For a while this year, it seemed that the former PM was all but forgotten in our frenzy to celebrate our 50th anniversary.

There was all but no mention of him and his legacy. There was no mention of his frailty; he faded away from our short attention span, which, alas, was last focused on blogger Xiaxue’s second expose.

It was only when the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) began to make statements and provide daily updates that the public knew what was happening. Lee Kuan Yew was admitted to hospital since Feb 5. for severe pneumonia. News of recovery never seemed to come, and many became worried.

Young people - like me - tuned online, fearing that ominous update from Lee Hsien Loong’s Facebook. Our recollection of his father had been primarily formed on the Internet, where many shared his quotes and views.

And it was on this platform which I first wrote something on the man himself. The occasion was his 90th birthday, and I wildly displayed my ignorance in the opening:

Without doing any research, this is what I can tell you about Mr Lee Kuan Yew.

First, that he was the first prime minister of Singapore, who led us into independence. That with a team of policymakers and unfettered power in Parliament, he brought us public housing, healthcare, and rapid economic growth – essentially the Singapore we live in today…

Perceptions of Lee were what people told me

My thoughts - published on the now defunct Breakfast Network website - had all been perceptions of what people told me about him. I remember vividly how my mother once spoke of him with disdain; and I closely associated my memories of Lee as that of a strongman, who brought on some very unpopular policies, and who had made some mistakes (the Graduate Mothers’ Scheme, for one). I still remember my father's cautionary tales about Chia Thye Poh and his detention without trial - which was especially emphasised when I first got into writing and blogging.

I also remember the narratives of difficulty and hardship in Singapore’s early years - in which Lee played a pivotal role. Trips to the Singapore Discovery Museum and National Education classes all emphasised that, with clips of him tearing up on national television, the policies his government instituted and the reasons he did so - all taught to us.

The man created a stable nation out of a potentially fragmented society; under his charge, the government eliminated corruption, making Singapore one of the top financial centres of the world; economic growth was unprecedented. We prospered.

And as his success began to show, his name became synonymous with Singapore. From Third World to First, people started to say.

The fact is, we can be greater.

Now, we are economically comfortable enough in our air-conditioned nation; we enjoy the fruits of our forefathers’ labour that have come from his leadership.

Sure, a man does not make a country. Sure, dissent might have been stifled with his regime. But we cannot deny the legacy that he has left us; for Lee Kuan Yew, no matter what people think he might be, is integral to Singapore’s history.

And as a nation mourns in some relative comfort today, we worry about a future without him, we chafe at the restrictions he instituted, and we fail to realise how much more we can continue to build on his legacy if we worked together.

The last time Singapore worried about its future in this manner was half a century ago, when we were kicked out of Malaysia to become a newly independent state. Lee Kuan Yew seized that moment to make us prosperous.

Perhaps what we should do in honour of his memory and spirit would be to take charge. To take charge of our country and democracy; like he did in 1965.

To take charge, and make us great.

Top photo from Remembering Lee Kuan Yew Facebook.

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