If behind every successful man stands a woman, behind every successful man ha a great leader. Mr Lee Kuan Yew is the great leader of our small yet successful nation, Singapore. Without Mr Lee, there wouldn't be the Singapore we all are proud of now.
Mr Lee is the founding father of our tiny nation, he led Singapore through all the obstacles she has to go through to where she is today. Everyone is deeply saddened by the news of Mr Lee Kuan Yew's passing on Monday, 23 March 2015. He has passed away peacefully in Singapore General Hospital at the age of 91.
Throughout the one week of mourning for Mr Lee, every Singaporean and even foreigners were saddened, many people queued up at the parliament house to pay our last respects for this great man.
Everyone who queued knew that the wait would only end in 2-12 hours, depending on the day and time of those who queued. However, many still came forward to pay their last respects. He was a man, worthy of 12 hours of wait. He was a man, worthy of an off day at work. He was a man, worthy of every other leader in the world's time to come down personally to pay their respects to him. He was a noble leader.
Mr Lee spent the time of his entire life, to build on Singapore. We were just a red dot on the big map of the world with no natural resources, but, under his leadership, we rose into a first-world nation from a small fishing village in less than 40 years. From the time he stepped up as the Prime Minister to lead Singapore in 1959, he never gave up. There were times when we met with many difficulties, like the separation from Malaysia in 1963, but even after we were separated from Malaysia, as our very own Singapore, he did not give up. With all he can, he led Singapore into the world. He was determined in building Singapore into a clean and green city. Mr Lee initiated the cleaning campaign to clean up the Singapore River, which was a dirty sewage at that time. Mr Lee also wanted to encourage the idea of a green city and to bond Singaporeans, he personally planted a tree, and did this without fail every year even after he retired as the Senior Prime Minister until recent years when his health was deteriorating.
Mr Lee was the future of Singapore, he was a man with great foresight. He was worried that Singapore would not succeed without a strong military force, thus he set down a rule where all boys, Singaporeans and Permanent Residents 18 of age were to enlist as a military soldier in the army. Also, Mr Lee also worked on the efficiency of transport in Singapore, the MRT system and bus services.With HDB flats all over Singapore , poverty is greatly reduced with everyone having a cosy house to live in , and different ways to increase water supply ensured enough clean drinking water for everyone.Other than working hard domestically, Mr Lee also ventured out into the world and improved relations of Singapore with other countries. This could not have been achieved without MR Lee.
Without the hard work of Mr Lee throughout the years, Singapore would not have been able to achieve what she is today. "The Golden Age of Singapore" is now. This golden age was built up and created by Mr Lee, without him, there wouldn't be a first-world Singapore, The education system here in Singapore i one of the best in the world, because Mr Lee stresses that every child in Singapore has the rights to be educated. Singapore is at her peak now that we are approaching our 50th year, there would not be a "golden age" for us without him. He is the founding father of our nation.
However, we all know that without the hard work of the future generations to come, Singapore would not rise anymore. We have to keep the legacy of Mr Lee living even though he has left us. As the future generations of Singapore, we need to take the responsibility into our own hands and push the limits of the developments of Singapore. The only way to not disappoint Mr Lee is to live up to Singapore's reputation and live the legacy he created.
"What have I gotten at the end of the day?
A Successful Singapore.
What have I given up?
My Life"
-Mr Lee Kuan Yew
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