Monday, March 30, 2015

Farewell, Grandpa Lee! May you rest in peace. 李爷爷,请您一路好走!

For the past 1 week, it has been a difficult and emotional period for us in Singapore. On 23 March 2015, Monday, we woke up to a devastating news that our 1st Prime Minister, who is also the Founding Father of Modern Singapore, Mr Lee Kuan Yew, aged 91, has passed away peacefully in the Singapore General Hospital after being admitted for more than a month. I was definitely shocked by the news as I just shared a note of well wishes for his speedy recovery on my Social Media platforms the day before. Though it was reported that his condition deteriorated further as days passed by, I was still hoping for a miracle and that I can see him waving to us with his radiant smile during our SG50 National Day Parade in August this year. However, the miracle didn't come.

Mr Lee's great vision has initiated and created several legacies which have benefited many people over the different generations. For the past 1 week, as people shared about their memories of Mr Lee and how their lives have been impacted by his legacies, I was thinking "What about me?". While I was not born in the years when he fought hard to transform Singapore into a metropolis, and I don't know him personally (Closest "personal encounter" was a photo taken with his wax figure in the Madame Tussaud Museum in HKG. Even it was just a wax figure, I tried to hold his hand like a granddaughter holding onto the hand of a grandfather. ^.^), my life and my family's well-beings are greatly impacted by his legacies. 

Photo with Mr Lee's wax figure at Madame Tussand Museum in HKG in 2012
In fact his legacies can be seen in our everyday life. Not going to list them all but just going to share those that I can personally associate with: 

1) My mother and her family were formally staying in Kampong Bukit Ho Swee. When the Bukit Ho Swee Fire broke out in 1961, my mother's house was burnt down and they became homeless. Mr Lee promised the residents of Kampong Bukit Ho Swee that they would be able to move into their new homes within 8 to 9 months. He and his team delivered the promise by building public flats with proper sanitation to house these residents within 9 months. All thanks to Mr Lee, my grandma and her 7 children (including my mother) managed to have a roof over their head within such a short period of time. 

2) Both my parents only had education up to primary school level. With that, they are not able to hold jobs with high salaries. Therefore, owning a house and starting a family back then were challenging tasks for them. All thanks to Mr Lee for introducing the "Home Ownership Scheme" (居者有其屋), my parents were able to have an asset of their own and started a family shortly after. As they aged, they will be able to retire and stay comfortably in the 3-room flat at Bukit Merah which they had bought in the early 80s. And with the scheme, I know I will be able to afford to get my own flat and be a proud owner in a few years' time as well. 

3) I went through 10 years of pri and sec sch studies in both English and Chinese (Mother Tongue). All thanks to Mr Lee's education legacy of Biligual Education which laid a good foundation for me in both English and Chinese. I am able to read, write and speak comfortably in both languages. Hence I managed to converse with people from the Western and Eastern worlds easily during my overseas uni studies in Australia. My schoolmates from China were impressed when I was able to write in Chinese as I helped to translate some of the lecture notes for them. When I started working, being biligual provided an advantage. I was able to communicate with my overseas counterparts confidently in both languages. Especially with associates from China, speaking in our Mother Tongue has helped to establish closer working relationship with them. 

4) As I travelled down the roads in Singapore, I felt sense of serenity and happiness as I looked at the greens along the sides of the roads. This is more evident whenever I'm back from overseas trips. As I travelled from Changi Airport to home along the expressway, I will always be greeted by the greenery on the sides of the roads. They seems to be smiling to me and giving me a warm welcome back to home. Whenever I was hosting overseas guests in Singapore, they would always talk about our greenery. They were surprised to see so many tress and shrubs growing along the sides of the roads as they travelled down the expressways from Changi Airport to their hotels. They were even more impressed when these greens are not limited to the roads to/fro airport but they can also be seen in every corner of Singapore. With that, I am always proud to share with my guests that Singapore is a "City in the garden" and that make us uniquely different from many city states in the world. All thanks to Mr Lee, our "Chief Gardener". 

As we moved on after 1-week of mourning, I would like to pen my thoughts for the great politician and icon of Singapore in my blog by recognizing his hardwork, honoring his spirit and continuing his legacies. 

When my grandpa passed away 20 years ago, I was greatly affected. Till date, I can vividly remember his daily practices and characteristics and I believed that he will always be somewhere around to make sure that my family and I are doing well and good. With Mr Lee, I believed that he will still be watching over Singapore as he simply cannot let go of his country and his people. And we have to continue to work hard in our own ways to bring Singapore's success forward in order not to disappoint him. 

Goodbye, Mr Lee! (Source: Instagram)

Farewell, Grandpa Lee! May you rest in peace. 李爷爷,请您一路好走!