A nation grieves, with deep Respect and Admiration...Mrs Lee Kuan Yew, wake, Istana.

For more than half a century, in fact close to 60 years of Singapore's political history, she was always in the shadow, always in the background. Singaporeans could easily identify with the face and figure of our founding father... former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. But Kwa Geok Choo who became Mrs Lee Kuan Yew when they were married in December 1947 played no less an important role in those early momentous years.

Her gentle passing at 5.40 pm at her Oxley Road home on Saturday ( 2nd Oct 2010 ) has set an entire nation in grief. From all corners of our island and all walks of life, sincere warm tributes gushed forth ..and these are our ordinary citizens, old and young, across our multi-racial society.
Even PRs and foreign visitors caught the nation's drift and moods these past days.

Unk Dicko dedicate this blogpost solely in rememberance and recognition of this great lady of Singapore. Reading her life story it would not be wrong to liken her to a beacon, a lighthouse which provides safety and guidance for all by shining its light brightly. It wasn't only MM and his family that has benefited from such a remarkable woman.
She has ,while alive, inspired many through her gentle strength and brilliance.
And now with her sad passing, she will inspire even more mothers, fathers, wives, husbands and not forgetting half a million school children who will undoubtedly look up this wonderful mother figure as someone they hope to emulate or learn from.



KWA GEOK CHOO 1920 - 2010

[ Picture source: CNA online ]

Mr and Mrs Lee Kuan Yew in Cambridge 1947

[ Picture source: CNA online ]

Mrs Lee Kuan Yew with grand-daughter Li Xiuqi
[ Picture source: CNA online ]

When that little girl ( Xiuqi ) grew up, she went through her secondary education and entered Hwa Chong Junior College for her 'A' Levels. Unk Dicko was one of those who taught her class. I can still recall none of my colleagues had the "courage" to take charge of that class being aware of who she was, probably afraid of making some mistakes or whatever that may filter back. So, they requested me to take her class since I was the Head. No problem, she and her CT mates were with me and I found her to be an unusual leader. It was on her own initiative, that she got the PE or sports equipment needed for the lessons and had them arranged neatly and nicely even before I came before the class! No other student in my experience had done so in my long years there or elsewhere. Normally, we had to roster some students to do such menial tasks. When the lesson ended she took it upon herself to organise the return and safekeeping of all the stuff used. I need not have to worry at all and she'll return the store key to me personally . To me, she was a jewel. It showed that despite her high family background, she was not unaccustomed to pitch in to help anyway she could. She was also not the kind of student who expected "special' treatment from any of us during her JC days. It spoke volumes of the upbringing she had and I wouldn't be surprised her favourite grandma (Mrs Lee K Y ) had much to do with it.

Below is a touching account about her grandmother by my former student Li Xiuqi. Also a nice picture.

http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_586779.html

Tuesday 5 October 2010

The members of the public and other organised groups began streaming into the Istana groundssince Monday to pay their last respects at her official wake. They came from near and far, many braving the fierce sun for 2 hours or more in the long queues that formed.

Unk Dicko and his friends from Kampong Serangoon went there this morning in an organised group. There were 2 lines only- 1 for the public and another for groups. The queue for the public was super long stretching from where the wake is held, far inside the Istana, to the main gate
at Orchard Road. Still I could see more people joining in despite the big numbers.
It clearly showed how much this woman meant to them, not forgetting the pain and loss that MM and his family must be bearing bravely.


Security was very tight. Individuals and all vehicles had to go through checks and scanners.
Because my party was only 20 strong, we were fortunate to move in briskly...in less than 10 minutes.

[ Pictures from Unk Dicko ]
The long lines proceeding towards the Istana annexe.

Some members of my group as they moved forward.

Friends and GRLs from Kampong Serangoon assemble and wait for their

turn before they proceeded into the wake chamber.
.
Kampong Serangoon people remember!

After paying our respects at Mrs Lee's flower draped casket we filed down

another way. That is the building where we came from.

As I was the last one to walk down this path, I asked a fellow kamponger

to capture the moment in time. I was the only one there with a camera.



