In their social media posts today, Singapore leaders paid tribute to the country’s founding father and first head of state Lee Kuan Yew.
Today is the 10th death anniversary of Lee Kuan Yew. He died on March 23, 2015, at the age of 91, after being ill with severe pneumonia.
Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam marked the 10th death anniversary of Lee Kuan Yew with a Facebook post and a smiling photo of LKY. The photo was taken by Larry Burrows of the famed LIFE magazine.
Singapore Senior Minister and former Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and present Singapore Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lawrence Wong posted their tributes on Instagram.
Each generation brings with it a fresh burst of enthusiasm, energy, vitality. Each generation is fired by its vision of the ideal society in an ideal world. The ideal can never be achieved but because men have ideals, those societies progress. Mr Lee Kuan Yew, who left us on 23 March 2015, ten years to this day.
Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam
President Tharman wrote: “Singapore would be a very different place if not for Mr Lee Kuan Yew. We survived as a small nation, became a multiracial society, and kept climbing up in the world because of him, the team he led, and his insistence that every generation should have its own leaders – and its own ideals and aspirations for the future.”
The president continued: “To live up to Mr Lee’s legacy is to keep imagining a better future, and making it possible. To keep striving to be a place that uplifts every Singaporean, makes us all that we can be together, and uplifts the spirit. Lagi sekali yang bersemangat! (Once again with spirit!) – Mr Lee Kuan Yew.”
SM Lee, the eldest son of Singapore’s founding father, posted a black-and-white photo of himself as a boy with his father. The photograph was taken in 1963, two years before Singapore became independent.
The Instagram post with the photo said: “Mr Lee Kuan Yew passed away ten years ago today. Singaporeans remember him for all he did for the nation. To me and my family, he was our father or grandfather, and meant the world to us. May we live up to his hopes and expectations, and always do him proud. – LHL”
Describing the photograph, Lee Hsien Loong wrote: “Viewing fishing boats and nets at Pulau Sekijang Pelepah (Lazarus Island) with my father during a tour of the Southern Islands in 1963. With us are the penghulu of the island, Tok Khairen (right, wearing the songkok), and Bai Kassan.” The photo was sourced from the Ministry of Information and the Arts Collection, courtesy of National Archives of Singapore.
PM Wong posted on Instagram a photograph of the March 2015 funeral procession of Lee Kuan Yew with full state honours.
He wrote: “Ten years on. The recent rains remind us of that solemn day in March 2015, when Singapore stood united under heavy skies to bid farewell to our founding Prime Minister, Mr Lee Kuan Yew.”
The post by Lawrence Wong continued: “Today marks a decade since his passing. Together with his pioneering team, Mr Lee defied the odds to build a nation anchored in meritocracy, strengthened by economic resilience, and held together by a deep commitment to harmony.”
Referring to the 60th anniversary of Singapore, which is in 2025, PM Wong said about Lee Kuan Yew: “Singapore today stands as a living testament to his vision – a clean, green, and dynamic city-state, admired and respected around the world. As we mark SG60 and chart our next chapter, let us honour his legacy not just in remembrance, but in action. The Singapore story is still being written. Together, let’s forge a brighter future worthy of the foundation he laid.”
Giving some details of that day in the photograph, a CNA report said: “…Mr Lee’s coffin was transported via gun carriage from Parliament House for his state funeral service at the University Cultural Centre. The state funeral procession covered a distance of 15.4km and passed significant landmarks such as City Hall, the Padang as well as heartland areas. Thousands lined the streets to pay tribute despite wet weather.”
