MARCH 29 — I came to Singapore, thinking if I were lucky, I could get into the Parliament House and pay my last respects to the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew.
After hearing where I was about to go, the taxi driver poured the cold water upon me, saying, “My friend’s kid started queuing up at eleven last night, and managed to go in at seven this morning. I think...”
He was trying to test me.
“I came from Malaysia, and have to rush back to KL by tonight.”
He replied, “Why not this way? I drive you around the Parliament House to take a look first before you decide what to do.”
He was like telling me he had not been elaborating, and if I did not believe in him, I could also see it myself.
I accepted his “challenge” and as a matter of fact, it was right within my plan: to see how the Singapore general public react to this.
He drove me around the Parliament House and the few streets nearby were all packed with people lining up in an orderly manner, people of different colours and age groups, while the uniformed personnel were guiding the human traffic by one side.
The queue cut across roads and over the Singapore River. There was no idea to tell where it started and where it would end.
“You see, these people were lining up and only managed to come to the padang [field] after many, many turns. And then there is a long spiralling line over at the padang before you can come to the front door of the Parliament House,” he gave me an explanation of what he himself could hardly imagine, while laying his hands on the steering wheel: what on earth had caused such a reverberation among the citizens of this tiny city-state just because of the demise of an aged former leader.
Even if I was not exactly taken aback by what I saw, I nevertheless recounted what local politicians, media and general public said of LKY during my last few trips to Singapore.
To be honest, each time I was here, I could hear so many negative criticisms about him, those about his paternalistic administrative style, his grip on speech freedom, the high goods prices, widening wealth gap and the abundance of new immigrants.
During the elections, people said he was the “push factor” and the moment he opened his mouth, the government would lose many support votes.
Outside of Singapore, he was dismissed as pro-America and traitor of Chinese. Many older Chinese Malaysians are still frowning upon his closure of Nanyang University.
And now, those who once tossed curses at LKY are lining up for up to ten hours just to pay their last respects to this globally acclaimed great leader.
I do not need to elaborate on the accolades of Mr Lee Kuan Yew, nor will I defend him against the multitude of merciless criticisms.
Chinese historian Huang Renyu once said, many Chinese people (I believe this is applicable to all other ethnic Chinese outside Mainland China as well) establish their view of history upon their own liking or their frustration. People tend to look at history from what they themselves perceive and comprehend. They see a person or historical event through the narrow slit of the door, often overlooking the macroscopic aspects of history.
But LKY was the creator of a major part of history. Seeing him from the slit of the door would only offer partial and at times prejudiced views.
Contemplating what he said: If we could turn back time, would I repeat the same decisions again?
Yes and no, but I will make sure the decisions I make are right. — MySinChew.com
*This is the personal opinion of the writer or organisation and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail Online.
