(Excerpt from Minister K Shanmugam’s eulogy to Mr Lee Kuan Yew on 27th March 2015)
1) Our Nee Soon:
“Many of you know how Nee Soon and Sembawang estates were like in 1960s. You have seen in a short time how the estates have changed, how our lives have improved.”
2) Our homes:
“He and his team rebuilt Singapore. He believed very strongly in making sure that people had houses. Everything you see around us was built after 1965.”
3) Our economy:
“Our economy – a financial centre – employing thousands and thousands of people. We are a logistic hub, a manufacturing centre, and international tourism hub. We are an economic powerhouse because of his policies.”
4) Our unions:
“He changed the model of unions fighting against management. We now have a model that the rest of the world looks at with envy. Unions and management work together for the benefit of everyone – it brings investments and gives us good jobs.”
5) Ownership of homes:
“He believed that everyone should be looked after through the giving of assets – the lowest 20% of our society have $200,000 on average in housing equity.”
6) Our defence:
“If we cannot protect ourselves, then everything you see around us can be easily taken away.”
7) Our international reputation:
“Internationally, he made us respected. Leaders from all over the world respected him and asked him for advice. India just declared a day of mourning. The world’s second most populous country says because of Mr Lee, they will declare a day of mourning, and flags will fly at half-mast … We started very low and now we have moved ahead of many First World cities. We are now a model city for many others.”
8) Our education & meritocracy:
“Education opportunities for all – meritocracy. He created the system which gave us all equal opportunities regardless of whether you are Malay, Indian or Chinese, or what your religion was.”
9) The lives of individuals:
“Ms Chia Yong Yong is a Nominated Member of Parliament. She said because she was born in Singapore, when Mr Lee was in charge, she got a good education. She became a professional and she is now in Parliament. Even though she is a woman and she is handicapped. Mdm Quek Poh Neo (whom Minister met at 2am outside Parliament). She actually came once on Wednesday, 25 March. Waited for hours. She couldn’t wait longer because of her medical condition. She went home without managing to pay tribute to Mr Lee Kuan Yew. Then she came back again last night and waited for another three hours by the time I saw her. She got her wish to pay final respects to Mr Lee. This is how the people love Mr Lee.”
10) Minister’s own life:
“My own life story, which is the life story of many of you and your children. My family was not well off. We bought our first flat in 1975. A 3-room HDB flat. Before that we lived in rental housing. I never thought that I would be a Minister. I had thought I will be a teacher. With luck – maybe I’ll go to university.”
11) The principle of frugality:
“He told me off. He said you are wasting food. He said you should have found out how much they would serve and should have ordered only what you could have eaten. It didn’t matter…who was paying for it. He believed as a principle that there should not be waste.”
12) Our careful spending:
“Every week we have Cabinet meeting… [and] almost always we meet for lunch. But his rules [are] because you have to eat lunch anyway, he says you have to pay for the lunch even though you are coming to Cabinet to discuss Cabinet matters…The government doesn’t pay for the lunch. But it is good, because in every way, we are reminded every day that public money should be carefully spent.”
13) Duty above personal success:
“You can do much more for your country. If everyone stays outside (in the private sector) – who is going to work in the public service? …You should serve the people in a broader way…As a Minister, you can make a bigger difference to the lives of the people.”
14) What Minister does at 3am:
“He had the habit of calling you at 2am, 3am, 4am. [The] first question he will ask is, ‘What are you doing?’ So you want to say to him, ‘What do people do at 3am?’ But anyway, you don’t speak like that to Mr Lee.”
15) The way we will think about Singapore in the future:
“Most of us have never imagined a Singapore without Mr Lee. Deep in our hearts, we have always assumed that Singapore would be okay — because of Mr Lee Kuan Yew. Now, we are waking up to a Singapore without Mr Lee. The best thing we can do…is to make Singapore strong, successful. If we survive and prosper; if there is a SG100 following our SG50, then we and our children would have lived true to his principles. Principles [which] focused on the well-being of the people…and the survival and the prosperity of Singapore.”