PM Lee remembers 'generous and kind' Dr Toh in eulogy
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The passing of Dr Toh Chin Chye 'reminds us of how we got here, how much we owe to him and his generation, and how heavy a responsibility we have to carry their vision forward,' said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in his eulogy for the founding chairman of the PAP on Tuesday morning.
Singapore is now well into its post-independence phase, said Mr Lee, as another of the Old Guard who lived through the critical years of Singapore's fight for independence has now faded away. He recalled being taken along as a young boy whenever his father, former PM Lee Kuan Yew, visited Dr Toh in his Nassim Road flat. Dr Toh was not yet married with children of his own then, but was always 'generous and kind.'
Former PAP MP Loh Meng See, who succeeded Dr Toh as MP in the Rochor area after 1988, said in his eulogy that Dr Toh would have become a Jesuit priest had he not won a scholarship to pursue his studies. Recalling him as a man of devout faith with a 'brilliant mind and an unworldly heart,' Mr Loh said that Dr Toh always felt the need to treat the less privileged and the disadvantaged with respect and dignity.
Three of Dr Toh's family members also spoke at the funeral at Mandai crematorium. His siblings, Dr Toh Chin Kooi and Dr Toh Chooi Gait, recalled him shouldering the burden of supporting the family of 8 as the eldest child, and how he took meticulous care of his late wife when she suffered a stroke.
15-year-old Matthew, Dr Toh's eldest grandson, said that his grandfather always told him and his siblings to live life in a sincere and upright manner. 'I knew he was a founding father of Singapore, but I didn't know how many lives he had touched until this week,' he said, referring to the outpouring of tribute after Dr Toh's death on Friday, at the age of 90.
Dr Toh's coffin, draped with the Singapore flag, was borne to Mandai crematorium on a ceremonial gun carriage, as a mark of respect for him as a founding father of Singapore. In the audience at the solemn ceremony were President and Mrs Tony Tan Keng Yam, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean, fellow members of Singapore's first Cabinet Ong Pang Boon and Jek Yeun Thong, and several ministers and MPs.
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