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Nine organisations gather to hold remembrance event for 1st anni. of Lee Kuan Yew's death

Xinhua, March 20, 2016 Adjust font size:

Nine organisations from the Chinese, Malay, Indian and Eurasian communities on Sunday jointly organised a remembrance event to commemorate the legacy of Singapore's founding Prime Minister, Mr Lee Kuan Yew, who died on March 23 at age of 91 last year.

More than 1,000 people, including ministers and members from public and private sectors, were present at Stamford Green, where the event was held, to honor the late Lee Kuan Yew for building Singapore a cohesive, multi-racial society.

Four youth representatives from the Malay, Indian, Eurasian and Chinese communities have delivered a speech in honor of the late prime minister. Some highlighted his contribution to a clean nation with mutual respect, while others pay tribute to his personal character such as self-discipline and hard-working.

Twenty-eight year-old Cheong Xuan Yong, who graduated from the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in 2014 with honor in biomedical science and a bachelor in traditional Chinese medicine, honored Lee for his bilingual policies in promoting Singapore from a under-developed city-state into a modern nation as well as his dedication in preserving nature.

"Leaping from a third-world to a first-world nation in single generation is no mean feat. Singapore is a miraculous story of a swamp turned into a vibrant metropolis. This is no idle boast and is the most visible testimony to the vision, leadership, determination of Mr Lee Kuan Yew and his team of ministers," he said.

Minister for Prime Minister's Office Chan Chun Sing in his closing speech also honored Lee for building Singapore into a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic nation.

"We respect our diversity rejoice our diversity. We celebrate our diversity and use our diversity to our advantage to build a even stronger nation," he said.

"We hope that as we go forward, as we strengthen our national identity, we also build an inclusive identity that continues to welcome people, regardless of their race, language or religion."

"We have benefited from the contribution of our pioneer leaders. They lend their shoulders for us to stand taller and see further, and that's why we were here today. Our job was not to go down in history as being the best ever for Singapore, our job is try to continue to lend our shoulders for the next generation to stand taller and see further," the minister stressed. Enditem