Saturday 28 March 2015

The Singapore General Hospital, where Mr Lee was warded for 46days before he died on March 23, said off-duty staff of all nine healthcare institutions within its grounds had been informed that they
could form up along Kampong Bahru Road to pay their last respects. Photo: Low Weixin

He advised me to upgrade
myself with further studies
Union leader now shares MrLees advice with his members

ack when he carried out electrical maintenance for a few months

in the Istana in the 1970s, Mr G
Muthukumarasamy remembers the
late Mr Lee Kuan Yews advice to him
and his colleagues not to stick in this
job and to upgrade ourselves.
Taking the then-Prime Ministers
words to heart, he went for further
studies, and eventually climbed up the
ranks steadily, from being an apprentice, to an electrician, and finally to a
senior electrician.
Donning the hat of general secretary
of the Amalgamated Union of Public
Daily Rated Workers now, MrMuthu
kumarasamy has been passing on
MrLees wise counsel.
I encourage my members to go for
upgrading. You need the paper. If you
dont move, youll be stuck and your
salary wont increase. That is my motivation, he told TODAY.
This and other lessons he learnt
from Mr Lee will pepper Mr Muthukumarasamys eulogy speech in Tamil tomorrow at Mr Lees state fu-

neral service, which will be held at the

University Cultural Centre, National
University of Singapore. Of the 10 giving eulogies tomorrow, four are nonpoliticians MrMuthukumarasamy,
Mr Leong Chun Loong, Ms Cassandra
Chew and Mr Lee Hsien Yang. Along
with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong,
the remaining speakers are all current
or former politicians, such as Emeritus
Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong, President Tony Tan, and member of the Old
Guard Ong Pang Boon.
Yesterday, Mr Muthukumarasamy
said he has been nervous since he was
approached by the National Trades
Union Congress to prepare a eulogy.
How can you not be nervous? Hes
the founding father. Youre talking
about the top man here! But I agreed
immediately, he said, adding that he
has been practising his speech from
the moment he reaches home till midnight this week.
Despite not having spoken with
MrLee, Mr Muthukumarasamy has
learnt much from him nonetheless,

through what he has encountered,

heard, or seen.
He doesnt like the words I
think. He likes confirmation yes
or no. I follow his morals, he said.
After my father passed away, he
became like my father. From him,
I learnt to be honest, strict and be
very disciplined.
10 eulogies will be presented in the
following order:
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong
President Tony Tan
Emeritus Senior Minister Goh
Chok Tong
Former Cabinet Minister Ong
Pang Boon
Former Cabinet Minister S Dhanabalan
Former Senior Minister of State
Sidek Saniff
Trade unionist G Muthukumarasamy
Tanjong Pagar community leader
Leong Chun Loong
Former journalist Cassandra
Chew
The late Mr Lees second son, Lee
Hsien Yang

Organisations along procession

route to Bid farewell
Organisations along the funeral procession route for Mr Lee
Kuan Yew many of which he had a hand in founding have
made plans to bid farewell to the founding Prime Minister when
the cortege passes themtomorrow.
The Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB), which
MrLee brought under the purview of the Prime Ministers Office in 1959 in a signal of his firm stance against graft, will gather
about 100 officers of its Lengkok Bahru premises to pay their last
respects. The agency has also prepared a banner measuring 15m
by 2m, bearing the words CPIB remembers MrLee Kuan Yew.
The National Trades Union Congress has also invited union
leaders to line the streets in front of its headquarters at 1Marina
Boulevard when the gun carriage bearing MrLees casket rolls by.
MrLee had driven the unique model of union movement here by
emphasising cooperation among the tripartite partners, which
smoothened the path for economic development.
PSA Corporation is expecting around 50 of its staff to attend
the funeral procession from Parliament House to the University
Cultural Centre at the National University of Singapore. MrLee had
built on Singapores strategic location to propel the countrys ports
to become the busiest in the world by shipping tonnage in 1982.
The Singapore General Hospital, where Mr Lee was warded
for 46days before he died on March 23, said off-duty staff of all
nine healthcare institutions within its grounds had been informed
that they could form up along Kampong Bahru Road to pay their
last respects.
Meanwhile, a Ministry of Education spokesperson said about
1,700 students from various secondary schools and junior colleges
would gather along the procession route to say their goodbyes
to Mr Lee.
As a mark of respect, Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World
Sentosa yesterday said they would suspend operations from 2pm
to 6pm tomorrow. TEO XUANWEI