SINGAPORE is mourning the death of this city-state’s founder Lee Kuan Yew who died in a hospital on Monday at an age of 91 after suffering protracted old age illness. He is known to people all over the world as the builder of Singapore from a British colonial protectorate to a skyline city and we in Bangladesh join the people of Singapore to mourn his death and condone it. Lee served as the Prime Minister of Singapore for 31 years from 1959 when colonial ruler Britain granted self-rule leading to its independence in 1965 after a brief and stormy union with Malaysia. He left the Prime Minister’s office in 1990 but continued to play his role as senior adviser to the government for the next 25 years till to his death. He ruled the city state with an iron fists but always above corruption steering the small territory lacking natural resources into a world player in finance, trading, high-tech industries and shipping. A Chinese descent, he symbolized unparallel statesmanship with far reaching wisdom to build economy and business to turn his small country into a modern architecture of nation building. He will remain an inspiration to all. His son and current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong making the statement of his death has rightly said, Lee had made all Singaporeans proud. ‘We won’t see another like him,’ he said epitomizing his demise. Le Kuan Yew was close to US President Barack Obama and all western leaders who would seek his counsel in Asiatic matters. He was equally close to Chinese leaders and his mixed economic reforms with political authoritarianism was of particular appeal to communist China. President Xi Jinping praised Lee on his death and said he is ‘widely respected as a ‘strategist and a statesman’.Singapore now has one of the world’s highest per capita income and its residents enjoy near-universal home ownership, low crime rates and first-class infrastructure. Lee held the opposition Workers Party under total grip but his personal honesty and economic success drew praise from his political opponents as well as they have joined the nation in mourning his death. We must say statesman may often become authoritarian but if they remained guided by work to build the nation and bring socio-economic welfare to the people, they always remain popular like Mr Lee on their death. Unfortunately, we in Bangladesh have a different perspective guiding our leaders towards personal and family ambitions guided by unparallel cruelty and corruption at all levels. Lee used people’s power unlike killing the people and therefore all people on his death have joined to revere him. We hope, Mr Lee’s life may be a guiding lesson to our political leaders at this moment of political crisis.
