Ms. Cheryl Cheng, a Singaporean, 24 years old, a banking and finance student, wrote this essay as she pays her respects to one of the greatest leaders of our time. SchoolNetwork and S’okay Neh Mind are one with Ms. Cheng in this timely and fitting appreciation of Mr. Lee’s selfless contributions not only to the people of Singapore but to the whole human kind.
Mr Lee founded Singapore and brought it to independence in 1965. At the age of 35, he became its very first prime minister. It was no simple task to bring a small unknown nation to become a first world country. It was a rags-to-riches story. There were no natural resources and still do not have one that it could boast of. There was no foreign aid of any sort at that time. There was much confusion and uncertainties about the future after it separated from Malaysia and the British rule. But through Mr. Lee’s super-excellent management, every step he took and every road he turned, decisions were done with genuine prudence and were sincerely intended to benefit the very people he ruled, the Singaporeans. Every cent generated, though as little as it was at the start, was spent frugally. It was a young government under Mr. Lee’s helm. He took strong measures that rightfully ensured corruption would in no way and in any single time be part of hi regime’s agenda. And he was right all along.
Some commented that Mr Lee was hard on his people with his leadership style, but if he was not, Singapore would not have realised its fullest potential. A leader who is hard does not equate himself to be less than great. This was made manifest in the the case of this realm because ultimately it made Singapore successful.
I am not very sure where and when the late Mr. Lee spoke about life so wisely and profoundly, but it sure hit me well enough to my best senses. He once said: "Life is what you make of it. You are dealt with a pack of cards, your DNA is to make the best of the cards that have been handed out to you.”
I also will not forget when Mr. Lee spoke of the leadership required to rule Singapore so succinctly that caught the world’s attention: "Whoever governs Singapore must have that iron in him. This is not a game of cards, it is your life and mine. I've spent a whole lifetime building this and as long as I'm in charge, nobody is going to knock it down."
There is limited space and too little time to fully describe who Mr. Lee is and what he meant to each and every Singaporean. At the end of his life, he left behind something that indeed every Singaporean would cherish – his legacy of a successful Singapore. As the Chinese saying goes, “Yin shui si yuan.” This means, without him, there will be no Singapore. With no Singapore, there would be no home. And I would not have existed. So, I am eternally grateful towards my founding father, Mr. Lee Kuan Yew, for everything he had done for Singapore, the valuable things he did for me, my family and every single individual who lives in and enjoy the Singapore of today.
I bid farewell to Mr. Lee Kuan Yew. And I certainly hope that his predescessors would live up to the standards that he had set to maintain this tiny nation as one of the best places to live in the face of this earth. I also hope and pray that my young generation and the next generations to come would ascribe to the values and learn from the wisdom this great man, Mr. Lee Kuan Yew, had left behind for us to emulate.
Banking and Finance Student
Singapore
Acknowledgement: Permission for the use of photographs in this article is granted by @JoyBlessings
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