Lee Kuan Yew - An Eulogy

It was a friendship beyond compare. Some might say that it was an odd type of friendship.  But it is the one I relished most in my years of stay at Singapore starting from 1999. The moment I received a gift from a friend at our MTL office in Singapore the seed was sown. I am an avid reader of novels and not much interested in a biography and that too authored by the president of the nation and seen by the world as an autocrat.

Since Jackie, the Chinese Singaporean, who presented the book  had highly recommended it,  out of sheer curiosity I was driven to read it. It was a moment of revelation. “THE SINGAPORE STORY” written by it’s prime minister Lee Kuan Yew entwined me like a  ghost creeper and  wouldn’t  let go of it’s grip!

“THE SINGAPORE STORY”  starts with the partition of Singapore from Malaysia. Singapore was a state (like TamilNadu, a state in India) of Malaysia. It was just 2 years since this merger had taken place. But the incompatibility became so  unbearable due to the Malaysian prime minister’s biased agenda stick that he  didn’t want Singapore to be part of it anymore. The nation was just cut off and thrown away. Malaysia was the hinterland of Singapore with all the natural resources embedded in there and Singapore acted as it’s commercial and business hub. The leader of this unfortunate island state of Singapore Lee Kwan Yew was at a loss! What was he  going to do with this piece of land (with nil natural resources) as a separate entity? On August 9th 1965  Singapore became  independent. At the first live press conference convened for the occasion Lee Kuan yew  couldn’t control his emotions and excused himself for 20 minutes in the presence of a curious gathering of reporters lapping up  every word uttered and craving to know more. This first chapter of the book which covered this event touched my heart and the others just  followed suit!

After finishing the book I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to salute the man who had  done a miracle to this tiny place, thank him for his audacity in the face of so much animosity. I wondered at his leadership quality in uniting 65% Chinese 18% Indians and 17% Malaysians and other nationalities into one harmonious group and creating a bonhomie needed for an ideal nation!  But for his vision, grit and political sagacity, this third world nation would not have become one among the shining stars of  the first world nations!

I thought I have to do something for him for these and many other reasons. Whenever we fly from India (my hubby’s assignment was such that we spent 10 days of the month in India and 20 days in Singapore) and from the moment we took a taxi from the airport to our house at Orange Grove Road we literally felt like royals travelling in a chariot having a ‘Guard of Honour’ all through the  route ! The  varied flowering trees with their mild fragrance and the nodding bushes saluted us. I would like to raise my hand as a return salute but my smiling face said it all.

All this credit of making me queen belonged to my dear Lee! That impossible man envisioned a clean and green Singapore which will carry a competitive advantage!

 In one of his conversation he said “After independence I was searching for a dramatic way to distinguish ourselves from other third world nations. Greening is the most cost effective project I have launched.”

His passionate involvement in  greening of the nation earned him the pet title “The First Gardener of the Nation”! 

How do I tell him that he had done a wonderful job in not just greening the place but  making his nation one among the richest and powerful one  in the world? 

The urge to make a bonding with this friend was irresistible. With my known contacts I could have met him in one of the gatherings he attended. But it will be too formal with no depth, like meeting one of our famous actor to say that she had acted well in a particular movie. But I took a strange route. I started translating the Singapore Story into Tamil and I couldn’t stop it. As I went on with the job I felt that our friendship is in proper place and being strengthened every day. When his next book “ FROM THIRD WORLD TO FIRST” came out  I was one among the first to buy it and again went on with my translating frenzy.  I didn’t know why I did it. Do I want to publish it? I had no idea! I never even thought about it. But my inner satisfaction was beyond compare. Do you write “Ramajayam” countless times over years for any reward except for the satisfaction of supreme connection? Do you write “ Praise the Lord” for any other reason?

 On March 23 2015, my friend Lee Kwan Yew left this world at the ripe age of 91. There will be floral tributes and many words of praise from world leaders. The social media will overflow with tributes and eulogies but from this humble friend the befitting translation into Tamil, is offered as a tribute.