NTU students remember Mr Lee in their own ways

By Quah Jia Ling, Ry-Anne Lim

ADM student Ong Yi Teck has drawn numerous sketches as his way of paying tribute to the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew. PHOTO: JAMES NG

To commemorate the death anniversary of the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew, aspiring artist Ong Yi Teck did it the best way he knew how — through art.

Last month, Ong, 21, a first-year student from the School of Art, Design and Media (ADM), embarked on a black-and white digital sketch of Mr Lee.

He then uploaded it online as a way of paying tribute to Mr Lee’s contributions to Singapore.

“I wanted to sketch something to remind my followers and myself that we should not take the thing we have for granted, as they are privileges that were given to us by the people who fought hard to build this nation,” said Ong.

“Without Mr Lee and the pioneers, I would imagine a very different Singapore than what we have today.”

Last year, when Mr Lee was battling severe pneumonia in the hospital, Ong spent 15 hours painstakingly writing Mr Lee’s name 18,000 times to create a portrait of the nation’s founding father.

He subsequently uploaded his artwork onto Instagram, where it drew thousands of likes and was even shared by Mdm Ho Ching on her Facebook account.

Two uploads of his masterpiece drew over 3,400 likes each. His  Instagram account also has a few other sketches of Mr Lee.

“I was really surprised by how quickly it went viral but I’m glad that people who shared my social media posts, shared the same sentiments as I did and they affirmed my hard work,” said Ong.

A muted affair

When Mr Lee passed away on 23 Mar last year at age 91, students thronged the Nanyang Auditorium, filling up all 1,729 seats at NTU’s memorial ceremony.

His death anniversary last month, however, was a much quieter affair, save for a video tribute that played on campus screens.

No memorial events were held on campus, as confirmed by Associate Provost Kwok Kian Woon, the NTU Events Office and the NTU Students’ Union.

Prof Kwok also advised students who wished to pay tribute to Mr Lee to do so on social media platforms, or attend the various exhibits and remembrance events help outside of school.

No NTU without Mr Lee

Still, this did not stop students from going out of their way to commemorate Mr Lee’s passing.

Fang Yi Shen, 21, took an hourlong trip from campus to Woodlands to attend Causeway Point’s “Remembering Lee Kuan Yew” event on 23 Mar.

He felt it was apt to pay his respects to Mr Lee there as Woodlands – Fang’s neighbourhood – owes its transformation from old kampong to contemporary town to Mr Lee’s policies.

“The commemoration reminded us of the values and legacy Mr Lee left for us which we have to continue to uphold and build upon,” said Fang.

The first-year student from the School of Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) added that it would have been fitting for NTU to commemorate Mr Lee with an event as higher education had long been a key focus of his government.

Echoing his sentiments was firstyear HSS student Ezrella Kho, 20, who also wished NTU had held a memorial event.

“I think it’s quite odd that NTU didn’t hold one this year when the National University of Singapore did. After all, he did help the university develop in its earlier days,” Kho said.

Mr Lee had closely observed NTU’s initial progress through unannounced campus visits.

Various improvements, such as covered walkways to shelter students from the sun, were implemented upon his suggestions, noted NTU President Professor Bertil Andersson in his speech at last year’s memorial ceremony.

Paying tribute their way

Like Ong, many NTU students paid tribute to Mr Lee on social media platforms. Among them was one by Jayne Lam, 20, a second-year student from ADM.

Lam had posted her acrylic portrait of Mr Lee on her Instagram account, captioned: “I will never forget how for once, I felt like the entire country was truly united, exactly one year ago.”

She worked on the colourful canvas painting over six months and estimated it took about three weeks’ worth of work to complete.

To Lam, the late Mr Lee felt like a grandfather figure.

Her own grandfather had passed away before she was born, but she heard many stories about him from her family and relatives.

“Similarly, for Mr Lee Kuan Yew, I’ve never met him but I’ve read about and seen him in the news,” she said.

“I feel like he’s looked out for all of us Singaporeans very much like a father or grandfather would.”

Others, like Hsieh Chyi Yan, 21, a first-year student from Nanyang Business School, carried out unconventional acts of remembrance of their own.

Hsieh, for example, watched the livestream of the closed-door Cabinet meeting on 23 Mar, where Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong dedicated a speech to his father.

“It felt very surreal when the Cabinet observed a minute of silence for the late Mr Lee,” he said. “I can’t believe that it has been a year since he left us.”

A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Nanyang Chronicle on April 4, 2016, with the headline ‘NTU students remember Mr Lee in their own ways’. Print Edition