperous, and people HAVE JOBS. PEOPLE ARE WELL FED. if you speak about inequality do you actually know what kind of inequalities rend the US, or the UK…every state has its problems. but Singapore, coming from 3rd world to 1st has a HUGE DEBT to the first generation of leaders…not just MM Lee, but the management of the ministers then catapulted our growth. we are the majority. learn to be grateful and read about world politics for goodness sake before you start motor mouthing others. And last. good lord, do you know the problems in South Africa… you want to compare our education problems with theirs?? do you know how well our students do overseas. in the top universities of the world, havard, yale, oxford, cambridge, we are overrepresented. and we do very very well. amazingly well. we top courses. and you know what, we are a country of 3.5 million strong. and we have such brilliant people.
@Tjin,
you can’t be serious with the analogy.
even disciplining a child, one must show that it is justifiable, otherwise any child with average intelligence will be driven to hate.
you completely miss my point, which is about LKY’s injustice.
using a firm fist to wack without evidence of wrong doing is one method that should never be condone.
i have no qualms saying this, nothing like a good dose of the same medicine to MM and those who condone his methods.
you also miss my point about a leader putting country and people before his family. isn’t it a great disservice to the country and people if a leader uses his position to promote family members,
like the PM and CEO of Temasek ? isn’t this obscene enough in terms of nepotism and conflict of interest ?
is this another of his political cum election stunt?
What the hell are all your problems? The man has lost his wife, his life partner, so give it a break, leave him alone, and back the hell off. Let him grieve without all you asses criticizing him. Leave all your political opinions to yourself, where they belong. How would you feel if you were in his place? Think about that before dropping your guts on this page you twats.
Side note for ihaveNOtearforyou:
Eff off you dumb idiot. That is being polite. Obviously you never benefited from the amazing education this country has provided most of us with – your English is terrible. If you didn’t study hard enough to get you where you want to be in life then that’s your problem. You’re obviously jealous you didn’t get to enjoy the fruits of MM’s labour over the years in giving us Singaporeans a good platform to start our lives on. Have a look at Malaysia. Now look back at us. See the difference? Even though we used to be one country together, look at where both our countries are now post-separation. I dare say without MM Lee and his persistence and visions we would never be where we are, as a country right here right now, today. Everyone has opinions on MM and how he has led our country and how his family “rules” Singapore. Honestly, look at other countries and the amount of turmoil and political unrest they are experiencing. Singapore will never be like that. You’re just pissing everybody off so crawl back into your hole and stay there you mongrel. You want to rebutt? Go ahead. I know you’re itching to, always the person who has to have the last word, even though it just doesn’t make any sense. I feel sorry for you that you have to justify your sorry state of life by having a go at an old man (who JUST lost his wife mind you) for not providing enough for this country, not providing enough for you. If you want to make more comments, please go get some English lessons first. Your tense usage and spelling is just appalling. And frankly that pun on “Lee” is getting pretty old, funniLEE enough. Oh my I just wee-ed myself laughing.
elmo: The guy’s 87. His wife just died. Political/election stunt? Where do you think he is going to run for office? Honestly, where? Think before you comment.
Mdm Kwa’s family aren’t going to parade themselves in front of the media at a time like this. They are not that sort of people so stop making this anything more than it is – that they would like to grieve in peace. What MM chooses to do with the media is his business, nothing to do with Mdm Kwa’s family. Mdm Kwa, not her family, married MM Lee. So there is no need to say things about her family there are totally unnecessarily and uncalled for.
Lastly, MM Lee is well-respected both nationally and internationally, by many world leaders, and that is for a reason. You may not understand that reason, and hell, a good proportion of people don’t get politics anyway, but there is a reason why he is so highly respected among many world leaders. So respect that, all of you, and keep your whacked-out opinions to yourself.
Arguments about MM Lee will go on and on – while we certainly welcome a hearty discussion, let us be reminded that however much we disagree, there is a time for everything – and this post may not be the best place to discuss. As such there will be no further discussions so that everyone can take a chill pill and get on with their lives.