The late former president S R Nathan's body is now lying in state at Parliament House.

The authorities, seemingly well-prepared for a larger-than-usual swell thanks to Lee Kuan Yew, were on hand distributing water bottles at the first water point, and a larger tent was set up to prepare for a larger crowd.

By 6pm Thursday, an estimated 14,000 people queued from the Padang to Parliament House to pay their last respects to Nathan.

We spoke to eight of these people:

1. Tan Cheng Kiong, 52

The Chief Commissioner of the Scouts in Singapore was there to lead a delegation of Scouts to pay their respects to Nathan, who was Chief Scout during his presidency.

“During the time he was our Chief Scout, he was very active, supporting all our events. He never turned down any invitation that we made to him to attend any of our events. Every year, he would come a few times, and for the year 2010, when we celebrated our 100th anniversary, he came for seven events in one year.

He’s really close to us — constantly asking us about what’s happening with the Scouts Association, giving us very good advice, and he’s always very close to the younger Scouts, all those Scouts in primary school; he loves to mingle with them, interact with them, talk to them.

He’s very caring. We have a lot of functions at the Istana, and he’s always making sure that the people were well taken care of. For example, if it rained after an event, he would personally make sure that the buses are there to ferry the people down to the carpark, to where they can get the shuttle bus and so on... he was very concerned about people’s welfare.”

 

2. Ong Han Wee, 36

“Back in 2004, I was part of this committee to organise the convocation ball for the graduating class that year in NTU. We invited him as the VIP, along with his wife. That was probably the only time that I got in touch with him face to face, so we sat down on the roundtable.

That time, because I was so young, what hit me the most was the way he requested to be sat. Instead of him facing the stage, he requested to face the ball (the audience). He said that he, as a VIP, should be facing the people.”

Ong also remembers reading about what Nathan did during the Laju incident in 1974.

“I do not think that anyone in the world (would) simply just go with the kidnappers all the way to the Middle East,” he adds. “It’s very dangerous, but he himself was willing to do that.”

3. Chandra Bose, 75

“I know about the things he has been doing to the country, to the people; how friendly and how loving, and how compassionate he is. He lived a very full life, and served the country, and for that, I respect him a lot.

One very important thing which I can think of for the youngsters, is that the time when we lived, and the times today, is so different. It’s so very strenuous and risk-ridden today because of what is happening in the world — terrorists and so on. Mr Nathan was a promoter of racial harmony, friendship, and loving kindness with one another regardless of race, and I think the younger generation should bear this in mind and take it to heart.”

 

4. Kathleen Tan, 20

“I’m definitely sad about his passing, but I have to admit, he’s already 92. I hope he’s in a better place right now. I’m really grateful for all that he has done for Singapore.”

Tan doesn’t have a personal experience with him, but she remembers seeing him at the President’s Challenge, which S R Nathan set up.

“I really thought it was something meaningful, and from then on I realised that he has actually done so much for everyone in Singapore, but most of his actions have not actually been recognised.

He’s just such a humble person, and I hope that kindness in him will continue living on in every Singaporean.”

 

5; 6. Ambarasi, 50; Amaravathy Sarojam, 64

Ambarasi and Amaravathy are from the Sree Narayana Mission in Singapore, and remember S R Nathan visiting their mission home.

“I’ve known him; he always comes to our Toa Payoh temple at Sree Narayana for events. Every year, on January 13, we will meet him. This was the last time (I met) him.” - Ambarasi

Amaravathy Sarojam remembers Nathan as a kind-hearted and down-to-earth person.

“S R Nathan visited our home (for a few times), and he would send his personal greetings during Deepavali. He’s always had the thought for Sree Narayana Mission, and we are very grateful for him.” - Amaravathy

7. Tang Chun Tuck, 63

The longest-serving Honorary Secretary of the Red Cross Youth (which he has volunteered with since 1963) was there, alongside everyone else, to pay his respects to S R Nathan.

“He turned up for many of our charity and fundraising events. During the Singapore Red Cross International Bazaar, he was there. I was helping as a volunteer then. He was a very modest president, I would say. He came to us and talked to us when I was manning one of the stalls.

He’s a well-liked president. He’s also helped us in some other charitable efforts — he (was a patron) for one of our charity events held at Shangri-la Hotel — and we raised quite a substantial fund with his support. These are just two examples, you know. There are many more.”

 

8; 9. Anna Ng, 50; Phevos Thomas, 9

“We’re here to pay our respects to the President,” says Phevos Thomas.

What does the 9-year-old know about S R Nathan? “Not much,” he admits. “We don’t live (in Singapore).”

His mother, Anna Ng, 50, interjects. “We live in the UAE — so I brought him to pay his respects to the ex-president.”

“I think he has been a very good president, and that he has been very well-respected, so we’d just like to pay our respects to him today.”

 

10. Venerable Shi Ming Yi, 54

The abbot of Foo Hai Ch’an Monastery, who was at the centre of a controversy involving an unauthorised loan from Ren Ci Hospital, which resulted in his Public Service Medal being revoked by S R Nathan himself, was cool when he arrived at the queue, surrounded by several Chinese-language reporters.

“Our former president — I was rather familiar with him. He cared for the citizens; and we chatted frequently about religion, about the people. Today he has left us, and so I’ve brought my delegation here to pay my respects.

He’s very kindly. He’s not an aloof president; he was a president who loved the people and cared about the people. He treated the average citizen as his friends.”

 

Top image of Ho Ching by Ng Yi Shu.

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