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S'poreans remember S R Nathan as a president with a common touch

SINGAPORE — From personal encounters with him during his regular East Coast Park walks, to how he chided his security officers so he could get closer to fellow Singaporeans during official functions, many have come forward to share anecdotes of the late Mr S R Nathan following his death — a testament to how down-to-earth the former President was and how he touched the lives of countless ordinary citizens.

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SINGAPORE — From personal encounters with him during his regular East Coast Park walks, to how he chided his security officers so he could get closer to fellow Singaporeans during official functions, many have come forward to share anecdotes of the late Mr S R Nathan following his death — as a testament to the down-to-earth ways of the former President and how he touched the lives of countless ordinary citizens.

On Tuesday (Aug 23), hundreds turned up to pen their tributes on condolence boards put up outside the Istana, Mr Nathan’s official residence when he was the Head of State from 1999 to 2011. Tributes continued to pour in at home and from abroad, as the international community also mourned the death of a man who was admired around the world for his work as a diplomat and later, the president.

Mr Nathan died on Monday night, about three weeks after he was warded in hospital following a stroke. His body was moved from the Singapore General Hospital to his family home at Ceylon Road yesterday morning. Throughout the day, a steady stream of government leaders — including Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean and Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam — old friends and ex-colleagues paid their last respects at the private wake. 

As they grieved over Mr Nathan’s death, many Singaporeans also took to social media to pen their tributes and share their personal encounters with him.

Food critic and Makansutra founder KF Seetoh recalled how Mr Nathan had approached him during his daily exercise at East Coast Park to ask him what he was filming and cooking. “You wanted to try our nasi lemak but your aide said no as it would defeat the purpose of the run,” Mr Seetoh wrote. On a separate occasion when Mr Nathan was a guest of honour, Mr Seetoh remembered how the former president asked him “where to get old-school mee goreng”.

(People had come to the Istana to pen their tributes to Mr Nathan all day. Photo: Jason Quah)

“You personally handed me the Special Recognition ‘Food Ambassador’ award on behalf of STB (Singapore Tourism Board), and so candidly asked for makan suggestion (while we were on stage). So real and funny in so many ways,” he wrote. “I am going to miss you as (a) true People’s President.”

Blogger Ravi Philemon, who contested in last year’s General Election as an opposition candidate, recalled the time he took his family to an Istana Open House more than a decade ago. “We saw Mr Nathan in the distance and I told my children that he was the President of Singapore. My children asked me if they could shake his hands,” he wrote on Facebook. “There was a big crowd around him and so I told my children, ‘let’s try’.” 

(Singaporeans at the tribute area at the Istana. Photo: Jason Quah)

“As we (made) our way through the crowd to where he was, his bodyguards tried to stop us. But when Mr Nathan saw that, he told his men, ‘What are you doing? They are just children and want to shake my hands. Let them through.’ He not only shook their hands but also posed for a picture with my children. This will be a memory that will be forever etched in my mind, and I am sure, in the minds of my children as well.”

Mr V N Samy, 82, was among those who went to the Istana yesterday to write on the condolence boards. He said he would never forget his encounter with Mr Nathan at the Loyang Tua Pek Kong temple in the late 2000s. With tears welling up in his eyes, Mr Samy said: “(Mr Nathan) spent a long time chit-chatting with everybody, from (people at) the top to those in the grassroots ... He was simply a great man who looks at everybody at the same level. He doesn’t label us.”

From the old to the young, Mr Nathan had a way of touching their hearts. School of the Arts Singapore (Sota) student Syaleirah Noble, 17, remembered performing for him when she was eight years old. “I sang ‘If we hold on together’, and you called me down to congratulate (me) next to your wife! You’ll be remembered always in my mind!” Syaleirah wrote in a tribute card for Mr Nathan.

(Some shed a tear while others offered prayers at the Istana. Photo: Jason Quah)

Part-time lecturer Kwek Chin Ling, who lives two houses away from Mr Nathan’s home, said that when his father died, Mr Nathan — who was still in office then — and his wife Urmila Nandey came over to pay their respects — a gesture that touched him deeply, Mr Kwek said. “Even though he holds a very important position, it doesn’t show in his daily life ... Every time we see him, he’ll wave at us and smile at us ... So we don’t feel like there’s actually a president staying here,” he said.

Outside the Istana main gate, members of the public started arriving to pen their tributes before day broke. By 10.30am, almost a hundred handwritten cards had been put up. The mood was sombre, with some crying while writing their notes, and others offering prayers before putting up their cards.

Sota teacher Maslinda Ali, who came with her colleague Ng Herk Siang and two classes of students, told TODAY that the school held a short ceremony to pay tribute to Mr Nathan yesterday. Sota student Natasha Sturgess said: “His dedication to Singapore and in paying attention to the people is just incredible. There is a lot we can learn from him.”

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