Lee Kuan Yew: ST Asian of the Year

There is no life here that Mr Lee Kuan Yew did not touch or shape in some fundamental way.

Tanglin Halt resident Sayuti Dahlan, 82, remembered that, as a young man in his 20s, he would cycle from Pasir Panjang to Tanjong Pagar to attend rallies where Mr Lee would give powerful speeches.

Standing on a stationary, open- topped lorry, he would shout: "The British think we are stupid. But I will show them that the people of Singapore can and will have merdeka (freedom)."

Mr Dahlan underlined a defining characteristic of the founding Prime Minister's legacy:

"Mr Lee never used the words Chinese or Malay or Indian to describe us. He always said Singaporeans."