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WATCH: What will you tell your children about Mr Lee Kuan Yew?

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To the people waiting in line to pay their final respects to Singapore's founding Prime Minister, it's clear that Mr Lee Kuan Yew's legacy is everywhere.

He is the reason why Singapore is where it is today, they said.

That's why we're here, they added, waiting for hours in line to say thank you Mr Lee,and goodbye.

The New Paper spoke to teachers and parents who took their pupils and children to pay their last respects to Mr Lee Kuan Yew.

 

 

So what will they tell the next generation about Mr Lee Kuan Yew?

Many spoke of emphasising just how much of modern Singapore is down to Mr Lee's initiatives. Not just turning Singapore from - as Mr Lee put it - mudflats to a metropolis. They also spoke of how safe the streets are for young women at night, how green the country is and how clean. All thanks to one man.

One young girl told TNP: "Without Mr Lee, we would not have Singapore."

Here's what local blogger Xiaxue (Wendy Cheng) said she'll tell her two-year-old son Dash:

"When he grows up, I will tell him that Mr LKY has been a very, very important person... If not, we wouldn't have what we have today."

She was not the only parent who admires Mr Lee.

The elder statesman had earned a mother's love in New Zealand... through a haircut.

Former Labour Party leader and current MP Phil Goff told his colleagues from the left, right and centre during a tribute as their Parliament convened this week how Mr Lee earned his mum's respect as far back as 1977.

 

 

He recalled:

“As a student who had gone six years without a haircut, I was given my first haircut when passing through Singapore by the customs officials at the airport as the price of entry,”tried and failed for six years...
“My mother congratulated him [Lee] on achieving something that nobody else had been able to do for years before that time.”

 

 

SingaporeLee Kuan YewXiaxuenext generation