Our dearest founding father Lee Kuan Yew passed away peacefully on Monday morning. Many of us and I greatly mourn the loss of our former leader.

My politically apathetic and PAP-supporting friends who were afraid of voicing their opinions for fear of being labelled as uncool or a bootlicker have been more vocal. Many have been changing their profile pictures to the black ribbon made my MP Alex Yam. Tribute photos, videos and blog postings from pro-establishment sites like the PAP Facebook page, Fabrications About the PAP and former NMP Calvin Cheng. I’m amused by a previous TRS article that linked me to Calvin Cheng but I’m obviously not him. I do read his work and admire his tenacity to voice his honest opinions against the tide of anti-PAP sentiment online.

I thoroughly despise the few bloggers and online commentators for using this mourning period as an opportunity to spew negativity and doubt about his policies or saying you are not saddened by it. If you are not saddened by it, you have no heart for Singapore.

It has come to my attention that a youtuber Amos Yee has uploaded a video “Lee Kuan Yew is finally dead”. I could barely watch one minute before shutting it off. I’m thankful for the online presence who have gone at length to criticise him. This is why we need greater controls in the new media. We have to stop a**h***s like Amos Yee from desecrating his funeral.

Opposition chief Low Thia Kiang sneakily used his tribute speech to score political points. It started out good but when he went about how Lee Kuan Yew was a controversial figure and some Singaporeans were sacrificed, I was disgusted. Lee Kuan Yew is controversial figure only to those who cannot understand the good he meant for Singapore. Policies such as land appropriation, meritocracy, bilingualism, national service, press controls and clean government were unpopular but was proven right in time.

Lee Kuan Yew was not a perfect politician. His actions has to be seen in the context of other politicians in the region then. His incorruptible character is golden. Much more valuable that the natural resources of our Asian neighbours. Communists were incarcerated in Operation Coldstore and some opposition members were sued and jailed. It is very simple for those influenced by Western liberalism to quote law and order and human rights. If one wants to go by the book, we would not have those educated Singaporeans today to be influenced by those liberal nonsense. Lee Kuan Yew did what he felt was right in those days and he delivered. What have those keyboard warriors done for Singapore?

He has been in power for many decades and enacted many policies and made many decisions, obviously the absolute number of mistakes he has made will be high, but so are the number of his positive policies. The simple test of his capability is to weigh all his great policies and his not-so-great ones. You will realise that the scale is tilted firmly to one side. That my friends, is what we should be looking at and remembering him for.

My foreign friends in university all say “You Singaporeans are very lucky to have Lee Kuan Yew.  I want him in my country”. Even India is having a day of mourning tomorrow. Countries from all around the world will send representatives and we even have ex-US president Bill Clinton flying in for the funeral. This speaks volumes about his international reputation. No leader from any other small country ever gets accorded such respect.

Sometimes, it takes a death to unite all of us. There has been speculation that a snap election may be called very soon after his funeral. I hope with his passing, Singaporeans will still remember his contribution and legacy that many have forgotten so easily just because a charismatic few make good rally speeches. Remember how far we have come, who brought us here, and who will bring us further. It is easy for some politicians to promise the heaven and earth on websites and election rallies, but who pays for it?

Finally, the best thing that ever happened to us is that the political narrative online is no longer dominated by anti-PAP sentiments. Keyboard warriors who used to have a field day criticising our leaders have now cowardly retreated back to their shell or resorted to anonymous posts and comments. Who truly has Singapore’s interests at heart?