K1006 Complementary Strength, Constructive Effort

K1006 Complementary Strength, Constructive Effort
Solvere Lim Swee Keng


The world noted the accomplishment of Lee Kuan Yew in leading a tiny nation to achieve rapid economic progress while attaining greater racial and social harmony.

This is a nation, many nations observe and even emulate. Mr Lee Kuan Yew is indeed a great leader. During the turmoil, he contained many of his mighty rivals . Few i met, even bitter about his act, respected what he has accomplished for Singapore.

Most Singaporeans know there is a great lady behind Lee Kuan Yew, who provided important balancing act, complementing his strength, comforting his soul. So many praises her in this aspect upon her passing.

But this role is not adequate to lead Singapore, to sustain success for so long. There were many brilliant contemporaries of Lee Kuan Yew, most of them failed half way through their journey.

A greater factor is Mr and Mrs Lee have labored their life for constructing a better Singapore, ceaselessly striving to do so for this nation. It is with this ceaseless effort, their result sustain their effort, their strength built on their result. It is with a singular focus, they labor on and forever labor on.

"My Colleagues and I are determined that no one – neither the Japanese or the British – had the right to push and kick us around.
We were determined that we would govern ourselves and bring up our children in a country where we can be a self-respecting people"

Lee Kuan Yew
First Prime Minister of Singapore
The Singapore Story
Displayed at Changi Prison
Visited on Jan 22, 2010

Man has limited strength, even it is mighty, he needs complementing strength.
Man, with their companions complementing each other, will attain great height.
But attaining great height may come too soon, too easily, and soon they lost the focus and become complacent, and quietly decadence creeps in, and all effort wasted.

It is ceaseless pursuing a higher standard that can keep one forever going.
A higher standard is not one that go to look for more, bigger, most high tech. But one as what Lee Kuan Yew praised Lim Kim San



"He built the homes we needed speedily and economically with the labors skills and technology of that era”

Lee Kwan Yew
foreword for “Lim Kim San – A builder of Singapore"

and in order to do so,


"If you want to reach your goals and dreams, you cannot do without discipline"

Lee Kuan Yew
Displayed at LKY School of Public Policy Main Lobby
2010 05 08

It is in this critical juncture, when we cannot find successor to our Prime Minister, we cannot be satisfied by have mediocre, or getting others to kick us around. But to find a direction that set us pursue ahead with higher effectiveness, efficiency and manifested in greater elegance.

Once we set this direction, officers will strive harder to attain with lesser resources. With less resources, more demanding standard, teamwork will be formed among different ministries and this is the objective as Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in Davos 2009 - Improve Integrations of our Hardware. Obviously this goes for software as well.

May the passing of a great lady, we beholding to her effort, remind us stay focus on the objective of this nation's building, this discipline and call for higher standard.

It is this that can unite us forward and compete with the world, for survival, for progress, for success.