Daily Lessons from Life 29 March 2015 - Final Farewell to Mr Lee Kuan Yew

It has been an emotional week for the nation, Singapore, as the people mourned the passing of a giant of a man, Mr Kee Kuan Yew. An icon. A Legend. An extraordinary man who created a miracle with his team of pioneering leaders and Singaporeans. A person from a tiny Little Red Dot who commanded so much respects from leaders, thinkers and shakers of many much bigger countries around the world. The outpouring of emotion by many of his supporters and admirers in the estimated 1.2m visitors to pay their last respects at the Parliament House or the various Tribute Centers or those who lined the streets where his final journey from the Parliament House to the University Cultural Center (UCC) for his memorial services before he left for the private crematorium session with his family members, PM Lee and others.

I just want to pen these for him from me:

1. I admire his extraordinary visionary and execution prowess, a RARE combination that made him so unique. e.g. the vision of: making English the common language between the races, greening of Singapore as a Garden City and now the famed quote: 'A City in the Garden!', national water strategy, etc;

2. his unconditional and total love for his late wife, Mrs Lee (fondly known as "Choo" to him), is so genuine and real that even the most critical detractors of his will find little support to fault him on this front. For a man with so much power and for so long to stay so faithful and devoted to his wife is simply extraordinary. She bring out his humanity the most!;

3. his lifelong learning spirit is astonishing and inspirational;

4. his lifelong healthy lifestyle is also very inspiring. Most appropriate Role Model in a rapidly aging nation like ours. Many of us will grow old as HEALTHILY as possible IF we adopt his disciplined approach to healthy living;

5. his powerful oratorical skills is legendary.

Some of these qualities are natural gifts which many of us may not have. BUT definitely item 3, 4 and 5 we can TRY to learn to do.

Moving forward, some of the things I like to see our national pursue to continue Mr Lee's legacy are:

1. try to achieve 'gracefulness', an unfinished wish of Mr Lee as he so famously said: 'I will not see gracefulness in Singapore before my life time.' I was shocked then as a person as tenacious as him gives up on this, it shows HOW DIFFICULT it must be to try to achieve. YET we must as arriving materially as a 1st world nation is UNFINISHED business really!;

2. sometime he said in one of the GE speeches on: the need for an intelligent electorate. As the national politics enter a parliament with more opposition MPs, how can the ruling party handle this desire for more voices yet not any voices but 'quality voices'?

Will the opposition political parties continue to become better or they will be crashed for every mistakes they made in the learning curve without mercy and the same ruthlessness demonstrated by Mr Lee in the early nation building years, which I totally understand and CAN support as those were dangerous formative years who the nation has to move ahead with ONE VOICE ONE ALIGNED MOVEMENT;

3. that 'politicians of the next generation' WILL again have the fervent beliefs that THEY MUST step forward to serve the NATION and the PEOPLE regardless of how thankless the job maybe as they are CAPABLE of helping the nation. The rewards will be adequate and not controversial, hopefully;

4. we must continue to have laws and orders. Justice to be administered openly, fairly - perception and in REALITY.

There are many more things to wish for and to change and do. I will be happy to start with the 4 above.

THANK YOU Mr Lee. You have earned your rest. May the nation has your blessing as it moves forward without you.