A section of the people who came now making their way out.

Our chartered bus

Below is an updated link that have many photos that covered the wake at the Istana

as well as the Funeral Ceremony at Mandai Crematorium on 6 Oct 2010.

http://www.asiaone.com/static/multimedia/gallery/101004_leewake/

The Passing of Mrs Lee Kuan Yew

 Unk Dicko and D2 were at the Copthorne Waterfront Hotel last night as invited guests
to the 2010 Active Agers Awards Presentation cum Dinner. Midway through the ceremony, we
received the sad news by SMS about MM's wife.
Obviously we were shocked but had to keep our emotions in check as the ceremony was on-going.
President SR Nathan ( Guest of Honour ) and Mrs Nathan were seated 2 tables away from us...and he had not presented the main Awards yet.
 When we came home, I read the online news about her passing and felt very sad indeed.
She was a truly remarkable woman who had undoubtedly contributed immensely to Singapore in ways
that few know about.
Unk Dicko had the privilege of personally having taught her grandaughter ( PM's daughter ) while we
were both at HCJC.


Singapore ST online
Home > Breaking News > Singapore > Story


Oct 2, 2010
REMEMBERING MRS LEE KUAN YEW - 1921 TO 2010
Wife, confidante, lawyer, mother
By Hannah Koh


MADAM KWA Geok Choo, perhaps better known Mrs Lee Kuan Yew, wife of Singapore's founding father and Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, died at home on Saturday. She was 89.
She leaves behind MM Lee, 87, sons Lee Hsien Loong who is the Prime Minister, Hsien Yang, 53, and daughter Wei Ling, 55 and several grandchildren.


Mrs Lee was born on Dec 21, 1920. Her father, Mr Kwa Siew Tee, was a general manager at OCBC Bank. She excelled at her studies at Methodist Girls' School, Raffles Institution and Raffles College, where her university education was interrupted by World War II. She resumed her studies at Raffles College in 1946, after the university was reopened. She graduated with a First Class Diploma in Arts, winning the Queen's Scholarship.
On the strong recommendations of her professors from Raffles College, Mrs Lee was allowed to read Law as a second year student at Cambridge University. She would later become the first Asian woman to be awarded a first-class honours, and she passed the final Bar exam in May 1949.
Mrs Lee married Mr Lee in secret in Dec 1947 at Stratford-on-Avon, in England. The Lees had first met in Raffles College, where a friendly competition for grades later blossomed into romance. They married officially in September 1950 in Singapore.


Mrs Lee was called to the Bar at the Middle Temple in 1950 and admitted to the Singapore Bar the next year, becoming a full-fledged conveyancing lawyer by profession.
The Lees welcomed the birth of their first son, Hsien Loong, in 1952. Their first daughter, Wei Ling, was born in 1955, followed by her brother and the Lees second son, Hsien Yang, in 1957.
In 1955, the Lees, along with Mr Lee's brother Lee Kim Yew, founded law firm Lee & Lee with Mrs Lee as a senior partner.


Mrs Lee was a strong pillar to her husband in his political career, and accompanied her husband occasionally on official business trips abroad.
Her health began to deteriorate in Oct 2003, when she suffered a stroke during the last leg of a two-week tour of three European cities with Mr Lee, who was then Senior Minister. She was warded in a London hospital for six days before being flown back and admitted to Singapore General Hospital.
Mrs Lee recovered from her first stroke, but suffered another three years later in May 2008. She was admitted to Tan Tock Seng Hospital where she received surgery. While hospitalised in June, she suffered another stroke, and a brain scan revealed bleeding in the right side of the brain. The two consecutive strokes robbed her of her physical mobility, and Mrs Lee has remained bedridden ever since.


Mrs Lee died peacefully at home on Saturday at 5.40 pm.


Read also:
Mrs Lee dies, aged 89
Wife's illness hardest for MM
PM cuts short Belgium trip
Netizens send condolences to Lees
President's tribute to Mrs Lee
Mrs Lee, the political wife