Today is Mr. Lee Kuan Yews birthday. This name needs no introduction. I have studied about him since I was a kid, from social studies textbooks to historical texts to legal documents to hansards from parliament that referred to policy statements made by this legendary figure. I read almost every book by him, the latest is of course Hard Truths : To Keep Singapore Going. Personally, what is so enduring about Mr Lee is that sense of pragmatism that shapes every of his decision, whether it is his life or his policies as PM. More importantly, it is that sense of passion he has for Singapore, to bring this tiny fishing village to a first world global city and metropolis. Today, Singapore shines like a little red dot on the world map, constantly coming in amongst the giants in aviation, innovation, infrastructure, standard of living, competitiveness, education, healthcare, technology etc. You get the idea. Yes, Mr Lee has made mistakes. To err is human. On hindsight, we know that schemes like the Graduate Mothers Scheme was disastrous for it was discriminatory to a large segment of the population. Mr Lee also made controversial decisions. For example, I recently spoke to Member of Parliament Baey Yam Keng and he told me that Mr Lee is a fervent supporter of the Mandarin Campaign and has resisted any plans to relent on dialect issues. However, there is no doubt that this is one of the seminar figures of the 20th century/21st century and is a living legend. I have decided to share a piece of his wisdom from his book Hard Truths. So to our founding father, Happy Birthday! Thank you for that passion for Singapore and I am sure Singaporeans will carry the torch from your legacy. Photo 1: Chan Chun Sing Facebook Page Photo 2: (C) SPH Hard Truths: To Keep Singapore Going
Posted on: Mon, 15 Sep 2014 17:48:39 +0000
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