92 things that remind you of Lee Kuan Yew

For LKY’s most important contribution to S'pore, ‘look all around you'. For his most important legacy? Look inside you.

Martino Tan| Tan Xing Qi| Jeanette Tan| September 16, 05:33 PM

In Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's eulogy for his late father Lee Kuan Yew at the latter's funeral on March 29 2015, he said,

St Paul’s Cathedral in London was built by Sir Christopher Wren. He was the architect, and he is buried in the cathedral, his life’s work. The Latin epitaph on his grave reads: si monumentum requiris, circumspice. It means: “If you seek his monument, look around you”. Mr Lee Kuan Yew built Singapore. To those who seek Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s monument, Singaporeans can reply proudly: “Look around you”. - Speech delivered by Lee Hsien Loong

We agree. Since it is the 92nd anniversary of Lee Kuan Yew's birth, here are 92 things that remind us of LKY:

1. 1965

1965 Source: 1965 Facebook

You cannot say the movie sucks because it is a movie featuring LKY.

2. Lee Hsien Loong

PAP Lunchtime rally at Boat Quay. 2015/09/08. #ge2015 #singapore #singaporeson #mothershipsg PAP Lunchtime rally at Boat Quay. 2015/09/08. #ge2015 #singapore #singaporeson #mothershipsg

The Father, The ___, and The Holy Goh.

3. Ng Eng Hen

Comic by A Good Citizen Comic by A Good Citizen

4. When someone says "Ah Gong"

Need we elaborate further on this?

5. The meme

you dont chibai

6. Whenever someone mentions a game of cards

Witness the fire and passion in Lee's speeches. One of his most shared speeches is this one at a lunch time rally in 1980.

" width="760" height="570" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen">

7. Eugenics

Lee was either light years ahead, or many years behind in his thinking. Mention eugenics and social engineering today and many rights groups would scoff at the idea or even voice protest. But Lee believed in eugenics so much that it led to ...

8. Graduate mothers

A scheme like that would never see the light of day in today's context. It would probably go viral on social media for all the wrong reasons. Was Lee wrong, or is the world still not ready for the man and his many ideas?

9. LGBT 

Lee said in his one of his many books – Hard Truths to Keep Singapore Going – homosexuality is not a lifestyle and added that "there's a genetic difference".

10. Harry Potter

Harry_Potter

 

Because Harry.

11. Tanjong Pagar

lee-kuan-yew-tanjong-pagar-grc

12. Stop at Two

Stop-at-Two-01

13. Speak Mandarin

" width="760" height="428" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen">

14. Chinese dialects

Will Chinese dialects see a new resurgence now that Lee has passed? He was adamant that Chinese Singaporeans adopt one common tongue — Mandarin — to reduce friction and increase communication among different Chinese dialect groups. It worked, but at the cost of a little heritage.

15. Tree-planting

Source: Remembering LKY Facebook page Source: Remembering LKY Facebook page

16. From Third World to First

From_Third_World_to_First Source: Marshallcavendish website

The book. The often over-used quote by many politicians.

17. Johor Bahru

"That place is notorious for shootings, muggings and carjackings. It does not make sense for a person who claims to be fearful for his life to go to a place like Johor," Lee said.

He later "apologise(d) unreservedly for the offense he has caused to the government and people of Malaysia by his statement on Johor".

18. Oxley Road

Screenshot from Google Street View Screenshot from Google Street View

19. NDPs

lee-kuan-yew-NDP

20. Cul-de-sac

dead end Source

21. Chiam See Tong

Chiam-See-Tong-young

22. Rainbow 

lky-rainbow-ms

23. Whenever someone shouts "Merdeka!"

24. Lim Kay Tong

lky-lim-kay-tong

25. Adrian Pang

adrian-pang-lee-kuan-yew-02

26. Bart Simpsons grandpa

27. High foreheads

lee-kuan-yew-student

28. Swimming

LKY_Swimming

At the age of 80 and above.

29. Best-selling memoirs

LKY Book Cover w Jacket FA22

30. Black ribbons

Google_Black_Ribbon

31. Lim Chin Siong

lee-kuan-yew-lim-chin-siong

32. Salaries of the ministerial kind

Lee once said that the private sector had taken good men and women from the government.

