Reflection Of Lee Kuan Yew

Lee Kuan Yew would have cringed at the hero worship just one year after his death

The response of Singaporeans during the seven days of national mourning when my father, Lee Kuan Yew, died last March was unanticipated – even by Singaporeans themselves, not to mention foreign observers. As his daughter, I too was astounded by the intensity of Singaporeans ' feelings towards my father.

In that collective mourning, we learnt something new about ourselves; and the rest of the world also learnt something new about us.

We came together in a moment of sorrow. We waited patiently under harsh weather conditions to bid farewell to a man who had been the leader of the nation’s founding fathers – one who had given his deepest thoughts and all his exertions towards taking forward the welfare of his countrymen.

Those who mourned remembered this. Despite stressful weather conditions, everyone was patient, tolerant, even positively kind and generous to each other. One SPH reporter described it as a miracle. I thought the same.

The lesson we learnt about ourselves gave us self-confidence and gained us the respect of other countries. As Lee Kuan Yew 's daughter, I found tremendous comfort to know that my father 's efforts were recognized by Singaporeans.

But I also knew that my fellow Singaporeans and I must now prepare for life after Lee Kuan Yew.

Life seemed to return to normal for Singapore over the past year. Personally, it was a different story for me. That I don 't express my emotion in