Leaders from all corners of the globe will be in town to attend the State Funeral tomorrow, signifying the respect for Mr Lee’s efforts in nation building and his role as a senior statesman. Here are some of the delegation heads who will be at the funeral.
Source: www.todayonline.com
The son of Joshua “Ben” Jeyaretnam, Lee Kuan Yew’s biggest political rival who campaigned regularly for free speech and democracy, has called for the Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to step down and pave the way for a complete change of regime in the tiny South East Asian island nation.
His comments follow the passing of Lee Kuan Yew on 23 March, who was the first prime minister of Singapore and is widely regarded to have transformed the country into the economic superpower it is now.
“Lee Hsien Loong needs to step down. He’s been prime minister for 10 years and he owes his position to his father. Whatever people say, it’s a clear example of nepotism,” Kenneth Jeyaretnam, the leader of Singapore’s Reform Party tells IBTimes UK. “There needs to be a change. Singapore is not the Lee Family and we need to get rid of the climate of fear.”
Kenneth has long had a difficult relationship with the Singapore government.
He watched his father JB Jeyaretnam, the leader of the Workers’ Party, Singapore’s biggest opposition party and a member of parliament, be persecuted and briefly imprisoned in 1986 for allegedly falsely accounting party funds (a conviction overturned by the Privy Council of the United Kingdom), before finally becoming bankrupt in 2001 for not being able to keep up with payments of libel suit damages to the People’s Action Party (PAP).
Kenneth says the stigma around his father extended to him and he was unable to find work in Singapore after graduating from Cambridge University, and thus had to work abroad in Hong Kong and London for 20 years.
But in 2008, three months before JB Jeyaretnam died aged 82, he set up the Reform Party, seeking to form a new democratic party and stand as a candidate for future elections. But he died of heart failure and Kenneth stepped into the fold to continue his work.
“We are a democratic party that stands for accountability. We’re not there for check and balance. We are there for regime change. We’ve been saying this since 2009,” says Kenneth.
In the 2011 general elections, the Reform Party gained a similar number of votes to other opposition parties but did not win any seats. This is not uncommon given the current state of politics in Singapore and is why change is needed, Kenneth stresses.
There are several key policies the Reform Party wants to see changed, which include giving Singaporeans the right to own freehold of the state-owned HDB flats, reducing National Service and allowing the people to decide what happens to their Central Pension Fund (CPF) accounts.
“We don’t want the situation where the Singapore government owns 80% of the land – Singaporeans should not be on 99-year leasehold agreements. And with CPF, at the moment we save far too much of our income in proportion to possible investment opportunities. We should let the individual decide how much they want to save,” Kenneth stresses.
There’s also the issue of not having a free and fair media, and the fact the judiciary is not independent but is often used to legislate against opposition parties to the extent that it is difficult for the parties to do much at all.
He said: “And we need an independent judiciary with restriction from political suits. Our party can’t even publish a newspaper without getting a permit from the government, and to receive that we have to state all the salaries and assets of the editors and leaders of the party. This scares people off.”
Kenneth also mentioned all Singapore news sites are required by law to place a SDG$50,000 (£25,000, $37,000) deposit with the Media Development Authority (MDA). If the government agency sees something it feels is inappropriate and the relevant news site is not willing to take the content down, it forfeits its deposit.
One of Kenneth’s biggest gripes with the PAP is the fact that the budget is not transparent, and he is not happy with the way Temasek Holdings – the Singapore government investment company – and GIC – Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund – are managed.
He is also bothered that Ho Ching, Lee Hsien Loong’s wife, is the CEO of Temasek Holdings, and feels this is a “huge conflict of interest”.
“Temasek and GIC should be transparent to parliament and we should try to privatise them and list them on the stock market, with shares handed out to citizens so that everyone has a share of the national wealth,” says Kenneth.
“I’m calculating conservatively here, but I estimate that there should be SGD$200,000 of assets per Singapore citizen.”
Kenneth fears Singapore is falling behind due to Lee Kuan Yew’s policies and he says the only way to get ahead is to completely change the way the country does things.
“To me, there’s been a seamless transition from one autocrat to the other,” says Kenneth, mentioning Lee Hsien Loong, like his father, continues to take a heavy hand against Singaporean bloggers when they make defamatory statements, like the case of Roy Ngerng.
“We are mired in yesterday’s industries. The hub strategy of our Changi Airport is now being challenged by Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the Middle East. We need to start with political reform and basic freedoms. Without democracy, you can’t have true prosperity.”
Some Singaporeans feel that during the time of national mourning for Lee Kuan Yew, there should not be criticism of his policies or doubts raised about the PAP or Lee Hsien Loong’s rule, but Kenneth disagrees.
“You should see Lee Hsien Loong’s disgraceful condolence letter to me and my brother when my father died, compared to the much nicer one I wrote to him this week,” he says.
“In his letter, Lee Hsien Loong accused my father of being against everything we stood for, that he sought to bring down the PAP and the government. My father stood up for democracy and the right that the government should be accountable to parliament.”
