One week of national mourning had just ended. Mr Lee Kuan Yew had passed away in the early morning of 23rd March 2015 at the age of 91, leaving behind a grieving Singapore on her 50th year of Independence.
The outpouring of grief and emotions that all of us witnessed over the past 7 days, were unprecedented. In fact, every single arrangement made since 23rd March, Monday, was unprecedented. Events were postponed; companies gave employees time off to pay respects; Massive state funeral etc.. All these would most likely never happen again on the same scale in my lifetime. I hope my memory will not fail me on all the happenings that I had witnessed this week.
TV shows and Radio programmes followed a special line-up that featured Lee Kuan Yew (LKY) during the mourning period. It was through these programmes every night, that I remembered the great contributions that our first Prime Minister did. I followed the news every day closely, through the state media and through the online media, to read about the great admirations that people from all over the world had of LKY. These made me very proud to be identified as a Singaporean.
Then on Wednesday morning, tens of thousands lined the streets from The Istana (where a 2-day private wake took place) to Parliament House (where a 4-day public wake took place). It must have taken the Government by surprise, when they initially planned for just 10-hour visiting hours per day, for the 4 days. When the queue immediately stretched kilometres long around the Civic District, with waiting times of 6 hours, they had to extend the visiting hours to 24-hours per day.
The queue never stopped (at one point, it was more than 10 hours long), until it was officially closed on Saturday evening. About half a million people braved the long queues and weather elements, to get close to the coffin. I did not take the time to do the queue, because I felt that I should instead spend the time following the TV programmes and watching his speeches, which is important for me to carry on with his ideals for the country. I read about the countless Singaporean ground-up initiatives at the queue sites -- people offering free meals, drinks, brollies, taxi rides etc -- and it touched me greatly, for knowing that the death of LKY continued to unite us and bring up the hidden Singaporean-ness in all of us. My faith in Singaporeans was restored.
Then there were also the 18 Community Tribute sites, which provided an alternative to the massive queue at Parliament House. At the sites, people could also pay their respects and tribute, and pen down their thoughts and condolences for the leader. I visited the one at Tampines, and even though it was already the 6th day into his passing, the crowds kept coming. Over a million people visited the Community Tribute sites, which was heartening.
I applaud the State Funeral Organising Committee for their efficiency and how they ensured everything went so orderly. Crowd control was so well-managed -- and we're not talking about the usual NDP crowd -- it's of a much greater magnitude spread over so many sites all over the country over so many days. The 15km-long State Funeral Procession from the Parliament House to University Cultural Centre even saw 100,000 people lining up the streets, all drenched from head to toe from the torrential downpour. Then there were also the special arrangements made during the One Minute of Silence, when trains stopped, buses held back, land checkpoints halted, airplanes waited etc. It was truly a minute when the country came to a standstill, the greatest respect the country could give to LKY.
I'm sure the final moments of the State Funeral were especially emotional for many Singaporeans, when we recited our pledge and sang the National Anthem. Tears flowed freely (as if they hadn't already flowed for the past 7 days) and everyone became very reflective of themselves as Singaporeans.
Tomorrow, a new week shall begin. Colours will return to the country which just saw a very dark week. It will be the first time that we all return to our normal lives again, only that it is now a world without Lee Kuan Yew. What will change? Anything, but the determination in us to continue the work of Singapore. We're standing at the crossroads with 50 years of golden achievement behind us, from a Third World country to a First World country in just one generation. Without the visionary LKY anymore, I hope we can still make it past another 50 years. And if I'm fortunate, I hope to be a part of it.
人生是黑白的.
8:50 PM <3
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