The passing of Lee Kuan Yew is indeed a saddening event that weighs heavily on the hearts of every Singaporean deserving of a place in this country. Here in this glorious country lies a man who has turned the tables around when the odds were against the nation. In chinese, there are 2 sayings. One saying has it that heroes are made by the era they were born into, and a contradicting saying that heroes are the ones who usher in a new era with their efforts. 时势造英雄, 英雄造时势. Here, he has, I believe, achieved both, and it is to this idea, that I dedicate this article to him, if that even meant anything given the readership of this blog (readership, as those who know me would understand, was never my concern compared to anonymity).
Reflecting on LKY's deeds and accomplishments, I doubt there are any who would challenge his position in history as a legendary statesman. Personally, despite my respect for the man, I was always skeptical when my parents, who visit China all so often (due to my father's work there) would speak of the admiration the world, especially Mainland Chinese, have for LKY. I had believed that his deeds would only have been appreciated by locals, and maybe in Southeast Asia, due to the size of this country. It is only during the past week, when international leaders all turned their attention to his passing, that I am truly astounded by the respect that he has gathered in the global community. After all, how many world leaders are capable of having the leaders of the US (led by Bill Clinton himself), China, Japan, India, SEA, among others, coming to accord them their last respects? Few but the legendary leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, and few other names that even the man on the street half the world away would be familiar with.
Indeed, while the President is the highest representative and ambassador of Singapore, Mr LKY has been the most important diplomat for this nation, not by the nature of his post in the government, but by the immeasurable respect he is accorded.
Locally, as a professor mentioned, a country not known for being emotional has shown an outpouring of emotions. Although I would despise to make such a comparison, I would say that this showing by Singaporeans has totally put to shame the display of grief and mourning by even the N. Korea. Although the exact figures on the numbers who paid tribute to him in 8-10h queues are not out yet, I doubt they are anything less astounding as the legacy he has left behind.
This, is in relation to what I wish to write about today. Sorry for the long introduction.
I don't claim to be old and wise, or to be weathered by stormy times, but looking back to the timeline of Singapore, to a time way before the birth of myself or my parents, Singapore has been through much, all of which LKY had a great influence on. The existence of the nation itself owes its birth to him. Yet as times passed, and the world changed, so did all of us in Singapore, as it is only right to do so. But deep under, we always knew one thing to be true. No matter how hard Singaporeans tried, we have failed, in all these years, to establish a Singaporean identity. It was right that we tried, but almost inevitable that we failed. We were a people forged by tough times. We did not band together as a nation because we stood for something, but because we stood with nothing.
Today, the Americans can proclaim themselves as a nation where everyone stands for freedom. In Singapore, it seems, no one can point to one such value. It seems no matter how hard LKY tried, no matter how wise his policies, no matter how noble his vision, or how innovative his approaches, he has solved all but this problem. He gave the people housing, one of the world's highest per capita income, global recognition, access to almost every country, good jobs, and enough nutrition and clean water. That is aside from clean streets, clear waters, green environments and sparkling city centres. He had given this country everything material it could want for. You could even say that he fed the people's spiritual needs by promoting freedom of religion, and taking a staunch stance against press freedom with regard to religion. Yet he has failed to give people one last spiritual need - an identity as a nation.
With his passing, he has completed his work.
With his death and the 7 day mourning period, Singaporeans are forced to wake up to the idea of a Singapore without LKY. For too long, this nation had taken his presence for granted, and every National Day celebration our complacency is being reinforced. I had hardly heard anyone discuss about a Singapore without LKY more than 2 weeks ago, when on hindsight we should all have been prepared since a long time ago.
Now, as Singaporeans are forced to carry on without him, the people - I believe - are starting to fall back on the thoughs, "what would LKY have done?" They would also revisit the times when Singapore was this young, bold nation, diving headfirst into all the problems as they presented themselves before us. And as those thoughts fill their minds, they will finally think, "what does Singapore stand for?"
That is the magical moment when the nation finally learns to rethink what its identity is. As I once told an audience, "I cannot give you a reason to __________. I can only tell you mine. But you will need to find your own". I quote myself not because of some misplaced narcissism but because I believed in that strongly enough to say it in public. For years, numerous events in our history had given us reason to band together. Sometimes, they were from beyond the country, sometimes from within. But there were at best failures, meant to move only the emotional for but a few days, and at worst, jokes. Finally, with LKY's passing, we will have the best reason to think on our own feet as to what this nation stood for, so that we know how we can carry on without the shoulder of this giant to lean upon.
As for the government, his passing should also bring about some reflection as to the workings of the government and the state of affairs for the past few years. As my brother had rightly put it, Singapore had started out as an innovative, and might I add, bold nation. We always strived to do things better than others, in ways never before employed by others.
When housing was a problem, we had a public housing programme that churned out 10,000 housing units before the feasibility report was completed.
When water was short, we bought water, processed it, then sold it back to Malaysia for a profit.
We even reprocessed the water that our people flushed down their toilets.
When national defence was a problem, we used National Service which, though not a novel idea, we still did better than Malaysia.
Policy after policy, it was either an innovative approach, or an adaptation with a high benchmark. Then there were the forward looking policies.
LKY was known for being a supporter of greening the nation even while its economic development was still in progress. And today, we could argue that the government has done it better than anyone else. Which other metropolis has a single tree taller than 4m in the middle of its shopping district? Well guess what, we have more than a handful and they have been there for as long as I can remember. I do not for a moment believe any Singaporean can imagine an Orchard Road (how fitting the name is) without trees.
The transport network could almost be world class if it hadn't been for the recent breakdowns.
Where had all that ambition, all that boldness, and those far sighted visions gone to? How could the housing market had gotten out of control under the government's watch? And how could the transport system have become so overloaded, so poorly maintained? Weren't those caused by the implementation of pro-immigration policies which was spearheaded by this same government itself? What about the balance between the manpower shortage and the aspirations of Singaporeans, which would require innovative approaches?
Perhaps, with the passing of LKY, we will all - citizens and politicians - begin to ponder over our identity. What do we stand for and how should it guide us moving on from here? What were the values that forged this nation into what it is today?
Thank you Mr LKY, even in death, you have contributed greatly to this nation. Now, it is up to the Singaporean who have been awakened by it to take it from here, for you have given us the only thing we lacked all these years. Unity through a common identity - and hopefully - common purpose.
