Lee Kuan Yew wanted S’pore to be green and liveable: PM Lee

SINGAPORE – The country’s founding father Lee Kuan Yew wanted Singaporeans to have a consciousness that it should be a green and liveable space where people are happy to live and proud to belong.

That is why, even in the midst of the many challenges in the nation’s early years, he launched a tree-planting campaign in 1963, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the LKY100 The Greening of Singapore commemoration ceremony at Mayflower Shopping and Food Centre in Ang Mo Kio on Sunday.

The event, organised by the People’s Action Party (PAP) and the PAP Community Foundation branches of Ang Mo Kio GRC, Kebun Baru SMC and Yio Chu Kang SMC, commemorates the late Mr Lee’s vision of a clean and green Singapore.

Speaking to more than 800 PAP activists, guests and green activists, PM Lee, who is also PAP secretary-general and an Ang Mo Kio GRC MP, said: “Thanks to Mr Lee’s vision and to the founding fathers’ efforts, we can enjoy our city in nature.

“It was their ambition for Singapore, their courage to make difficult choices, their foresight to plan ahead and their determination to realise these plans, these are the attributes, these are the factors that took Singapore from Third World to First.”

PM Lee called on the current generation to embody the same spirit, values and passion that Singapore’s founding fathers had.

He added that the PAP has been governing the country for 64 years now, making it the world’s longest uninterrupted governing party today.

He thanked the party activists for their hard work in serving residents.

A 10-minute short film, called The Greening Of Singapore, was aired at the event.

Made by content creator Big Red Button’s director Wally Tham, it details Singapore’s journey to becoming a City in a Garden – from the initial tree-planting efforts by the late Mr Lee to the climate change challenges that the country faces today.

The film opens with how 2023 is set to be the world’s hottest year on record, fuelled by climate change.

Dr Srilalitha Gopalakrishnan, president of the Singapore Institute of Landscape Architects, says in the film that despite Singapore being a tropical country near the equator, it is doing better than temperate nations in terms of heat, and that is because of its green cover.

PM Lee also points out in the mini-documentary that the late Mr Lee felt the concrete jungle of a built-up city could feel oppressive and that greenery was needed to brighten spirits, especially since Singapore has no countryside that people can escape to.

Minister for National Development Desmond Lee says in the video that the nation faces an existential threat due to climate change, as it poses threats to food and water security.

The 30 by 30 vision to produce 30 per cent of the country’s food requirements locally by 2030 is one way to combat the effects of climate change.

At the event, Kebun Baru MP Henry Kwek said: “We hope the short film will encourage Singaporeans to muster the same determination that Mr Lee Kuan Yew and the founding leaders had, so that we can build a brighter future – one that can hold the dreams of our children.”

PM Lee, along with current and retired PAP MPs at the event, completed a floral map – with close to 900 pots of chrysanthemum – by placing the remaining pots of flowers in the artwork.

The floral map, in the shape of Singapore, signifies the country’s transformation from a Garden City into a City in Nature.

The map was put in place on Saturday night by PAP activists and volunteers, and the pots of flowers will be distributed to residents and volunteers after the event.

PM Lee also toured an exhibition at the event, featuring animal cardboard displays, an art workshop and drummers who played using household items like pots and pans.