A nation comes to a standstill for a minute

SINGAPORE — At 4.35pm yesterday (March 29), Singapore came to a standstill for a minute. Trains pulled to a stop at stations, buses delayed moving out of bus interchanges, and checks at the Tuas and Woodlands checkpoints were stopped to observe the minute of silence for the state funeral of Mr Lee Kuan Yew.

At Changi Airport, passengers and staff at all three terminals also joined in the observation, with landings and take-offs suspended for a short period.

Those at the PSA terminals and Jurong Port, as well as cruise and ferry terminals, did so too.

Across various parts of the island, Singaporeans clasped their palms and bowed their heads in honour of Mr Lee at that same moment, with many struggling to keep their emotions in check.

Over in the vicinity of Padang, where hundreds of thousands have queued up in the past four days to enter Parliament House, where Mr Lee had been lying in state, pockets of people stayed behind after witnessing the funeral procession. They sat huddled under their umbrellas watching the live telecast of the funeral service playing on the big screen at Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre, jumping up to say the pledge and sing the national anthem in unison with those in attendance at University Cultural Centre.

One of them, logistics executive Haikel Mohamed, 29, said: “There is so much unity among Singaporeans over the past week. I want to be here with my fellow Singaporeans for (this) moment.”

At The Star Vista, those who had lined the streets nearby to bid farewell to Mr Lee as his cortege went past Buona Vista also packed its open-air atrium to watch the live broadcast.

The mood was heavy and sombre, as they listened intently to the 10 eulogies delivered at the funeral service, with warm applause meeting the end of each speech. At moments, some fished out tissue paper at the moving tributes.

“I feel sad about the eulogy,” said Ms Alicia Choi, 48, a housewife. “There’s history, things that I did not know about Mr Lee Kuan Yew — personal, intimate details. I was touched by what they said about him.”

Undergraduate Norman Lim, 20, added: “I am heartened to see that there are so many people here, from all walks of life, to watch this. It makes me feel proud to be a Singaporean.”

In particular, Mr Lee Hsien Yang’s sharing of details about the late Mr Lee as a father and grandfather kept the crowd transfixed, as they learnt about the little-known side of a man they had known only as a political titan.