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Remembering Lee Kuan Yew

Mr Teong Eng Siong (in jacket), a Peoples Action Party Member of Legislative Assembly and Parliament for Sembawang from 1963 to 1979, paying his respects to Mr Lee. Photo: Raj Nadarajan

A vision driven by care for Sporeans

Indranee Rajah

Senior Minister of State

(Law and Education)

The biggest sacrifice of all was made by Mr Lee. And because

of that, because he was a strong leader and led a strong party,
everyone benefited and Singapore is what it is today.

Ms Indranee Rajah

adam Speaker, Mr Lee first

entered this Parliament or
its earlier iteration, the legislative assembly, in 1955 as the member
for Tanjong Pagar, a seat he held for
60 years, an unsurpassed record.
I once asked him why he chose Tanjong Pagar. He said it was because the
people there were very poor, the conditions bad and the place much in need
of improvement.
I did not fully appreciate what he
meant until I read his memoirs.
He described the Tanjong Pagar of
1955 as docklands crowded with dock
workers, trishaw riders, shopkeepers
and opium dens. Workers quarters
were wooden dwellings with no sewerage or drainage.
He recalled scenes of filth and

Senior Minister of State

dilapidation among broken-down shophouses in or around Narcis Street,

where Tanjong Pagar Plaza stands today. Drains were clogged with rubbish
that stank of decaying food.
He vowed to change this. He promised Singaporeans a better life. They
believed him and voted him in.
This allowed him to enter Parliament and eventually become our First
Prime Minister.
Tanjong Pagar and Singapore today
are a far cry from what he described.
Both have been completely transformed
through his vision and efforts.
He kept his promise to the people of

Singapore and the bond was cemented.

Let me say something on sacrifices.
What we were called upon to do was to
sacrifice things that would have held us
back. It was not people who were sacrificed, but things that would have made
us a lesser people, a lesser country than
we are today.
He called upon us to make sacrifices
in accordance with some very basic
principles: Humanity, integrity, thrift,
welfare of the people.
The things we had to give up were
laziness, corruption, division, hatred
of other races.
The things we had to give up were

like the lack of security, lack of housing. We were called to make sacrifices
so we could put these things together.
And the other kind of sacrifices we
were told to make was to set aside divisions and animosity in the interest of
national unity.
And who made the biggest sacrifice of all?
In an interview, Mr Lee was once
asked, at the end of the day, what he
had achieved. And his response was:
A successful Singapore. What have I
given up? My life.
The biggest sacrifice of all was
made by Mr Lee. And because of that,
because he was a strong leader and led
a strong party, everyone benefited and
Singapore is what it is today.
And if you compare us with any
newly independent country, our people have more opportunities in Singapore. And let us see the response
of Singaporeans.
In the past week, we saw a tremendous outpouring of love for Mr Lee.