Singapore, Sept 16: Singapore on Saturday marked the 100th birth anniversary of its founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, with several leaders reflecting on his legacy and contributions to nation-building.
Born in 1923, Lee was known as the economically prosperous republic’s chief gardener. He launched the first nationwide tree-planting campaign in 1963 and introduced the “Garden City” vision in May 1967, which started a greening movement which has lasted for decades.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Lee’s eldest son, reflected on how his father and the city state’s founding fathers shaped the values and ideals of a newly independent Singapore – meritocracy, religious freedom and racial harmony, justice and equality, self-reliance, integrity and incorruptibility.
“Today would have been Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s 100th birthday. Several initiatives have been organised to mark his birth centenary. I hope Singaporeans will be able to appreciate and always have the resourcefulness, courage & conviction to take SG forward,” he posted on social media platform X.
“I hope Singaporeans, especially younger ones who have grown up in a modern prosperous nation, will be able to appreciate the conditions of early Singapore, and the drive and determination of our predecessors to face down and overcome their immense challenges,” the prime minister said in a Facebook post.
“The Singapore story doesn’t end here. May we always have the resourcefulness, courage, and conviction to take Singapore forward….” he said.
The prime minister also listed several events, including an immersive art exhibition, that are being held to mark Lee’s birth centenary.
In a Facebook post on Friday, Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said that founding Prime Minister Lee had “always made investing in our people a priority”, including Singapore’s youth.
Wong said he was glad to see that the funds raised by the Joint Initiative to support the LKY (Lee Kuan Yew) Centennial Fund will go towards students’ education and development, and thanked business chambers across the Chinese, Malay, Indian and Eurasian communities.
The People’s Action Party, which the founding prime minister co-founded in 1954, commemorated his 100th birth anniversary with a call for Singaporeans to take part in its campaign to plant 10,000 trees across Singapore, which began in May.
Lee, who died in 2015 at the age of 91, had launched the first nationwide tree-planting campaign in 1963 and introduced the “Garden City” vision in May 1967, which started a greening movement that has lasted for decades now.
Coins commemorating Lee’s birth anniversary were also launched. (PTI)
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