Heavens poured. Some interpreted the heavy downpour as an Act of God; as a sign of grief by the highest of heavens above. Singaporeans braved on nonetheless. What are a few drops of rain when he fought his whole life for this small nation? In my context, what are a few assignments’ deadlines if I can bid my final farewell to my grandparents’ hero?

“I have no regrets. I have spent my life, so much of it, building up this country. There‘s nothing more that I need to do. At the end of the day, what have I got? A successful Singapore. What have I given up? My life.” (Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew)

I wondered whether Mr. Lee had time for his family. Economic concepts such as scarcity and opportunity costs became very real to me. How did his children feel? Sharing their father with the nation. It must have been hard for them.

With soaked clothes, my mind wandered off while waiting. There were many thoughts. One of which, I realised that the funeral procession took place on a Sunday. One could even say that Mr. Lee was so considerate to even choose his time of passing. He must have foreseen the large crowd. He must have known that his passing would probably wiped out any colours for that week. It follows that he would not want to see the Great Singapore Inc. disrupts its operations for him. After all, the Great Singapore Inc. was not build by him alone. As a man who values loyalty and friendship, he would not want to let his old comrades down. A long disruption due to national mourning would be detrimental for the economic development of the Great Singapore Inc. Perhaps, this is the only logical conclusion to take; he had always placed the nation’s interest before his own, before his family, before anything else, to a point where Singapore was an obsession.

“Too coincidental. He must have intended for his passing to take place on a Monday with everything wrapped up by Sunday”, I thought.

I also thought about people who disagreed and (sometimes) criticised him harshly for his policies. In school, we learn that we should not be too critical with the benefit of hindsight. It is always easy to point fingers and blame others after the event. At that time, perhaps, he did what was necessary from his point of view. He did win the gamble. To (briefly) soothe his detractors, and for purposes of ‘balance’, I think the only ones who can criticise him harshly are victims who have been directly affected by his political manoeuvres. After all, aren’t we all benefiting from his policies? Don’t we (most of us) have a roof over our heads? Don’t we all have access to clean water? Aren’t we able to walk freely outside at night without fearing for our own safety? And yet, some (who are not directly affected by his political manoeuvres) are riding moral high horses and pointing fingers at him. In Lord Denning’s words, unruly horses indeed.

Understood in this context, I think I can now understand why my grandparents and people of their age holds 老李 ( ‘Old Lee’) in high adulation.

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