Good Bye Mr Lee Kuan Yew

Last week was the saddest week for Singapore. Mr Lee Kuan Yew, our founding Prime Minister passed on at the age of 91 on Monday 23 March and we, the sketchers had our March sketchwalk at Esplanade Waterfront on Saturday to celebrate the achievement of Singapore which is synonymous with the wonderful life of our remarkable leader. Last week, there was an amazing outpouring of emotions by Singaporeans at large that people queued up for ten hours to the Laying-in-State to pay their last respects at the Parliament House.

While we were sketching in the shade at the Waterfront, people in the long long queue behind us were standing under the scotching sun in a orderly manner, no one complaint or grumbled. There were volunteers who supplied water, buns and umbrellas. I even saw a lady carrying an ice box with icy towels given out to people in the queue!

The next day on Sunday, despite heavy downpour, thousands lined the streets of Singapore when the cortege traveled from Parliament House to University Cultural Centre for the State Funeral where foreign dignitaries from more than twenty countries were there waiting in the hall. People dropped everything and the entire nation observed a minute of silence at 4pm. Good Bye Sir, may you rest in peace!

I like to share with you one of the famous quotes from Mr Lee Kuan Yew:

"I have no regrets. I have spent my life,
so much of it, building up this country.
There's nothing more that I need to do.
At the end of the day, what have I got?
A successful Singapore.
What have I given up?
My life."

Look at the sketch, within a generation; in a short span of 50 years, we transform the country from a mud land to a first world country. Thank you Sir!