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Dear
Members and Friends
In just under 5 months’ time all
of us in Singapore will
commemorate the 100th
anniversary of the birth of the
late Mr. Lee Kuan Yew on 16
September 2023. Not only was he
Singapore’s founding Prime
Minister and a man of values, he
was the lead visionary of a
remarkable team which believed
in Singapore, deeply cared for
the country and its people and
fostered its economic success.
In his beautifully
written obituary of Mr. Lee in
2015, Mr. Manu Bhaskaran
referenced the epitaph of Sir
Christopher Wren in St. Paul’s
Cathedral, London. Sir
Christopher was the architect of
the cathedral and his epitaph
read: “Reader, if you seek a
monument - look around you.”
This same epitaph is so apposite
in the case of Mr. Lee Kuan Yew.
His monument is all of Singapore
and the institutions which he
and his team designed to survive
them and to serve us. It is
right we commemorate the 100th
anniversary of the birth of a
remarkable man, leader and
public servant. The question is,
how? Here are 2 ideas for you to
consider:-
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As you know, education meant
a lot to Mr. Lee. He
believed in its power to
inform, transform and uplift
by being an agent of social
mobility. The SBF Foundation
is rallying the business
community to donate to the
Lee Kuan Yew Centennial Fund
which will be administered
by the Ministry of
Education. Full details are
available
here and a donation form
is available
here. The government
will match donations dollar
for dollar up to a maximum
of SGD 50 million.
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As you also know, Mr. Lee
cared for nature and was one
of the first voices to
advocate for the greening of
Singapore and the concept of
a garden city. NPARKS,
through its Garden City
Fund, whose founding patron
was Mr. Lee, enables you to
support the ongoing work of
keeping Singapore a green
and pleasant land for us
all. Visit
https://www.gardencityfund.gov.sg/
for full details.
We hope you will find ways to
commemorate this important
anniversary. We’ll share our
plans with you next month and
look forward to hearing how you
plan to commemorate LKY 100.
Yours faithfully
Victor Mills
Chief Executive
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