Well here I am; on a Friday night,
doing something I never thought I'd do in Singapore. I'm 1 hour and 10
minutes into the long long queue to pay respects to Mr Lee Kuan Yew. I
swear we're the only 2 foreigners in the queue. I must say it is easy to
speculate on the outside as to why people would queue for this long. Is
it Kiasu? (not wanting to miss out) Is it Kaypoh perhaps? (nosey) Yet here I am; sitting amongst my
adopted family of Singaporeans (whom I've never met), we've all just
reached the first set of tents in the queue, and we're all sitting here
on the grass of the Padang waiting to move on.
I
look around. I see only patience on people's faces, no one is making a
fuss that they have to sit on the grass. I hear no murmurings of
complaints that we have to wait so long. Everyone is waiting in an
orderly fashion. It's actually pleasant sitting here on a mildly warm
night, outside with my local "buddies".
The
NS lads are well organised. Carefully moving the crowd forward in
segments; just like a platoon, to ensure clusters of people are spaced
out well enough. We are comfortable and this makes the wait very
bearable. We're all organised into clusters; far enough that when we do
finally get up and move, it is a decent amount of distance to allow us
to stretch our legs. Ladies and Gentlemen; this is Singapore, and things
are done deliberately and planned. This was a demonstration of
precision.
Volunteers
also float amongst the crowd giving out water and packets of little
snacks. There are apples, sandwiches, crackers, biscuits and sweet
potatoes. We're being looked after. Remember the fine for littering? All
taken care of; other volunteers wander around with big rubbish bags
asking if you want to throw anything away. The waiting area is clean,
we're comfortable, it is all well planned.
An
hour and a half in; I'm guilty as charged, the people waiting in queue
aren't kiasu or kaypoh at all. I thought they were. I can feel it
amongst my adopted group in this queue; they're waiting because they
want to. They're waiting to pay homage to a man they respect. Some carry
flowers; they love Mr Lee Kuan Yew.
After
nearly 2 hours; still sitting here waiting. Been chatting away on
WhatsApp with some Singaporean friends. They've just informed us that in
the interest of crowd control; they're preventing more people from
joining the queue. Our friends say we're lucky that we're already in
queue. It's a long wait and many mightn't use the word lucky to describe
it. Yet; that is the feeling. This is an opportunity and it should be
taken. I don't challenge it; maybe "lucky" is the right word.......
It
was indeed a long wait; though, many of us had slept or napped on the
grassy piece of land at the Padang before we got moving again. I never
thought I would sleep here at all but all around me people have; waiting
patiently, lying on torn up cardboard boxes that have now become make
shift beds for the night.
After 8 hours and 42 minutes; we had finally braved the Padang waiting area, followed the slow long queues and finally we were entering the Parliament building. Instantly people fell silent, those that didn't were quickly told to be quiet with a quick "shush!" from the rest of the group.
No
instruction was needed; we all filed in, a single queue. This was it,
the coffin was in front of us. The scene straight out of the news
coverage we've all seen. Mr Lee Kuan Yew's photograph came into view;
the one at the foot of the coffin. It struck me in that instance, just
how much he had done for my adopted home. The lines of age showed on his
face in the photograph, but they also marked the time, effort and hard
work he had put in over the course of his life. The photograph captured
it all in that regard; the face of a man who had given so much to a
place he loved.
As
I came up towards the coffin; the sadness washed over me. I didn't know
Mr Lee Kuan Yew; definitely not as much as I should, but his
contributions to Singapore cannot be ignored. I bowed in respect, I
bowed in thanks and I bowed in remembrance.
Thank you Sir. I'm honoured to be a guest in Singapore and I marvel at the contributions you have made; great and small........
@SGVekNZ
Auspicious Banana
Beautifully written K x
ReplyDeleteThank you
ReplyDeleteThank you for being there..... thank you for your respect.....beautiful. .......LKY deserved......
ReplyDeleteThank you for being here in Singapore, to study work or stay, thank you for taking time making the effort to brave the elements and sacrifice sleep to pay your respect to our founding father. Thank you for your sharing, some Singaporeans do not even have the same level of gratitude as you, a foreigner.
ReplyDeleteAnd the respect you have for someone whom you may not be directly impacted by or have understood, speaks volume about you. Many Singaporeans should learn from you!! Thank you for the positives shared...