Poignant closure as bagpipers, crowd gather for final send-off

SINGAPORE — Standing in the rain unsheltered as they waited since noon today (March 29), station inspector Normawati Mohd Nor and Sergeant Yeoh Siew Fong were among the five police bagpipers who played Auld Lang Syne as the gun carriage carrying the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew drove past Police Cantonment Complex and along Kampong Bahru Road.

The five bagpipe players from the Singapore Police Force Band (SPF) were joined by members of the public, including the elderly and families with young children, who were stretched out along Kampong Bahru Road, undeterred by the heavy rain and flooded pavements.

For SI Normawati, 38 and Sgt Yeoh, 40, today marked the first time that they were able to personally pay their respects to the late Mr Lee, having been busy with deployment over the past few days.

“I was very honoured (to be chosen)...This is the least we can do for him,” said SI Normawati, who has been with the SPF Band for 15 years.

A small crowd had already gathered along Kampong Bahru Road by 11am, with many coming prepared for the wet weather with ponchos and umbrellas.

Among them was a group of on-duty nurses from the nearby Singapore General Hospital (SGH), who wanted to take the opportunity to pay their final respects to Singapore’s founding Prime Minister.

SGH deputy director of nursing Gormit Kaur said: “The rain is nothing. We don’t mind coming out in the rain and waiting because this is once in a lifetime. There won’t be anyone like him again.”

Nurse Lai Soh Mui, 60, said she had visited the Sengkang community tribute site but felt bad about not being able to endure the long queues outside Parliament House, where Mr Lee’s body had been lying in state, because of her knee replacement surgery a few years ago.

“Mr Lee is a great man...We hope he can rest in peace,” said Ms Lai, who has been an SGH nurse for 29 years.

To shelter the elderly from the rain, officials began setting up chairs at the Police Cantonment Complex facing the main road.

In between intermittent showers, volunteers from various groups were seen giving out state flags and ponchos to the crowd, with a few Health Sciences Authority staff handing out “Remembering Mr Lee Kuan Yew” badges.

With flags in hand, a 20-year-old National Serviceman, who wanted to be known only as Mr Yick, said he decided to come down with his parents despite the dreary weather.

“It’s the least I could do for our founding father...The loss of Mr Lee is starting to set in. We took him for granted for so long, and it took his death for us to realise that we didn’t cherish him enough, especially for the younger generation,” he said.

Sgt Yeoh told TODAY later that she had to keep her emotions in check and concentrate on playing her bagpipes as the gun carriage drove by.

Ms Miew Leng, who arrived out the police complex with her two sons at 11am, managed to grab a spot right in front to watch the procession.

“Even with the rain and the wait, I think it was worth it. We had the bagpipes playing and it was very poignant...For me personally, I think it felt like closure,” she said.