Singapore’s first Prime Minister and founding father, Lee Kuan Yew, died at age 91 last Monday. For Singaporeans around the world, Lee’s death is inarguably the greatest loss this nation has collectively faced in its short history.

This past week, I have watched one of the world’s smallest countries form one of the largest families in mourning — an incredible thing to witness as an outsider.

Born to a Shell Oil Company depot manager in the early 1920s, Lee achieved great heights in both academia and politics. A Cambridge-educated lawyer turned political activist, he formed the People’s Action Party in 1954. Established to “build a fair and just society,” PAP has since become Singapore’s major political party, accounting for more than 60 percent of valid votes during Singapore’s 16th parliamentary general election held in May 2011.

Though a controversial and sometimes unorthodox figure throughout his 31-year incumbency, Lee has been given primary credit for constructing the Singapore we know today. With his strategic creation of the Economic Development Board, his significant contribution to the housing industry and his strong commitment to the nation’s defense force, Lee gave this tiny, Southeast Asian seaport an extravagant, urban makeover. He did all of this in less than 50 years’ time.

His eldest son, Lee Hsien Loong, serves as the third and current Prime Minister of Singapore and has kept rather close contact with locals during the past week by releasing various statements to the press. In his first on-camera address last Monday, Lee was nearly brought to tears while reading a translation of his eulogy in Mandarin.

“The first of our founding fathers is no more,” Lee said. “He inspired us, gave us courage, kept us together and brought us here. He fought for our independence, built a nation where there was none and made us proud to be Singaporeans. We won’t see another man like him.”

Most Singaporean television networks, websites and newspaper covers have featured the face of Lee. When you turn on the radio, you hear sorrow in the voices of domestic and international political figures alike. Children dress in commemorative T-shirts, businessmen sport car decals on their Mercedes-Benzes and aunties clip brooches to their dresses. Citizens have also worn black ribbons in his honor — a “spur of the moment” idea inspired by Alex Yam Ziming, a Member of Parliament for the People’s Action Party.

Saturday was the last night people could visit the Parliament House before Lee’s Sunday afternoon funeral. According to Agence France-Presse news, nearly 500,000 people paid tribute to Lee before his ceremony. His coffin, draped in the red and white national flag and protected by a glass case atop a two-wheeled gun carriage, was taken in a 10-mile procession from the Parliament House to the National University of Singapore. Thousands, including myself, gathered along streets in the heavy downpour with our umbrellas, ponchos and raincoats to see his final journey through the streets he assembled from scratch.

Even though a majority of Singaporeans have grieved, others have rejoiced, using Lee’s passing as a platform to express political discontent. One dissident was Amos Yee, a 17-year-old Singaporean blogger, who posted an 8-minute anti-Lee Kuan Yew rant on YouTube in which he compared the late Lee to Jesus Christ. Since its surface, 15 police reports have been filed against Yee, most claiming his anti-religious commentary, known as sedition, was made with the intent to “provoke the public’s response.” The video has since been deleted.

Being here during all this has been nothing short of unprecedented. Lee’s death has shown me an exceptionally different side of Singaporeans — one that is genuinely emotional in both a positive and negative sense. Watching locals shed tears for this man — a visionary with a huge dream and compassion for people — has made me feel more connected to this place. In some ways, this tragedy makes me feel almost like an insider.

After three months, this is truly the closest I’ve felt to Singapore and its people.

Zachary Gipson is a senior majoring in economics and linguistics. He is striving to fit in with the fast-paced locals of Singapore. To chat about life abroad, shoot him an email at ztgipson@syr.edu.

Published on March 30, 2015 at 9:43 pm