Residents pen well wishes for Mr Lee Kuan Yew at Teck Ghee CC

SINGAPORE — Ang Mo Kio residents flowed in to Teck Ghee Community Club (CC) today, where a well wishes corner has been set up, to pen their wishes for Mr Lee Kuan Yew. Many of them were elderly folks who could not travel the distance to Singapore General Hospital (SGH), where Mr Lee is warded, to drop off their tributes.

One of the visitors to Teck Ghee was former People’s Action Party (PAP) member and volunteer, Mdm Koh Sai Keow, 76. Visiting the well wishes corner, the Ang Mo Kio resident said she used to live at Tanjong Pagar. “I used to see him (Mr Lee Kuan Yew) at meetings all the time. He is a good man, who worked hard,” she said, showing her PAP membership card obtained in 1971. “I’m praying for him every day now to get well,”

For Madam Kalsom Yusof, 55, who visited the space with her husband, it was nostalgic. “I used to see Mr Lee when I was a child, as my father was a PAP member. I stayed at Bedok. And he would sometimes go there. He is a very good man,” she said.

Her husband, 61-year-old Sani Radi, added: “Mr Lee has been very good for Singapore. Last time, I stayed in a kampong, but now, everything is so clean and developed.”

Ms Noelene De Foe, chairperson for Teck Ghee Community Club managing committee, said that there were many elderly folk living in the area who asked to have the space set up. “Many of them can’t make the trip down to SGH, so they requested to have a well wishes corner in the area which is easier for them to come down. A lot of them who are in their 70s and 80s can’t write, so we let them leave their thumbprints and names instead,” she said.

At around 2pm, Member of Parliament (MP) Dr Intan Mokhtar dropped in to pen her wishes. She said she hoped Singapore’s founding father could recover to celebrate the nation’s 50th year.

According to the Prime Minister’s Office and People’s Association, all cards, flowers and other items left by well-wishers will be conveyed to Mr Lee’s family.

Mr Lee has been warded at SGH since Feb 5 with severe pneumonia. Earlier this week, the Prime Minister’s Office said Mr Lee’s condition had deteriorated and today, the PMO said Mr Lee had weakened further.

An area at SGH and at Tanjong Pagar CC have been set up for people to express their well wishes.