Pinoys in Singapore pay respect to Lee Kuan Yew

Filipinos in Singapore are one with the city-state in grieving over the death of founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, dubbed as the father of modern Singapore.

The Philippine Embassy lowered its flag to half-mast “in solidarity with our Singaporean friends and in honor of the former prime minister,” said Consul General Victorio Mario Dimagiba.

Some Filipinos also joined the very long queue of Singaporeans for the public viewing of Lee’s remains at the Parliament House

Filipino students, most of them scholars of the Singapore government, expressed their gratitude to Lee, who died at the age of 91. Lee was a staunch advocate of meritocracy in all aspects of his governance, most notably in education.

Although getting scholars from other countries is a strategic move to improve university rankings and foster good international relation with future leaders of their home countries, scholars nevertheless feel a deep sense of gratitude and indebtedness to Singapore and to Lee.  

“Farewell, Mr. Lee Kuan Yew. Thank you for enabling conditions of possibility for young and aspiring Filipino scholars, especially those of us from modest backgrounds, to pursue higher studies in one of Asia's leading universities. This person will forever be grateful,” said Dr. Gene Segarra Navera, a scholarship recipient at the National University of Singapore (NUS) who now teaches at the same university.

Lee was an alumnus of NUS, known back in the 1940s as Raffles College. The university gave a fitting tribute to him at its Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKYSPP), where his philosophy of governance is now being taught.

Filipino LKYSPP alumni and former scholarship holders were in attendance during this tribute. Windel Anne Lacson shared her condolences: “We are deeply saddened by this, though we may not be Singaporeans, we have benefited a lot from Mr. Lee Kuan Yew’s work and Singapore’s success as we are recipients of scholarships for our education in Singapore.”
McRhon Banderlipe, on the other hand, commented on the many lessons he continues to learn: “I feel that there’s so much we can learn from Singapore and hopefully when we all go back to our country, we can apply what we have learned to transform our country and I am very fortunate to be at this point in my life. That I could celebrate his life, and I can celebrate his works and the inspiration he has provided.”

Hazel Galimba-Guiling, for her part, shared: “I would just like to thank Singapore and Mr. Lee Kuan yew for dedicating his life to building this nation which I now call my second home. Thank you very much and I hope that being a recipient of his goodness and commitment to this country, I will be able to share this with our kababayans.”

Gilda Malgote Malaluan, a foreign domestic worker in Singapore for almost 22 years, fondly recalled the time she saw Lee at the Botanic Gardens in the mid-90s.

Malaluan said she was with her friends spending their Sunday day off when they saw Lee alight a caddy car at the Orchid Garden.  

“Binati namin ng ‘Good afternoon Sir!’ Ngumiti siya at kumaway. Kaya ang impression ko, mabait siyang tao, hindi isnabero. Natuwa talaga ako kasi mataas ang katungkulan niya pero binigyang pansin kami,” she said.

Lee's son, Lee Hsien Loong, the current prime minister and son of LKY, shared in his Facebook account that transforming Singapore into a garden city was his father’s enduring passion.

The elder Lee opened the National Orchid Garden where Malaluan and her friends saw him. The same garden now houses the hybrid orchid after Lee's namesake, the Aranda Lee Kuan Yew.  The departed leader is referred to by his staff as Singapore’s chief gardener and dearly acknowledged as Singapore’s transformation architect.

Lee is honored as one of Asia’s greatest leaders. He is the only leader to transform his country from third to first world in just one generation, from a dirty port city to the bustling rich city-state that it is now.

At present, Singapore is the second home to approximately 160,000 Filipinos, according to the Philippine Embassy. —KBK, GMA News