The only way to counter this? A competitive salary.

33. Lightning

strike by lightning

34. The PAP

Defu Industrial Estate, Singapore 2015  PAP Aljunied Rally 4.9.2015. Photo by: Jamie Chan for MothershipSG Defu Industrial Estate, Singapore 2015 PAP Aljunied Rally 4.9.2015. Photo by: Jamie Chan for MothershipSG

35. Seeing MM on a ruler

MM ruler Source

36. Empty seat with a bouquet of flowers

PM:'>
Nobody can be sure or promise that Singapore will still be doing well come SG100. After Mr Lee Kuan Yew died, one...

Posted by Lee Hsien Loong on Sunday, 23 August 2015

 

37. Red box

red box

38. Stickfas glue

lky-wedding-picture Source

39. Google Translate

Screen Shot 2015-09-16 at 4.37.19 pm

Lee speaks English, Chinese, Malay and even worked as a Japanese translator during the Occupation of Singapore.

40. The eight-sided one dollar coin

Thinkstock photo Thinkstock photo

41. Chee Soon Juan as a bankrupt

chee-soon-juan-cbd-then-1

42. Politicians being sued

jbj-anson-victory-1981

43. GRC

Screen Shot 2015-09-16 at 11.39.55 am

44. I stand corrected

i-stand-corrected-they-lay-in-their-coffins Source

45. Sungei Buloh

"Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve Interior 1" by Img by Calvin Teo - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sungei_Buloh_Wetland_Reserve_Interior_1.jpg#/media/File:Sungei_Buloh_Wetland_Reserve_Interior_1.jpg "Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve Interior 1" by Img by Calvin Teo - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons

Because from mudflats to metropolis.

46. Crying on TV

Source: Tumblr Source: Tumblr

47. The idea of getting up from the grave:

Source: geckoandfly.com Source: geckoandfly.com

48. Epic long queues

The'>
line at 9pm is up to 8 hours long. The public is advised to visit the community sites in the heartlands.

Posted by Remembering Lee Kuan Yew on Friday, 27 March 2015

49. That navy blue jacket

Source: Global Youth Leaders Summit Source: Global Youth Leaders Summit

50. New Balance sneakers

Photo: Twitter Photo: Twitter

51. Gurkha guards

Screenshot from Google Street View Screenshot from Google Street View

52. Lee Wei Ling

lee-wei-ling-lee-kuan-yew

53. No spitting signs

No_Signs

And other "No" signs.

54. Truism. Hard ones

HardTruths_LKY

55. Bridge of Sighs

My'>
parents at the Bridge of Sighs in Cambridge. I mentioned in last night’s post that it was one of their favourite...

Posted by Lee Hsien Loong on Thursday, 26 March 2015

56. Atheist meditation

lee-kuan-yew-meditation

57. Knuckleduster

knuckleduster Source

58. This road sign

"Singapore Road Signs - Warning Sign - Merge" by Woodennature - Own work. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Singapore_Road_Signs_-_Warning_Sign_-_Merge.svg#/media/File:Singapore_Road_Signs_-_Warning_Sign_-_Merge.svg "Singapore Road Signs - Warning Sign - Merge" by Woodennature - Own work. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 via Commons

(We mean merger lah.)

59. Sticker lady's Limpeh

Limpeh-by-SKLO

60. Chewing gum

nochewinggum

61. Any undefeated champion

floyd mayweather Source: Floyd Mayweather Facebook

ronda rousey Source: Ronda Rousey Facebook

lky-tanjong-pagarGRC

62. Repent.

Source: AZ Quotes Source: AZ Quotes

63. The original opposition

forming PAP

64. Iron man

gold-iron-man

Because he has that iron in him.

65. Tomes

LKY_books

During one week in March (Mar 23 – 29), all 10 books on the non-fiction bestsellers list in Singapore were related to Lee.

ST_Best-seller2 Mar 23 – 29 (Screenshot from SundayLife!)

