Father of Singapore

Lee Kuan Yew. Father of Singapore passed away in early hours today.He was 91.

History shows that normally prudent calculations can be overturned by extra ordinary personalities.Lee kuan yew ,Ex prime minister of Singapore stands as a classic example.

In 1950s Singapore ,the smallest country in Southeast Asia seemed destined to be a client state of more powerful neighbours.

But Lee Kuan Yew ,who took over office on 5th June 1959 ,thought otherwise.His vision was of a state which would not simply survive, but prevail by excelling.. Singapore of today is a testament of his dedication.

When he set out t o have a clean administration in 1959, he had already been sickened by the greed, corruption of many Asian leaders who failed to live up to their ideals.

From Day one, he made sure that every dollar in revenue would be properly accounted for and would reach the beneficiaries at the grass root level as one dollar without being siphoned off along the way.From the start he gave special attention to areas where discretionry powers could be exploited for personal gains.

The outdated Anti corruption Laws of 1937 were totally modified. The amendments gave wide powers to investigators,including arrest, and search and investigation of bank accounts of suspected persons and their relatives and agents.It became unnecessary to prove that the person who accepted a bribe was in a position to carry out the favour.

The penalties imposed by CPIB( Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau)were increased from time to time.

In Dec 1986,a minister for National Development committed suicide soon on hearing that his acceptance of bribe of sing$8,00,000/had come to light.

It is very easy to start off with high moral standards,strong moral convictions and determination to annihilate corruption.. But it is very difficult to live upto these good intentions unless the leaders are strong and determined to deal with the transgressors without exceptions.

Lee Kuan Yew was a man of vision and astute political judgement..No matter where he stood in the political spectrum,he has been the leader of great political insight with a single aim of shaping the nation in the right direction.

Many people try to criticise by looking look at certain areas of Singapore like Serangoon road, Little India , which look somewhat unclean in Singapore standards.But corrution free atmosphere continue to be the main focus and still it is adhered to.

All human beings have lust and have a tendency to grab as much as possible.It is the rules and regulations and the stringent measures implemented that make a change.Though it may seem initially that we are policed for each and everything and our freedom is curbed, it is this forced discipline that becomes in-built in the long run and gets transformed into self imposed discipline.Automatic transformation of millions of people in a vast nation like ours,it can never become a reality even if we wait for centuries.

Even at home we are enforcing discipline into our children in their interest,which is not to their liking.

True, we cannot compare a city state with a big nation.But corruption cannot be justified just because a country is large.

We may not achieve a perfect target.But nothing prevents us from following the foot steps of a successful nation, adopt the basic norms and strive towards betterment.

Why can't we emulate Lee Kuan Yew?

Jayasala 42

Father of Singapore