The Passing of the 'Father of Singapore'

This week has been a fascinating time to be in Singapore. Lee Kwuan Yu, the first prime minister of Singapore and the man who almost single-handedly took Singapore from a third World country (his own words)  to the prospering nation that it is today in 50 years, passed away on 23rd March. When Singapore was expelled from the Federation of Malaysia in 1965, the country’s future was far from certain. However LKY (as he is often referred to here) opened the country up to much needed foreign investment and set an example for other East Asian countries to follow and make equally impressive developments.

What has been most interesting about the last few days has been the range of reactions to his death. On the one hand, there has been an outpouring of emotion, with Singaporean businesses to my classmates all paying their condolences in one way or another. One of my classmates was one of 1.4 million who are said to have queued for up to eight hours (despite temperatures in Singapore rarely dropping below 28 degrees) to see his body lying in state or to pay their respect at community sites. Tens of thousands took the streets on the day of his funeral to see the funeral procession drive through the streets of the city, many from the older generation who can fully appreciate the progress he is responsible for. LKY’s death has reignited a fierce patriotism in the small nation, many noting how vital he has been to the development of a sense of national identity. This however has allowed some to overlook more controversial aspects of his record. LKY had a reputation for running Singapore as Prime Minister until 1990, and then influencing subsequent governments as Senior Minister and Minister Mentor until 2011, as a soft authoritarian state with strict rules over the press (The Straits Times is government-owned and CEOs of all major media organisations are government appointed) and free speech (a license is needed to start a protest). In addition, he ensured that any parties that might seriously threaten the People’s Action Party’s hold on power, were ruthlessly challenged, making Singapore effectively a one-party state. Therefore the other contrasting reaction has been to question whether Singapore can continue along this same path. A video made by a 17 year-old Singaporean expressing his disdain for the former PM has gone viral, suggesting the younger generation may be less willing to accept the restrictions of the Singaporean political system.  There are also those with more of a neutral (and possibly rational) outlook. Young Singaporean blogger Jeraldine Phneah has written an interesting post laying out her ‘middle-ground’ perspective (not one that I have often come across while I have been here), which received a lot of attention. Much of this was strongly critical of her stance, showing just how fiercely protective people are of their former leader.

But whichever conclusion you come to, and whichever side of the argument one lies on, there is no doubt that LKY will remain the single-most important figure in the history of the State of Singapore. RIP.