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Above: Sikhs greeting Lee Kuan Yew (left) adorned in a Sikh turban. Below: Singapore Barrister Davinder Singh.

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Sikh-Singaporean Davinder Singh Was Legal Counsel To The Great Nation Builder, Lee Kuan Yew

RACHEL CHANG

 

 

 


LEE KUAN YEW
1923 - 2015


Singapore

Singapore’s top litigator Davinder Singh, who represented Lee Kuan Yew in his lawsuits against opposition politicians and foreign media outlets, said on Monday, March 23, 2015, that it was a "wild dream come true" to work for a man who was his parents' hero.

"When I was growing up, I would hear my parents describe Mr Lee Kuan Yew as the greatest man alive who gave his people, especially the minorities, the ability to live with dignity and in safety," he wrote.

When Davinder Singh was a cadet in the Singapore Armed Forces Training Institute in the 1970s, there was once a parents' visit where Lee Kuan Yew was guest-of-honour.

"My father immediately stood up when it was announced that Mr Lee had arrived, even though he must have known that, standing so far away in the midst of hundreds of parents and cadets, Mr Lee would not have been able to see him. After he stood up, others from all races followed. It was then that I truly realised what this Chinese man meant to my Punjabi father who was not even born in Singapore.

"I will also not forget the time when my mother was moved and actually applauded when towards the end of one of his National Day Rally speeches, Mr Lee said that that he would get up even as he is lowered into the grave, if something went wrong. And she did that while sitting on the couch at home.

"It were these spontaneous reactions from migrants, who had seen what life was like in their home countries and now felt protected by a man they completed trusted, that made me pause and think."

Mr Lee died on Monday (March 23, 2015) morning, aged 91.

Davinder Singh, who is chief executive of the law firm, Drew & Napier, said that working for Lee Kuan Yew was "the greatest, most unforgettable experience of my life."

Davinder won court victories on Lee's behalf against opponents like opposition politicians Tang Liang Hong, Chee Soon Juan and foreign media outlets like The Economist, Bloomberg and the New York Times.

"I sat with and talked to this genius who, more than anyone, understood human nature and societies, who had the third eye and could see trends and dangers which we mere mortals were blind or oblivious to, and who knew with complete confidence what was best for his people and Singapore.

"It was not possible to leave a meeting with him without being spellbound. Although he had not practised for decades, he remembered the finer points of the law from his days at university.

"Every discussion was an exhilarating lesson which he taught with conviction and passion. It would invariably begin with the matters on which he needed legal advice, but he would always use the occasion to share his views about the issues of the day and to remind me of the importance of standing up to those who would do us harm and of showing them that we are their equal. He was the consummate teacher, giving his time and attention to every detail, even if it was just to show me how to elegantly sharpen a barb.

"I do not know why the stars contrived to give Mr Lee Kuan Yew to Singapore or why they bestowed on me the priceless gift of working for him. But they did, and for that, my family and I shall always be grateful."


[Courtesy: The Straits Times. Edited for sikhchic.com]
March 24, 2015


 

Conversation about this article

1: T. Sher Singh (Mount Forest, Ontario, Canada), March 24, 2015, 1:31 PM.

Lee Kuan Yew was a giant of a nation builder, heads and shoulders above those who pass themselves as leaders in this day and age. Made in the mold of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk -- another great nation builder who pulled his country, Turkey, out of medievalism and thrust it screaming and kicking into the 20th century -- Lee turned Singapore into arguably the most efficiently run nation on earth. His gifts cannot be discounted even though Singapore is a small nation compared to the others; his challenges were no smaller. Sikhs will get nowhere politically until we produce our own Lee and Ataturk.

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