but i dont have the time,
so am posting up today...
For the past one week,
if you're a Singaporean or currently staying/studying/living in Singapore you might know what im going to post about.
Since last Saturday till this week Wednesday (Oct2 - Oct6)
Singapore's Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew's wife,
Mrs Lee Kwa Geok Choo had past away last Saturday peacefully in her place in Sri Temasek.
Sri Temasek was opened to public on 4Oct & 5Oct.
About 15,000 people includinf Singaporeans, PRs, foreigners, government officials, neighbouring countries Prime Minister & etc.
had been there to pay their last respect.
A personal funeral was had in Mandai Crematorium.
Where only invited guests & family members will be there.
An eulogy by MM Lee, their children, PM Lee Hsien Loong, Wei Ling and Hsien Yang,
their grandchildren, Xiuqi and Shengwu.
A quote from Xiuqi's eulogy, 'In Tokyo my granny went to Tokyo Hands, a 7-storey DIY store. She has always been on a lifelong quest for the Perfect Hairbrush. She found a nice hairbrush there. It wasn't expensive. But even purchasing it was a struggle for her because Nainai has always been frugal to a fault. In the end,the hairbrush won. Nainai said, "Well, I'm already so old, I can afford to buy it"and put down the money. She went home smiling, hairbrush in hand.'
A quote from Shengwu's eulogy, 'She passed to her grandchildren a love of learning and reading, as well as the kind of knowledge not found in print.'
A quote from Lee Hsien Yang, 'The following year, in 1986, Fern delivered our second baby, yet another boy, Huanwu. Mama rushed to the hospital obviously thrilled and delighted, declaring "Thank goodness it's a boy. If the baby had been a tiger girl, just think what difficulty we would have had marrying a tiger girl off!".
Our third son was born a decade after the first two, and is much younger than all Mama's other grandchildren. When Shaowu arrived in 1995, Mama was already 74 and had given up hope of any more grandchildren. In corporate parlance, Shaowu was an unexpected bonus issue. Shaowu was greeted with great delight and she pronounced that she now had one granddaughter and six grandsons; that there was a Chinese saying about a moon and seven stars, so all we needed to do was to produce another grandson to complete her family! Sadly, neither Fern nor Ho Ching obliged.'
A quote from PM Lee, 'Once when I had almost learnt to swim but not quite, I got into difficulty using goggles and a snorkel, and nearly drowned. Mama had to plunge in fully dressed to rescue me. She was not amused.
When the boys went away to university, she fussed over us at long distance. She was a skilful knitter, and knitted us sweaters to stay warm, one after another.
I still have one of them, a favourite rust-coloured one, patched many times at the elbows but still warm.'
A quote from MM Lee, 'Her nurses, WSOs and maids all grew fond of her because she was warm and considerate. When she coughed, she would take her small pillow to cover her mouth because she worried for them and did not want to infect them.
Her mind remained clear but her voice became weaker. When I kissed her on her cheek, she told me not to come too close to her in case I caught her pneumonia.
I assured her that the doctors did not think that was likely because I was active. When given some peaches in hospital, she asked the maid to take one home for my lunch. I was at the centre of her life.
On June 24, 2008, a CT scan revealed another bleed again on the right side of her brain. There was not much more that medicine or surgery could do except to keep her comfortable.
I brought her home on July 3, 2008. The doctors expected her to last a few weeks. She lived till October 2, 2 years and 3 months.
She remained lucid. They gave time for me and my children to come to terms with the inevitable.
In the final few months, her faculties declined. She could not speak but her cognition remained. She looked forward to have me talk to her every evening.
Her last wish she shared with me was to enjoin our children to have our ashes placed together, as we were in life.
The last two years of her life were the most difficult. She was bed-ridden after small successive strokes; she could not speak but she was still cognisant.
Every night she would wait for me to sit by her to tell her of my day's activities and to read her favourite poems.
Then she would sleep.
I have precious memories of our 63 years together. Without her, I would be a different man, with a different life. She devoted herself to me and our children. She was always there when I needed her. She has lived a life full of warmth and meaning.
I should find solace at her 89 years of her life well lived. But at this moment of the final parting, my heart is heavy with sadness.'
All quotes were from AsiaOne.com
Sorry if its a long post but i really want to share with everyone including Singaporeans & non-Singaporeans how or who is Mrs Lee.
As a Singaporean, myself, at first, i honestly didnt know who she is.
Untill reading through all the Newspaper especially Today!,
they have this Comment&Analysis forum.
They really dug up all the achievements, dedication & etc she had made to/for her husband & Singapore.
Right now,
updating this post was to say
Thanks, Mrs Lee for doing so much for Singapore.
Especially the water agreement with Malaysia.
Thanks again, Mrs Lee, hope you can RIP & enjoy yourself in another world
& look after your children&grandchildren & also your husband
where everyone is quite worried about him after your passing.
RIP, Mrs Lee(:
*Photo from Google Search!
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