Saturday 28 March 2015

[Today] Mourned in S’pore, admired by the world

I refer to the report, “S’pore and the world mourn Mr Lee” (March 24). Indeed, Mr Lee Kuan Yew was a colossus in Singapore and the architect of what it is today.

The citizens mourn his passing, but does the world at large share the same sentiments?

The world may admire Mr Lee’s achievements, his dedication to his purpose and country, his grasp of the situations that allowed him to bring Singapore into the freedom of the First World.

These have guaranteed him immortality in the pages of history, and it is the prerogative of Singaporeans to mourn. But Mr Lee, I am sure, would have preferred the world to speak for itself.

This is the dignity we must always carry with us; we should not formulate that the world shares our sentiments.

Singapore mourns the loss of Mr Lee, but is it really a loss? His son and his cohort will carry on the father’s work. This is a sine qua non of Singapore’s future.