Tuesday 24 March 2015

FULL TEXT OF LEADERS TRIBUTES

Spore DNA can be traced to

his character, philosophy, values
Emeritus Senior Minister
Goh Chok Tong

Ng Eng Hen

In his condolence letter to

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong

Defence Minister

mourn the passing of Mr Lee

Kuan Yew, our founding Prime
Minister. He dedicated his entire life to build up Singapore. He
lifted our nation. His vision and
commitment enabled poor families
like mine to move up and give my
children a better life today. I owe
him a debt of gratitude.
Mr Lee was unwavering in his
belief that a small state like Singa
pore needed a strong Singapore
Armed Forces and introduced National Service to build a modern
military force. In his own words:
If you, who are growing up, do not
understand that you have to defend
this, then in the end, we will lose.
Other people will come, smack you
down and take over.
There will not be another Lee
Kuan Yew, who made us better than
we are or could be. Thank you,
MrLee. I am so honoured to have
lived and served with you. Rest in
peace.
My wife and I extend our deepest condolences and prayers to the
family of Mr Lee. The nation mourns
with you.

ear Loong,
Choo Leng (Mr Goh Chok
Tongs wife) and I are deeply
distressed by your fathers passing.
We watched with concern as his
health deteriorated over the past year.
I last saw him on Feb 5 upon learning
that he was warded in the intensive care
unit at the Singapore General Hospital.
It pained me to see him sedated and
unaware of his surroundings.
Your family has lost its patriarch,
and Singapore its key founding father.
We share your grief and can only offer you and your family our profound
condolences.
Mr Lee Kuan Yew dedicated his
life to Singapore. He lived and worked
to build a nation and to advance the
well-being of Singaporeans. For many
Singaporeans members of the pioneer generation, in particular he
will forever be in our grateful hearts.
He gave us a country we can be proud
of, a home to bring up our family and
a better life we can aspire to.
After stepping down as Prime Minister 24 years ago, he continued striving to safeguard Singapores future. He
wrote books like The Singapore Story:
From Third World To First and Hard
Truths To Keep Singapore Going to
remind Singaporeans of our past, our
perpetual constraints and vulnerabilities, and our need to remain cohesive
and united in facing future challenges.
I caught a glimpse of Mr Lee as a father when he was on an official visit to
South Africa in 1992. He was devastated
upon learning that you had been diagnosed with lymphoma. He telephoned
me to discuss the immediate steps for
your treatment. Outwardly, however,
Mr Lee braved on, with little hint of
his personal emotions to his hosts. His
stoicism and message were clear we
must not be deterred, however daunting lifes interventions.
I regard Mr Lee as my mentor.
Outside your family, I probably have

Mr Goh Chok Tong arriving at the Istana to pay his respects yesterday. Photo: The Straits Times

Outside
your family,
I probably
have benefited
more than
anyone from
his guidance
and advice.
He helped me
succeed as
Prime Minister.

benefited more than anyone from his

guidance and advice. He helped me succeed as Prime Minister. We enjoyed a
warm relationship. Until his health got
in the way, we saw each other regularly
and had lunch fortnightly.
Your fathers personal virtues, morals and habits integrity, resilience,
hard work, discipline, frugality, daily exercise, to name a few are legendary, as
arehisdemandsofhighstandardsofperformance. Much of todays Singapore
DNA can be traced to his personal
character, philosophy andvalues.

As Prime Minister, you lead a nation

in mourning the demise of its greatest
son, even as you grieve the passing of
your father. Condolences cannot erase
the pain of your bereavement. May
Singaporeans deep respect for your
father and their gratitude for his lifelong service to our nation give you the
strength to continue his lifes work of
making Singapore strong, secure and
prosperous for Singaporeans.
Once again, Choo Leng and I offer you and your family our sincere
condolences.

He kept us looking to the future

Tharman Shanmugaratnam

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister

ingapore is what it is because of

Mr Lee. We survived as a small
nation and earned our place in
the world because of him.
Singapore will also live on because of
him. Lee Kuan Yew made Singapore to
last. He led a team, not a one-man show.

Mr Lee
dedicated
his entire life
to building
the country

He groomed new leaders. He built clean

government and a culture of telling it
straight telling people the problems,
and finding a way to fix them.
Most fundamentally, he built a
multiracial nation that has endured
still being deepened, and a rarity
internationally.
And Mr Lee kept us all looking to
the future never satisfied with today,

always searching for the next challenge, always wanting a future better
for Singaporeans.
The best way to honour Mr Lee is
for each new generation of Singaporeans to build on what they inherit, live
by their ideals and strive to make our
society fair, just and great.
We thank you, Mr Lee, from deep
in our hearts.

He transformed
the lives of
Singaporeans
Heng Swee Keat

Education Minister

oday, we lost a founding

father of Singapore. I hope
Mr Lee is able to be with
Mrs Lee once again and that they
may rest in peace together. In this
moment of grief, please join me in
expressing our deepest condolences
to Mr Lees family.
I do not have the words to express my gratitude for everything
that Mr Lee has done for Singapore.
Our lives have been transformed
because Mr Lee had a vision of a
better life for all Singaporeans and
dedicated his entire life to this mission. Mr Lee and his team built a
deep rapport with our pioneer generation and, together, they achieved
what many thought was impossible.
Mr Lee has lived a full and meaningful life. Let us come together as
one people to express our appreciation, reflect on what we have gone
through together as a people and
resolve to build on the legacy that
Mr Lee has left us.