Source: www.ibtimes.co.uk
At the special session where Members of Parliament paid tribute to Founding Prime Minister of Singapore Mr Lee Kuan Yew, a bouquet of white flowers occupied his empty chair. Image: Ministry of Communications and Information
On March 26, 11 of Singapore’s members of Parliament paid heartfelt tributes to Founding Prime Minister of Singapore Mr Lee Kuan, who passed away this week at the age of 91.
A bouquet of white flowers was placed poignantly on Mr Lee’s empty seat at the House of Parliament, with the attending members of parliament dressed in black and white to mourn the late Singapore leader. A minute of silence was observed after the eulogies were read by the members of Parliament.
One of such notable, emotional speeches was made by Dr Ng Eng Hen, Minister for Defence and Leader of the House of Parliament.
Dr Ng spoke movingly about Mr Lee as a husband, who would routinely call and speak to his sick wife nightly, even while he was away on an official trip in Malaysia.
He also shared how Mr Lee had kept his word of celebrating his 90th birthday at the Parliament, even while being ill and frail and against his doctor’s advice.
Here, we share an excerpt of Dr Ng Eng Hen’s speech, in tribute to the Founding Prime Minister of Singapore.
Dr Ng Eng Hen:
“Indeed, Mr Lee has had such a monumental impact on all Singaporeans that each would have his or her own special memory of him.
For myself, two personal encounters have left lasting impressions.
In 2009, Mr Lee led a delegation on an official trip to many states of Malaysia. DPM Tharman and I were part of it. The delegation was having dinner together, when Mr Lee asked to excuse himself so that he could speak on the phone to Mrs Lee.
Due to previous strokes, Mrs Lee could not speak but remained conscious and aware. Mr Lee had made it a routine to speak and read to her each night. He did not want to break this routine, even though he was in Malaysia on a long trip.
He asked the nurse to put the phone to Mrs Lee and spoke to her. He did this every night while we were in Malaysia.
We stood aside to respect their privacy, but that image of Mr Lee, hunched over the phone speaking to Mrs Lee who could not speak back, will stay with me for a very long time as a simple but pure picture of true devotion.
Mrs Lee passed away in 2010 and the impact on him was visible physically. Many people noticed this.
Mr Lee had indeed become frail as he approached his 90th birthday in 2013. He had problems in swallowing and food would go down the wrong way into his windpipe, infecting his lungs repeatedly. As eating could cause aspiration pneumonia, he needed intravenous nutrition as supplement but became progressively thinner.
Parliament was sitting on Sept 16th, his birthday and we wanted to acknowledge his 90th birthday. I called on Mr Lee at the Istana and told him about our plans. He said he would be in Parliament that day on Sept 16th.
Unfortunately, when that day came, a dehydrated and weakened Mr Lee had to go to hospital and be put on a drip. His doctors advised him not to attend Parliament. We were informed and called off our plans.
But just before Parliament adjourned, we were surprised when Mr Lee entered this Chamber. I found out later that he overruled his doctors, saying that he must attend Parliament because he had given his commitment.
He wanted to walk but thankfully his doctors persuaded him that it would be acceptable for a 90 year old on intravenous nutrition to be wheeled into the chamber. That September 16th, this House had the last privilege to wish him happy birthday together.
After Parliament adjourned, he stayed on as we cut his birthday cake and sang him a birthday song. At age 90, frail and dehydrated, Mr Lee kept his word to be here.
Great strength of character, determination and integrity. Lee Kuan Yew had all of these qualities and more. He kept his promises. What he said he would do, he would and more – whether it was for individuals or an entire nation.
There will not be another Lee Kuan Yew who made us better than we are or could be. Mr Lee Kuan Yew founded, moved and lifted a nation. Because of his unwavering devotion and a life poured out for Singapore, he has made all our lives better and for many generations to come. Few mortals have accomplished so much in their lifetime.
We in this House are honoured to have lived and served with him. His legacy will live on through us and through this nation.”
Source: www.herworldplus.com
No matter how friendly or unfriendly we are, the passing away of a man you know well saddens you.
I cannot say I was a close friend of Kuan Yew. But still I feel sad at his demise.
Kuan Yew became well known at a young age. I was a student in Singapore when I read about his defence of labour unions.
I first met Kuan Yew when I was a member of Parliament in 1964 after Singapore joined Malaysia in 1963. We crossed swords many time during the debates. But there was no enmity, only differences in our views of what was good for the newborn nation. He included me among the ultra Malays who was responsible for the racial riots in Singapore. Actually I never went to Singapore to stir up trouble. Somebody else whom I would not name did.
The Tunku attended the inaugural meeting of the PAP and was quite friendly with Kuan Yew. He believed Kuan Yew was a bastion against Communism. But when the PAP contested in the Malaysian elections in 1964 with Malaysian Malaysia as its slogan, Tunku felt that the PAP’s presence in Malaysia was going to be disruptive for the country.
