Various - Up Close with Lee Kuan Yew: Insights from colleagues and friends

Up Close with Lee Kuan Yew

2016 Marshall Cavendish International (Asia) Pte Ltd Reprinted 2016

Cover image of Lee Kuan Yew by Bob Lee (: Courtesy of Ho Meng Kit, Robert Kuok, Kwa Kim Li, Liew Mun Leong, Ng Kok Song, Andrew Tan, Wee Cho Yaw, Philip Yeo, Yeong Yoon Ying

Minister Heng Swee Keats essay on was originally written for this book but first published on his Facebook account and then reported in the media on 24 March 2015 upon the demise of Mr Lee Kuan Yew.

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Library Board Singapore Cataloguing in Publication Data
Up close with Lee Kuan Yew : insights from colleagues and friends. Singapore : Marshall Cavendish Editions, [2015]
pages cm

eISBN : 978 981 4721 523

1. Lee, Kuan Yew, 1923-2015 - Anecdotes. 2. Prime Ministers Singapore Anecdotes. DS610.73.L45
959.5705092 -- dc23 OCN918875316

Printed in Singapore by Markono Print Media Pte Ltd

When Mr Lee Kuan Yew passed away in the early hours of 23 March 2015, I had an essay in my computer, titled Mr Lees Red Box. It was already fully written referring to Mr Lee in the present tense. After 23 March, I opened the document, changed the present tense to past tense, rewrote the last lines of the essay, and shared it with the public.

The reason I had a complete document in my computer is because Liew Mun Leong approached me in 2014 to contribute an essay for this book. Earlier that year, Mun Leong and Ong Beng Seng found themselves on the same flight one day, and enjoyed a long chat about Mr Lee. Both had known Mr Lee professionally and in different capacities for many years.

As they exchanged stories about their interactions with Mr Lee, it dawned on them that while much had been said and written about Mr Lees accomplishments, there was no book that told the personal, more intimate side to him from the viewpoint of the people who worked very closely with him. They wondered: Wouldnt some Singaporeans like to see Mr Lee at work and outside of work?

So they asked around amongst Mr Lees friends and colleagues if they would be willing to share their stories. Mun Leong also raised the idea of this book with Mr Lee twice, and Mr Lee had no objections.

Mun Leong then formed a small group with Andrew Tan and Jennie Chua to put the book together. I am pleased to know that the proceeds from the sale of this book will go to a charitable cause.

Mun Leong asked me because I had worked for Mr Lee from 1997 to 2000. I spent some months reflecting on it, and managed to put all my thoughts down only in February of last year, the month before Mr Lee passed away.

We had a week of national mourning in the days following Mr Lees passing. I spent that week talking with residents who came to community tributes, and going to thank the many who stood in line for hours to pay their respects at the lying-in-state in Parliament House. I felt a deep sense of loss, but that sense of loss was overwhelmed by a growing amazement at the strength and graciousness of fellow Singaporeans.

The day after Mr Lees funeral, I was supposed to go on a school visit and launch the Junior Sports Academy. We had scheduled these quite some time ago. The thoughtful officers at the Ministry of Education asked me if we should postpone things. After some discussion, I decided to go ahead, as Mr Lee would have wanted things to return to normal as soon as possible.

That was a difficult day. Some of the teachers were emotionally drained. The members of the media who came for the launch were exhausted from the week before. But, I think, we were all buoyed by the childrens bright laughter as they played games during their Physical Education class. Their laughter reminded us to keep looking and moving forward.

I later discussed with Mun Leong if I should write another reflection. He felt that the red box story should be a part of this book and suggested I write a foreword to set out the background to this book.

While this was taking place, something happened as a result of the essay.

If you are familiar with the red box story, you may recall that, late one night, after he had been at Mrs Lees wake, Mr Lee went for a walk along the Singapore River, like he and Mrs Lee had done together when she was alive. In fact, during that period, Mr Lee took many long, late-night walks by himself. He was deep in grief. He could not sleep. The night before Mrs Lees funeral, at the Singapore River, he saw some trash on the river and he asked his security officers to take a photo of it. In my essay, I guessed that there was probably a note about the trash in the red box the next day, for immediate follow-up. But I couldnt be sure as I was not working for Mr Lee at the time.

A few days after the essay came out, a colleague sent me an email with two photos attached. Some officers at the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources, after reading the red box story, went to check their records to see if they had ever received any instructions about the trash floating on the Singapore River. They had. Mr Lee had sent over two photos. One picture was of the trash. The other photo was of himself. Mr Lee wrote: I asked for photos to be taken of the flotsam and of my position against the UOB backdrop so you know where it was. He wanted to pinpoint the location to make it easier for the officers.

I was struck by the date of Mr Lees email 6 October 2010, the day of Mrs Lees funeral. Even in his deepest grief, Mr Lee never stopped caring about Singapore.

The photos were taken late at night, and there wasnt much light. The picture of Mr Lee is blurry, not the kind we are used to seeing in news articles or on book covers. But it does the job. And thats what mattered to Mr Lee. He didnt think of himself as the subject of the picture, only as a marker to point out where work needed to be done.

I asked for photos to be taken of the flotsam and of my position against the UOB backdrop so you know where it was. These photographs were taken on the eve of the funeral of his wife, Mdm Kwa Geok Choo.