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Founder's Memorial
Founder's Memorial
Contents
1History
2Transportation
3See also
4Notes
History[edit]
Singapore's first Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew, passed away on 23 March 2015.
Lee Kuan Yew had made it clear that he did not want a monument to himself, and his
will specified that his house at 38 Oxley Road was to be demolished. In a
parliamentary statement[2] on 13 April 2015, his son Prime Minister Lee Hsien
Loong stated:
Mr Lee was always conscious that he did not act alone, but as a member of a team.
His core team included Goh Keng Swee, S Rajaratnam, Othman Wok, Hon Sui
Sen, Lim Kim San, amongst others. It was a multi-racial team who complemented
one another’s strengths, trusted one another implicitly, and through their joint efforts
created a prosperous, fair and just society in Singapore. Mr Lee himself said he was
only primus inter pares – first among equals. So it is appropriate that we consider
how to honour not just Mr Lee, but also our other founding fathers.
One idea that has been suggested is to have a memorial for all of the founding
fathers, perhaps coupled with an exhibition gallery to honour their legacy and
educate future generations. Indeed, Mr Lee himself had thought that there was value
in such a memorial.
I agree that this concept merits further consideration. A founder’s memorial need not
be a grand structure, but it must stand for our ideals, our values, our hopes and
aspirations. It must belong to all Singaporeans and mean something significant to us
all. It should be a place where we and future generations can remember a key period
in our history, reflect on the ideals of our founding fathers, and pledge to continue
their work of nation building.
The site was selected in 2018, with construction to start in 2021. [3]
Transportation[edit]
Once complete, the Memorial will be served by the Founders' Memorial MRT
station on the Thomson-East Coast Line.
See also[edit]
History of Singapore
Timeline of Singaporean history