10-Volume Collection Of Lee Kuan Yew’s Papers Launched
SINGAPORE – A collection of former Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew’s speeches, interviews and dialogues over four decades – some of which are being released for the first time – was launched yesterday.
Published by Cengage Learning, the papers include Mr Lee’s views and statements on Singapore’s separation from the Federation of Malaysia, independence, Singapore’s nation-building process and leadership succession.
Speaking at the launch of The Papers of Lee Kuan Yew yesterday, Mr Lee said whether for reflection or scrutiny, the papers capture issues and decisions that were both popular and unpopular, but necessary for the time.
The compilation of his speeches may allow Singaporeans to understand the history in nation building, and more importantly to learn the lessons from the past.
He stressed that Singaporeans have to understand the underlying values on which the nation was built.
The 10 volumes cover more than 5,000 pages of text and nearly 500 photographs, drawn from the collections of the National Archives of Singapore, as well as materials deposited over time from the office of the Press Secretary to Mr Lee, and the former Singapore Broadcasting Corporation.
It is also taken from agencies such as the Prime Minister’s Office and the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts.
Publishing the collection would give readers a better understanding of Mr Lee’s role in the founding and development of modern Singapore, said Cengage Learning.
In his foreword, former United States Secretary of State Henry Kissinger wrote: “The volumes are an indispensable source for the thinking of one of the seminal thinkers of our period.”
The collection is available in a case-bound edition at US$2,800 (S$3,647), and a leather-bound limited edition at US$3,600.
The next series of Mr Lee’s works will cover his term as Senior Minister to the present, and is planned for release in the last quarter of next year.
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Search For Local Medical Student Believed To Be Missing In Greece
SINGAPORE – The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) is working closely with the Greek authorities to look for a fourth-year Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School student who is believed to be missing in Athens, Greece.
An MFA spokesman told TODAY that the ministry is doing so through the Singapore Honorary Consulate in Athens, the Greek Ambassador to Singapore and INTERPOL channels to locate Singaporean Kouk Leong Jin, 28.
“We are aware of this case and are very concerned … We have been keeping in close touch with Mr Kouk’s family and will do all we can to assist the family,” said the spokesman.
Mr Kouk’s family and friends have not heard from him for almost a week. They have set up a Facebook page to solicit information on his whereabouts. Via the social networking site, some Singaporeans living in Athens have also come on board to help keep a lookout for Mr Kouk on the streets of the Greek capital.
Mr Kouk had arrived in Athens last Monday to attend a medical conference at the Megaron Athens International Conference Centre.
On the same day, his wife, Ms Seow Shu Ping, received an e-mail from him informing that he had arrived in the country. He was staying in the Golden Age Hotel in downtown Athens and was due to fly home on Saturday.
On Tuesday, Mr Kouk’s friend, who was also attending the conference, got a missed call from him. Mr Kouk failed to turn up at the conference.
Mr Kouk’s family contacted the MFA on Thursday, and a police report was made the next day. Ms Seow, who married Mr Kouk two weeks ago, flew to Athens last night with his family to look for him.
Her sister, Shu Ling, told Today: “My sister is the first one who realised something was amiss. Since then she has been emotionally unstable. I hope Leong Jin’s family and she will stay strong and calm when they are at Athens.”
Ms Seow had told Lianhe Zaobao that Mr Kouk mentioned in his e-mail that he might be visiting one of the Greek Islands or try mountain climbing.
She added: “So I do not feel good about the situation and have been praying that he will be all right.”
She said she contacted the hotel on Wednesday to look for Mr Kouk and was informed that he had not returned to the hotel since the day before. She also checked her husband’s telephone records with StarHub and found that the last call he made was a missed call to a friend also attending the medical conference.
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