When I became PM in 1981, I paid a courtesy call on Kuan Yew. It was a friendly call and he immediately agreed to my proposal that the Malaysia and Singapore times which had always been the same should be advanced by half an hour. I explained that it would be easier adjusting our time when travelling as we would fall within the time zones fixed for the whole world at one hour intervals.
I am afraid on most other issues we could not agree.
When I had a heart attack in 1989 and required open heart surgery, he cared enough to ring up my wife to ask her to delay the operation as he had arranged for the best heart surgeon, a Singaporean living in Australia, to do the operation. But by then, I had been given pre-med and was asleep prior to the operation the next day.
My wife thanked him but apologised. She promised to ring him up after the operation. She did the next evening.
When he was ill, I requested to see him. He agreed but the night before the visit, the Singapore High Commissioner received a message that he was very sick and could not see me.
Still when he attended the Nihon Keizai Shimbun annual conference on the Future of Asia in Tokyo, which I never failed to attend, I went up to him at dinner to ask how he was. We sat down together to chat and the Japanese photographers took our pictures promising not to put it in the press. I wouldn’t mind even if they did. But I suppose people will make all kinds of stories about it.
Now Kuan Yew is no more. His passage marks the end of the period when those who fought for independence lead their countries and knew the value of independence.
Asean lost a strong leadership after President Suharto and Lee Kuan Yew.
* Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad is former prime minister of Malaysia. This article was originally posted on his personal blog at chedet.cc
Source: www.themalaymailonline.com
Tribute to Lee Kuan Yew
I just returned from paying my respects to Lee Kuan Yew. My friends and I were advised to go to his Tanjong Pager CC after being told not to join the queue to Parliament.
I first met face to face with Lee Kuan Yew when he interviewed me to be a candidate for the 1980 GE. It was very intimidating. Greats like Toh Chin Chye, Goh Keng Swee , and S Rajaratnam were present. They asked many questions. I fumbled some of the answers. I left the interview suspecting he was not impressed with me. Moreover, my academic records and CV were colourless. I was only a village doctor with a rebellious streak. But one striking thing he said was “We are not looking for yes men.”
I served under his leadership for a decade till 1990 when he passed the baton to Goh Chok Tong. He was without doubt the greatest leader I have encountered in my life. In my early years as an MP, he used to call me and other MPs for lunch. Lunch was a tutorial session. LKY would quiz me occasionally on my parliamentary speeches and offer tips for improvement. Some of his corrections were unpleasant to hear. But they were always valuable and meant to help us grow. I was surprised he followed what I said in Parliament. “Don’t be fooled to think you can speak off the cuff without preparation” he said. “You must always prepare.”
His personal interest in our development as parliamentarians impressed me. He generously shared his deep experience with us as a master politician. He brought into focus political issues of the day, be it local or world affairs. We were at a master class.
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Lunch was also sometimes a fact finding session for him especially when he wanted to confirm the ground’s feedback on controversial issues. Two issues stood out for me
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One was his family’s purchase of a flat at a discounted price. The first question he shot at me was “Cheng Bock, am l a crook?” I told him if he was a crook l would not have served him in the first place. LKY embodied the virtues of integrity and incorruptibility, without which Singapore could never have succeeded. I was then moved to speak up for him in parliament and was pleasantly surprised when he took the time to pen a note of thanks
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The other issue was the elected Presidency. He wasn’t happy with the ground misunderstanding his intentions for creating the new elected office. At that time, many thought that he was doing this for himself. He was visibly disturbed. “I am doing this for Singapore , I don’t want to be President”. Indeed, he was truly a man who lived for our nation. Every political step taken by him, however difficult to understand then, he meant it for the good of Singapore. LKY loved his country, and it is only right for him to receive the highest honour and genuine affection shown by Singaporeans this week.[see photos]
LKY is also often perceived as one intolerant of challenges to his core beliefs. Many a time, I saw the fire of his formidable personality when debating dissenting views. His MPs always felt safer being on his side.
But on one occasion I was at the receiving end of his fury. This was the debate on the Foreign Talent policy where he felt I offended him. He reprimanded me publicly and our relationship grew cold after that. No more lunch with him
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But not many know that in 2006, I met him at my final post- budget dinner. I was retiring that year as MP and chose to close my tenure with my favourite song “My Way”. I changed the lyrics of the song with reference to MP’s role. After I sang, LKY looked at me and broke into a smile. We then shook hands. To me, it was a good feeling to end my stint as MP for Ayer Rajah.
I will always remember him as the greatest person I have ever met and worked with. A true son of the soil, his love for Singapore was his drive. Despite his outward hardness, he always took the trouble to sign his replies personally to letters l sent him, and not left it to his subordinates.
Lee Kuan Yew left a legacy we must never compromise. People will continue to support a good government that has integrity, honesty, incorruptibility, and transparency
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Thank you Mr Lee Kuan Yew for your sacrifices and what you did for us. Rest in peace.
Source: Dr Tan Cheng Bok