An online petition, supposedly started by a Singaporean, has started to make its rounds calling for the renaming of Changi Airport in honour of Lee Kuan Yew.

(Click on picture to go to petition:)

The petition tried to make a case for the renaming. Check it out:

To whom it may concern,

This petition seeks to advocate the renaming of the Changi International Airport (Changi Airport) after Singapore's first Prime Minister, Mr Lee Kuan Yew.

1. Just as Changi Airport serves as a hub, intermediary and launch-pad for all other cities in Asia, so too did the late Mr Lee - whose opinions were sought after by world leaders - serve as a conduit between other spheres and Asia.

2. The timeliness of flights, orderliness of ground services, cheeriness of the staff and discipline of security mirror the day-to-day values upheld by Mr Lee and serve as a key-example of the vision he had for Singapore.

3. Airports are a gateway, an introduction to a new city. No other individual is associated more with our city-state (Singapore), politically, emotionally, intrinsically than Mr Lee. His wisdom and foreknowledge has brought many to our borders and within.

4. With each departure, flights out of Singapore bring with them a slice of the "red-dot" pie. Since his days of campaign for independence in the commonwealth, Mr Lee has been a prime exponent of brand Singapore. The fact that Singapore is today one of the, if not THE, most desirable cities in the world to live in, is derivative of his early foreign-affairs policy.

5. Horse-power took humankind across continents, steam-power took us across oceans; Jet-power took us across the heavens. Mr Lee took a Singapore, beset with, internal struggles, lack of resources, decrepit infrastructure and a lowly-income, "from third-world to first."

6. The last time you went to an airport, you were fraught with emotion - a loved one, a new adventure, an unknown awaited you. Mr Lee was that unknown - that mother who doted on you, father who reprimanded you, the stranger that irked you or the partner that followed you to the end.

Airports and runways do not appear out of the blue nor do they change their headings thereafter. They were built after years of careful consideration by well-trained engineers who have, studied the ground for stability, surroundings for disruptions, atmosphere for optimal conditions and location for feasibility.

When Mr Lee came into power, the ports were coming to sufficient capacity, the refineries were somewhat serving the nation, lands were being zoned for residences and infrastructure was coming to be. Since then, 1965, Mr Lee has full-throttled Singapore into (one of) the world's leader in education, manufacturing, healthcare, finance, R&D and, transportation. Leading these, are the achievements of the Changi International Airport, spearheaded by the man.

"Mr Lee personally shaped Singapore's aviation industry. Against the recommendations of foreign experts to expand the former airport at Paya Lebar, Mr Lee decided to shift Singapore's international airport to Changi......The tough call meant.... a commitment of S$1.5 billion to develop the new airport in the late 1970s. But Mr Lee himself described it as "one of the best S$1.5 billion investments we ever made". Changi Airport Group said: "Mr Lee took a personal interest in the development of the new airport at Changi. He flew over the site to oversee construction, ensuring that Changi Airport was to become a shining beacon of the Singapore brand in the global economy."

-http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/lee-kuan-yew-dies/changi-airport-continues-to-pursue-lee-kuan-yews-vision-cag

As the John F. Kennedy, Ben Gurion and Charles de Gaulle airports reflect and represent the nations which they serve, so will the Lee Kuan Yew International Airport embody our statutes of democracy, peace, progress, justice and equality, as manifested in the person of Mr Lee Kuan Yew.

Yours Sincerely,

Jim Nigel Fernandez

A Singaporean

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