Ex-US Secretary holds memorial for Mr Lee in NY

SINGAPORE — A private memorial service was held for founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew in New York City, where Singapore’s Ambassador to the United States delivered an address on behalf of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and shared the elder Mr Lee’s views on the US.

The memorial was organised by former US Secretary of the Treasury Robert Rubin and businessman Ray Dalio, friends of the late Mr Lee, to celebrate his life and his legacy. Mr Lee died on March 23, at the age of 91.

The late Mr Lee admired the US’ faith in free enterprise and open competition, and spoke highly of the country’s “ability to attract talent, and your inclusiveness and openness”, said Mr Lee Hsien Loong.

He was also “grateful for the generosity of the American spirit, which made US dominance in Asia a benign and welcome source of stability and prosperity for so many Asian countries”. However, he was “not an uncritical fan of the US”, said Mr Lee Hsien Loong, pointing out that his father saw that not everything was perfect, and did not believe the US system could be replicated wholesale in other countries, and in particular in Singapore.

“He thought that ‘a wealthy and solidly established nation like America can roll with such a system’ because it can afford a certain degree of risk ... He knew from experience that the best ideas taken to extremes become dysfunctional,” the Prime Minister said.

Hence, he differed with the conventional American wisdom concerning the role of the media as a fourth estate, and the relevance of Western liberal democracy in Asia. He said he believed every country had to find its own way that suited its history and society.

The speech was delivered by Ambassador Ashok Kumar Mirpuri, who explained that Mr Lee Hsien Loong could not attend the service because he had “pressing matters to attend to in Singapore, including putting together a new Cabinet”, after the General Election held two weeks ago.

The service was attended by former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, one of the late Mr Lee’s closest friends, as well as former US Ambassador to Singapore Jon Huntsman Jr, Mr Rubin and Mr Dalio, who founded the world’s largest hedge fund. In the speech, Mr Lee Hsien Loong also recounted the elder Mr Lee’s visits to the US over the years, from his first official visit as Prime Minister in the fall of 1967, to the two months he spent in 1968 at Harvard, where he made many friends, including Dr Kissinger.

Other friends include former US President George H W Bush, former US Secretary of State George Shultz, the late Professor Alan Heimert, and many US Ambassadors to Singapore, such as Mr Stapleton Roy, Mr Huntsman and Mr Steven Green, said Mr Lee Hsien Loong.

“A politician does not often have the opportunity to form deep friendships. Indeed, it is said that in statecraft there are no permanent friends, only permanent interests,” said Mr Lee Hsien Loong. “But Mr Lee had many old and trusted American friends, and saw the US as a strategic friend of Singapore. Thank you all for the friendship and hospitality you showed towards him,” he said.