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Soldiers, volunteers honoured to have helped out

SINGAPORE — As the crowds started to disperse once Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s cortege made its way out of the City Hall area, the army of volunteers and others who had helped out over the past week finally had the chance to take a step back and reflect on their involvement in an event of great national significance.

Marigold staff giving out some 7,500 bottles of cold drinks for free to members of the public queuing to pay their final respects to the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew, in front of the Asian Civilisations Museum near Cavenagh Bridge. Photo: Robin Choo

Marigold staff giving out some 7,500 bottles of cold drinks for free to members of the public queuing to pay their final respects to the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew, in front of the Asian Civilisations Museum near Cavenagh Bridge. Photo: Robin Choo

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SINGAPORE — As the crowds started to disperse once Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s cortege made its way out of the City Hall area, the army of volunteers and others who had helped out over the past week finally had the chance to take a step back and reflect on their involvement in an event of great national significance.

Fresh graduate Kwok Shao Hui, 24, was among the volunteers from the Singapore Scout Association who were roped in to help with crowd control and distribute flags for the funeral procession yesterday (March 29). She recounted that though some members of the public had ignored her instructions, it was a meaningful experience. “I don’t think it was that hard, but the weather wasn’t really on our side,” she added.

The queue for the lying-in-state was closed at 8pm on Saturday night to allow for preparations for the funeral procession that started at 12.30pm.

Soon after the queue was closed, a thousand soldiers started dismantling the tents and barricades at the Padang, which was a major holding area for those waiting to pay their last respects. In all, 360 tents and 2,000 barricades were erected.

Third Sergeant Jazin Zakaria, 21, said he had been unable to pay his respects to Mr Lee because he was in camp for the past week, but helping out with the lying-in-state meant that he was able to do his part in honouring Mr Lee.

“I actually feel fortunate to be given the opportunity to help out ... These eight hours of work cannot be compared with what Mr Lee gave for the country,” he said.

Lieutenant-Colonel Yew Thiam Poh, commanding officer of 5 SIR, added: “A lot of the soldiers (were) looking forward to contributing to this event and feel honoured to be activated.”

In a Facebook post on Saturday, Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said more than 5,000 Singapore Armed Forces personnel were deployed between Wednesday and Saturday to serve as vigil guards, build tents, as well as provide logistics and security, among other tasks.

Apart from the soldiers, volunteers and cleaners also helped clean up the area.

Company director Adrian Ang, 41, who had signed up on Facebook as a volunteer, said: “We wanted to collect trash, but halfway through the process, we realised there’s not much trash and people were hungry after queueing for so long and needed food. So we took turns to buy food, even getting McDonald’s for children queueing late into the night.”

Cleaners whom TODAY spoke to downplayed their contributions and said they were merely doing their job. One of them, Mr Qiao Chang Shan, 43, said: “As long as we see litter on the floor, we will pick up.”

Another cleaner, Mr Solaiman Sathiman, 54, pointed out that compared with other big-scale events held in the area, such as the Formula 1 Grand Prix, the volume of trash was not high.

“This is not so (bad) ... F1 was worse. Here, I think, not much work,” he said. ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY VALERIE KOH AND KELLY NG

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