Of course, growing up as my father’s son could not but mean being exposed to politics very early. I remember as a little boy, I knew his constituency was Tanjong Pagar. I was proud of him becoming legal advisor to so many trade unions, and was excited by the hubbub at Oxley Road whenever elections happened, and our home became the election office.
I remember when we were preparing to join Malaysi...a in the early 1960s, going along with my father on constituency visits – the “fang wen” tours which he made to every corner of Singapore. For him, it was backbreaking work, week after week, every weekend, rallying the people’s support for a supremely important decision about Singapore’s future. For me, these were not just Sunday outings, but also an early political education.
I remember election night in 1963, the crucial general election when the PAP defeated the pro-communist Barisan Sosialis. My mother sent me to bed early, but I lay awake in bed to listen to the election results until the PAP had won enough seats to form the government again and then I think I fell asleep.
I remember the day he told me, while we were playing golf at the Istana, that should anything happen to him, he wanted me to look after my mother and my younger brother and sister.
I remember the night the children slept on the floor in my parents’ bedroom at Temasek House in Kuala Lumpur, because the house was full of ministers who had come up from Singapore. Every so often my father would get up from the bed to make a note about something before lying down to rest again, but obviously he was not asleep. That was 7 August 1965, two days before Separation.
Growing up with my father, living through those years with him, made me what I am.
- Lee Hsien Loong, Eulogy at the funeral of Mr Lee Kuan Yew
I remember when we were preparing to join Malaysi...a in the early 1960s, going along with my father on constituency visits – the “fang wen” tours which he made to every corner of Singapore. For him, it was backbreaking work, week after week, every weekend, rallying the people’s support for a supremely important decision about Singapore’s future. For me, these were not just Sunday outings, but also an early political education.
I remember election night in 1963, the crucial general election when the PAP defeated the pro-communist Barisan Sosialis. My mother sent me to bed early, but I lay awake in bed to listen to the election results until the PAP had won enough seats to form the government again and then I think I fell asleep.
I remember the day he told me, while we were playing golf at the Istana, that should anything happen to him, he wanted me to look after my mother and my younger brother and sister.
I remember the night the children slept on the floor in my parents’ bedroom at Temasek House in Kuala Lumpur, because the house was full of ministers who had come up from Singapore. Every so often my father would get up from the bed to make a note about something before lying down to rest again, but obviously he was not asleep. That was 7 August 1965, two days before Separation.
Growing up with my father, living through those years with him, made me what I am.
- Lee Hsien Loong, Eulogy at the funeral of Mr Lee Kuan Yew
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