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
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As his casket traveled through the streets of Singapore today, I think it’s about time I pay my tribute too.
Well honestly I couldn’t be bothered about the politics much, all I know is I was born here, I grew up here, go to school here, serve NS, go to work, get salary, go home, go enjoy, go live the life. All this wasn’t possible if he have not done anything about it.
If someone ask me why am I proud to be a Singaporean? Frankly, I can’t answer them but I can say that for a nation who is only 50 years old, we are actually very competitive in the world.
1. Our exchange rate is way better than any other
2. Our Diploma’s and Degree’s are recognize at almost all countries
3. Our Visas are covered at many countries
4. We are among the most safest countries in the world.
5. We have among the best healthcare systems in the world.
and the list goes on…
But at the same time, we have many downfalls too but those things which we deemed nonsense and unacceptable may sometime has a good out of it (well for at least my POV).
1. Take example the expensive cost of healthcare (well there is a govt subsidy to a certain limit but if we give 100% or a vast amount of subsidy to the people, the people will take no ownership to take care of their health)
2. The expensive COEs (do I really need to explain)
3. The expensive houses (if houses are cheap, everybody would buy a house, where would you stay then? we do not have much land)
4. Rising cost of living, then we complain salary never increase (well, technically, that’s your company’s responsibility to amend your salary)
5. Strict police rules and policies (honestly, a bent law will just do more harm then good to our nation. you wouldnt want your child to be walking at night alone do you and of course, there are minority of cases where rape, theft and murder happened, but it is not widespread, just call them unlucky)
6. Inflation going up, GST increases, yes it is a problem (but for a 1st world country, our taxes are not as expensive as other nations that may go up to 40%)
7. Other countries give $$ to their citizens who is not working (yes, our govt tries to accommodate to our non-employees or aged “Golden People” but if they do this for everyone and gives them more than what is asked, where would our desire to work and live proper goes? I might as well sit down and get money from govt every month, unfair to those who actually worked hard and pays tax)
and the list goes on…
Then lastly about what about LKY hated the muslims and such…
Well, I don’t really care, it doesn’t affect me, I mean he could say that but I still have mosques to go and worship. Bazaar Geylang is still on every year. Hari Raya PH is still there. Muslims can wear their religious costumes and still walk along the streets. I mean I still have 3 meals a day, roof over my head and places to chill out, relax, work, play and everything else, I think it is sufficient of what I need as a muslim. He can say what he wanted to say, he has gone now anyway, RIP to him but 50 years on, I can still see muslims everywhere in Singapore.
I have no issues over my cinabengs or thambikakis. I play footie with them and everytime during a Singapore football game, you can see we don’t care if we cina or india or melayu, all are Singaporeans. When I served my NS, I fought fire along side these boys and I slept with them in one hole eating the same thing they eat and drink. I feel happy having cinabengs as when my hp gone haywire, this statement will come out “later i go to ah beng shop, sure can repair”. My thambikakis indian food is top of list when I needed some flavour. My neighbours are chinese and everyday I said good morning to them and vice-versa. Yes there might be 1 small store of muslim food and indian food in a coffeeshop and tons of chinese food stalls but come on, not practical right to have so many stalls for muslim people who is just that many. Later no sales then business bankrupt wanna blame who? I love my cinabengs and thambikakis, period.
So all in all, I can weigh that LKY did more good than harm to the nation. He can’t possibly impress all 5 million of you, why don’t you be in his shoes then?? Yes he destroyed some unfortunate people’s life, put them to prison and all and if it was me, yes I would be dammed all my life too but have you ever thought of what if those who opposed him became successful? There will be good out of it I’m sure but will there be balance? Let’s just face it, Singapore wouldn’t be where it belongs and what it is now.
My advice, let the govt do what they want, they have themselves to answer to the lord when they go 6ft under someday. If they have mistreated the citizens one way or another, they will get the wallup from the almighty, who am I to say they are wrong? As LKY passings made’s it last drive down the streets, I’m sure every men-in-white realizes that life has to end someday. If anyone is not happy with the govt or LKY’s administration, migrate lor. I’m staying cause i still can do what’s right here and I feel safe here and I believe we have to be thankful regardless of what views you have. So as a proud Singaporean, I mourn the death of our Nation Greatest Builder.
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Source: Eusoff Casper