Lee Kuan Yew helped Singapore stand up and fight back: S R Nathan

Former Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew gave Singaporeans strength to stand up and fight back disruptive forces that sought to turn the nation into a communist state, former President S R Nathan said on Monday.

"His greatest contributions to us, was the strength he gave us, at a time when forces of destruction were seeking to destroy us and turn Singapore into a Communist State. He helped us to stand up and fight back, those disruptive forces, despite the overwhelming strength with which they sought to destroy our society,'' Mr Nathan said in his tribute to Singapore's first prime minister.

Mr Lee passed away early Monday morning. He was 91.

Mr Nathan said Mr Lee was someone "moulded by the politics of his time - the decolonising phase of Asian Political History of the 20th century''.

"He gave us leadership and lived by example,'' Mr Nathan said.

"Today, Singapore lost its most illustrious son and foremost Nationalist - Lee Kuan Yew - leaving us to mourn his loss. He was an extraordinary man in our midst. He leaves behind a legacy of accomplishments, among them the transformation of a trouble-ridden, ethnically divided city to become a country - all in 50 years - where all of us have space and a common destiny to work towards. He leaves behind the metropolis that, in 1965, he promised he would turn Singapore into.''

Mr Nathan noted that Mr Lee had emerged in the turbulent political times of the 1950s.

"His coming into our political scene was a turning point in Singapore's modern political history. His considerable stature and personality awed many of us,'' Mr Nathan said.

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