Parliamentarians must build on legacy and values of late Mr Lee Kuan Yew: Grace Fu

SINGAPORE — To take Singapore forward, its parliamentarians must build on the legacy and values of the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew, which make up the “common inheritance” he has left behind, Culture, Community and Youth Minister Grace Fu said on Wednesday morning (March 23).

Speaking at a parliamentarians’ remembrance ceremony for the founding Prime Minister at The Arts House, Ms Fu said last year was a momentous year for the Republic: While the nation mourned the passing of Mr Lee, it also celebrated SG50 as “one people, one nation”.

And as the nation forges ahead in the next 50 years, there will be many defining moments to come. “Some will bring joy, others sadness. But what is crucial is that we face them together, as one people, as one nation. Mr Lee’s legacy, and the values that he and his generation represent, are the common inheritance that we all share,” Ms Fu said.

Mr Lee died on March 23 last year. In attendance at the ceremony today were past and present parliamentarians, including Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, former Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng and former Speaker of Parliament Abdullah Tarmugi.

Ms Fu, who is also Leader of the House, said one of the late Mr Lee’s greatest legacies was preparing the Republic to flourish beyond his prime ministership. While he had continued to mentor successive generations of leaders after stepping down as Prime Minister in 1990, he had left them to make the decisions.

“Mr Lee and his team left subsequent generations of leaders a rich legacy -- strong institutions and systems based on multi-racialism, self-reliance, meritocracy, integrity and rule of law -- values and principles that remain precious and important to us in this present day.”

She added: “Let us emulate his spirit and build on this inheritance to bring Singapore to greater heights.”

Prior to the ceremony, an exhibition chronicling the storied past of The Arts House, the Republic’s oldest Government and public building, was launched by Ms Fu and Prime Minister Lee.

In addition to tracing the history of the building from its beginnings as a colonial court house in 1827 to its time as the country’s Parliament House between 1965 and 1999, the Parliament in Singapore History exhibition features milestones in Singapore’s judicial and legislative history.

This includes the First Parliament’s passage of two Acts — the Republic of Singapore Independence Bill and the Singapore Constitution (Amendment) Bill — which formed the basis of a new Constitution after the Republic broke away from Malaysia in August 1965.

Opening to the public tomorrow (Mar 24), the exhibition – which took almost a year to put together and is funded by the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth – comprises 23 panels with more than 100 archival photographs, documents and newspaper clippings.

Ms Lee Chor Lin, chief executive officer of Arts House Limited, said: “Especially in the early years of nation-building, particularly in the 1960s and 1970s, this House was where a lot of action happened… Some of the seminal decisions and Acts were passed in this House and these were things that were to affect our lives and have shaped the politics of Singapore. It also defined our economy.

“But these are very little-known facts or are things that people have taken for granted. So this a great chance to revisit those great moments in the early days of nation-building,” she said.