His words "Never say die" were the first words that attracted me to know more about him. Initially, when I was young, I would think he was just another Prime Minister - like every country in this world has - but it was not until I came into secondary school where I started to learn more about him; first in history lessons and then even in english lessons. The fact that Singapore is the first country that I recall in my memory made me think that every other country in the world would be governed the same way, would have the same standard of infrastructure and all the other nitty-gritty things that concerned me when I was smaller. I did get a cultural shock though when I first went back to India during one of my holidays. The roads were littered with potholes, there were rickshaws(rickshaws are a tourist attraction in Singapore) and generally the surroundings were polluted. That was when I knew that MM Lee had indeed done a miracle. I had learnt that Singapore was no different in its olden days where riots were rampant. To transform a country from that state to the state we are in today is a miracle by itself. This was when MM Lee's words "never say die" truly reflected his spirit. Personally, over the years, I have had some personal hardships also - albeit academic ones and not political ones - but I know that the last man standing would be the person with the "never say die" attitude. In a competition, even if all odds were against you, so long as you can cling on to the "never say die" attitude, I am pretty sure succeed in your goals. So long as you have the belief that something can be accomplished, and if you were to believe strong enough, you will make it in the end. Even if you don't, the mistakes that you made along the way were the right mistakes you made and if you try again, you will achieve your goal the next time.
The next thing that makes me want to meet this man and shake his hand once is his insight on a multiracial society. To my generation adolescents, living in a multiracial society seems no big deal. But think about it, your parents' and grandparents' generation thought very differently. Till today, I have yet to see a multiracial clique among the adults. The Maria-Hertogh Riots have already demonstrated the importance of a racially segregated society. Around the world today, we see people heaping anathema to the Islamists. Seriously, its only the few bad apples in every race and religion that have distorted your views about their community and its only your over generalization that has made you look upon the different races condescendingly (I admit everyone has an urge to view their own society as superior but think about it, all humans on earth share about 99.99% of the same genes. Its only the less than 0.01% of genes that really make is different. If mammals and reptiles can live together peacefully, I don't see why humans can't!). MM Lee's realization of need for an impartial and evenhanded society back then in 1960's is evidence of his towering intellect. If I were born two generations ago, I would be torn between the India-Pakistan breakup and conceiving of a multi-racial society would simply not make any sense to me. I deeply respect his stance on this and would also like to thank him for moulding my view on this. If I were not in Singapore, I would probably never have adopted the notion that "all humans are equal".
With this, I leave you with a video about MM Lee himself who is interviewed by Charlie Rose. You can go online and view more of this videos and you will also then share my respect for him.
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