The lists were compiled by SundayLife! from Books Kinokuniya, MPH, Times and Popular bookstores.

66. Air conditioning

aircon meme

On the greatest invention of this century: "The air-conditioner, for me," Lee said.

67. The School of Public Policy

lkyspp Source: Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy Facebook

It's kinda hard to miss this one.

68. Western media

The Economist_The Singapore_exception_2

69. Kuriya restaurant 

kuriya-lee-kuan-yew

Check out our article - Lee Kuan Yew celebrated his 91st birthday at Kuriya Dining at Great World City

70. Water

lky water Source

 

71. Murals

lky tribute sg50

72. A sharp hatchet

Hatchet Source

73. NTUC

lky-rally

74. National Service

Defending'>
SingaporeTo safeguard Singapore’s sovereignty, its defence forces had to be built up. This need grew more...

Posted by Remembering Lee Kuan Yew on Friday, 27 March 2015

 

"If you, who are growing up, do not understand that you have got to defend this, then I say in the end, we will lose. Other people will come, smack you down, take it over.” (Feb. 21, 1967)

75. Treadmills

 

14. Running GIF

“Now, I walk on the treadmill three times a day – 12 minutes in the morning, 15 minutes after lunch and 15 minutes after dinner.” - One Man’s View of the World.

76. Nanny

nanny state

77. No smoking signs

No smoking

“I quit smoking because it was causing me to lose my voice at election campaigns.”

78. This (other) blue jacket

LKY in Parliament

Tony Tan and LKY

lee-kuan-yew

79. The Marina Barrage

marina-barrage-lky

80. Raffles Institution

raffles-institution

81. Time Magazine

Lee_Kuan_Yew_TIME_Apr.5_2015_cover

LKY_TIME_mag

82. 2.4km

lee-kuan-yew-running

83. Racial harmony day

racial harmony

“… in Singapore you will get equal misery or equal prosperity as the case may be regardless of whether you are black or brown or yellow or any of the shades in between.”  at the Opening Ceremony of the Singapore Conference Hall and Trade Union House (Oct. 15, 1965)

84. Rain

lky rain ndp 68

Lee_Kuan_Yew_NTUC

 

85. The entire Marina Bay district

Thinkstock photo Thinkstock photo

86. Awesome gesticulations

lky gesticulate

 

lky gesticulate 2

 

87. Lunchtime rallies

pap rally

PAP Lunchtime rally at Boat Quay. 2015/09/08. #ge2015 #singapore #singaporeson #mothershipsg PAP Lunchtime rally at Boat Quay. 2015/09/08. #ge2015 #singapore #singaporeson

88. Game of Thrones

lky tywin

89. Missing Man formation

RSAF Missing Man formation for LKY

90. Clean and Green Singapore

"This'>
is one of the hallmarks of civilisation. One can be rich and filthy or poor and clean. Cleanliness and tidiness...

Posted by Remembering Lee Kuan Yew on Thursday, 26 March 2015

91. His disciple (also the positions SM, ESM and MM)

Grooming'>
the younger generation of leaders"SM Goh and I believe this is the right thing to do, to give PM and his team...

Posted by Remembering Lee Kuan Yew on Thursday, 26 March 2015

 

92. The Proclamation of Singapore

Happy'>
National Day and SG50!Exactly 50 years ago, a radio announcer read the Proclamation that marked the birth of our nation. This morning, at National Day Observances, we remembered and celebrated that pivotal moment. We heard the Proclamation again, this time read by the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew (in a recording done in 2012). We have come far in 50 years. While we enjoy today’s prosperity and progress, never forget how hard we worked to get here. What we have is special and precious, and must never be taken for granted. Today we sang Majulah Singapura proudly. To still do so in 50 years’ time, let us work together as one united people, regardless of race, language or religion, for the happiness, prosperity and progress of our nation. – LHL#SG50

Posted by Lee Hsien Loong on Saturday, 8 August 2015

 

Top photo from 1965 Facebook page.

If you like what you read, follow us on Facebook and Twitter to get the latest updates.

If you like what you read, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Telegram to get the latest updates.