Condolences to Singapore

First of all I would like to express my sincere and deepest condolences to Singapore, for the passing of Mr Lee Kuan Yew. The news came as a shock to me last night while I was scrolling through my timeline, and then seeing the news from CNA's page. I am not a Singaporean myself, but as someone who spent literally half of his life so far on the sunny island, Mr Lee's name is no stranger to me.

I see him in my history/social study textbooks, I see him on TV, and I see him every year during NDP. And seeing him on NDP is always something I look forward to, because after all, he is the man behind Singapore's successes and where the country is now. And it deeply saddens me that he won't be there with fellow Singaporeans during the country's 50th birthday this year.

History has always been a favourite subject of mine in secondary school. And I'm always awed to see how much Singapore has progressed from a small fishing village to a metropolitan, modern and sophisticated country in 40 years. All this, wouldn't be possible without the hard and endearing work of Mr Lee, leading and bringing the country to where she is today.

When I was young, I always hear how beautiful, clean and modern Singapore is. And it is evident from my first trip there back in 2001. It is indeed a clean and modern country. Little did I know that I would spend 11 years of my life studying there. When I was young, I didn't know the history of Singapore. But as I studied there, I learned it slowly and well, my admiration towards the country became more and more rounded too. And Singapore wouldn't be who she is now, without Mr Lee.

My social media has been very solemn for the whole day. My teachers and friends are expressing their gratitude for Mr Lee. Can't help but to feel sad and solemn too :(

Once again, I would like to express my condolences to the people of Singapore, for the passing of the country's founding father. And at the same time, I would like to express my admiration for the hard work that he had done for Singapore. Lets be honest, that not many people can transform a country from a tiny fishing village to a world-class country in that span of years!

And I would like to end this post with my favourite from the man himself:

"I have spent my life, so much of it, building 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."

So much feels....