SOAS Memorial Lecture Pt. 2

I feel privileged to have been able to attend the SOAS Memorial Lecture which was held yesterday at The Plenary Hall, ICC. The unfortunate thing was the fact that I couldn’t really listen to the lecture, not just due to Dato Laila Utama Lee Kuan Yew’s softspokenness (and I suppose, to what-seemed-like an unreliable sound system too), but to my inadvertent tendency to get distracted or to get lost in thoughts, as well.

What seemed like a good seat initially turned out to be one that I had slightly regret to choose.

Speaking about the sound system: Throughout the whole lecture, I kept blaming the sound system (and the operator) and kept wishing for the sound system operator to realize Dato Lee’s inability to speak as loud as he would’ve been used too. During the lunch though, Malcolm (from PU1) told me how that was already the full volume (of the sound system). I’m still not sure whether he was serious.

I hope I can find a transcript of yesterday’s lecture, somewhere. For the sake of yours and mine and everyone’s, here are some inspiring excerpts…

1. Courtesy of RanoAdidas:

“The late Sultan was a modest man. He was soft spoken, with a frequent smile when speaking to his friends. He lived a simple and frugal life. For his birthday, he had built an annex to the old Istana. It was not air-conditioned. He did not like air-conditioning. The room that my wife and I stayed in within this newly-built annex was very hot, like an oven even at night. The sun would shine on the building in the afternoon and there was not enough ventilation. So I quietly moved out to stay at the rest-house in a room with a window-model air-conditioner. It was during this visit to Brunei that we struck up a friendship that was to grow and endure the rest of his life.” - An extract from His Excellency Dato Laila Utama Lee Kuan Yew’s Memorial Lecture.

…and:

His Excellency Lee Kuan Yew praised Al-Marhum SOAS on many levels especially on Al-Marhum’s decision for Brunei not to join the Federation of Malaysia despite being under pressure. Singapore joined the said Federation but later separated itself to be an independent state/country. Should Brunei become part of the Federation, then Brunei would have been a state of Malaysia and the oil revenues will be controlled by Federal government of Malaysia then. Privileges as the Ruler of Brunei will also be handicapped as it would have been ranked behind Malaysia’s nine Sultans of States. So I really salute Al-Marhum’s brave decision to stand firm and fight for our legacy which has prospered under Al-Marhum SOAS and he deserves the tag as the “Architect of Modern Brunei”.

2. Courtesy of Mr. BruneiResources, his take on the Memorial Lecture:

I remembered when I was still at Nurul Iman a few years ago, in preparation for the HRH The Crown Prince's wedding, we watched several videos of old Royal weddings. One of the things that struck us was that LKY was present in all of them. LKY was a very close friend to Brunei.

…and:

One was a short anecdote that LKY mentioned when he came to Brunei with his wife for the first time in the early 1960s. They stayed at the newly extended palace and LKY found it too hot. LKY mentioned that there was no airconditioning in that extension. Sultan Omar Ali went through the second world war and knew the hardship he had to endure. He also worked at one time as a Forestry Officer where he had to go out and probably stayed overnight in some camps or other. He knew life was difficult. His frugality ought to serve us as an example of what we too should be doing. We may have all the wealth but it does not mean that we should spend it in a spendthrift manner.

…and the last one:

I have to admit LKY looked very frail. The last time I saw him was when he was talking about water in Singapore during the Water Convention. He was soft spoken and at times we had to strain our ears. Perhaps that has something to do with the sound system as well. But he has known Brunei, he watched it grow. I am sure LKY lends a helping hand now and then. But we are now 25 years old. We have to take it where we want to go ourselves. Nobody can help us with that.

You deserve our deepest and most heartfelt respect and appreciation, Dato Laila Utama Lee Kuan Yew, Brunei’s long-time friend.

[Edit]: I just found two articles from BT relating to the event: here and here.