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Minister Mentor (MM) Lee Kuan Yew on an interview with New York Times on 11th September 2010.
MM Lee spoke of his wife, Kwa Geok Choo, 89, in an interview on the New York Times’ Saturday Profile.
He shared that his most difficult moment is at the end of each day as he sits by the bedside of his wife who has been unable to move or speak for more than two years.
“She understands when I talk to her, which I do every night,” he said. “She keeps awake for me; I tell her about my day’s work, read her favourite poems.”
MM Lee added that while he tries to keep busy, from time to time in idle moments, his mind goes back to when they were up and about together. To calm himself, he meditates for 20 minutes at night.
The New York Times report also noted how younger people worry him with their demands for more political openness and a free exchange of ideas, secure in their well-being in modern Singapore.
“They have come to believe that this is a natural state of affairs, and they can take liberties with it,” he said. “They think you can put it on auto-pilot. I know that is never so.”
The kind of open political combat they demand would inevitably open the door to race-based politics, he said, and “our society will be ripped apart.”
'SO, WHEN is the last leaf falling?' asked Lee Kuan Yew, the man who made Singapore in his own stern and unsentimental image, nearing his 87th birthday and contemplating age, infirmity and loss.
'I can feel the gradual decline of energy and vitality,' said Mr Lee, whose 'Singapore model' of economic growth and tight social control made him one of the most influential political figures of Asia. 'And I mean generally, every year, when you know you are not on the same level as last year. But that's life.'
In a long, unusually reflective interview last week, he talked about the aches and pains of age and the solace of meditation, about his struggle to build a thriving nation on this resource-poor island, and his concern that the next generation might take his achievements for granted and let them slip away
Chinese Newspaper has the following to report:
铁汉也柔情 《纽约时报》专访李资政
（2010-09-12）
高龄86岁的内阁资政李光耀，明显地感受到自己年老力衰，也清楚这是人生必经之路。
“我可以感觉到体力和精神都在逐渐衰退，我是说每一年，你知道自己一年不如一年，但那是人生必经的过程。”
李资政也这么问道：“最后一片叶子，将在何时落下？”
本月16日是李资政87岁生日，他是在上星期接受《纽约时报》的采访，谈自己的人生观，如何适应自己年老劳力衰，如何照顾妻子，包括用基督教的祷告文来安慰在痛苦中挣扎的妻子。
李资政也谈到自己如何艰苦地把新加坡建设起来，以及他担心下一代新加坡人不会珍惜第一代领袖辛苦争取到的成果，而让它付诸东流。
记者在文章中，细腻地描写在李资政办公室采访的情况，形容他穿着随意，披一件外套、着运动鞋，虽然年事已高，但言谈之间思维敏锐。资政说，这几年，与他相伴60多年的太太因为几次中风而卧病在床无法言语，使他的人生也随之黯淡了下来。
“我尽量让自己忙碌，但间中空闲的时候，我就会想到过去我们一起的开心日子。”
“我该如何安慰自己？我想，这就是人生。接下来会怎样，我不晓得。没有人曾经起死回生。”
为了保持健康，他定期游泳、骑脚踏车与按摩，也例常办公。他清楚知道，让自己休息，体力就会衰退得很快。
“我已经87岁了，我尽量健身，保持健康体魄。这需要付出努力，但又是否值得我这么努力呢？我会嘲笑自己装出勇敢的样子。这已经成为一种习惯，我就继续下去。”
最难过是坐在床边看妻子
在忙碌了一天后，李资政最难过的时候，就是每天坐在床边看着妻子柯玉芝（89岁）。她已经超过两年无法动弹或讲话。
“我跟她讲话时她是知道的，我每晚都这么做。她会为了我保持清醒。我告诉她我今天做了些什么，唸她最喜欢的诗。”
资政这时候打开一张单子，列着一些知名作家简·奥斯丁（Jane Austen）、艾米莉·勃朗特（Emily Bronte）、罗德雅德·吉卜林（Rudyard Kipling）、刘易斯·卡罗尔（Lewis Carroll）和莎士比亚的名著等。
资政说，他最近阅读基督教的婚姻誓言，其中一句话令他留下深刻印象，即“无论病痛或健康、无论结果如何，都爱他、照顾他、珍惜他，直至生命的尽头”（To love, to hold and to cherish, in sickness and in health, for better or for worst till dealth do us apart）
“我告诉她，我会尽量陪伴你，能多久就多久。这是人生，她是明白的。”
但资政也说：“我不知道谁会先过世，不晓得是她还是我。”
当听到隔壁房间传出妻子身体不适的声音时，资政会静坐20分钟，让自己冷静下来，并以一名基督教朋友教他的、念出Ma Ra Na Tha的祷告文，意思是“帮助我，主耶稣”。虽然资政不信基督教，但念了以后，感觉心情平复多了。
“问题是如何避免自己胡思乱想。你会感到平静，一天的压力和担忧被释放出来。这样也比较容易入睡。”
资政说，妻子的病痛持续让他忧心，所承受的压力比多年来在政治领域所面对的压力更熬
对于被新加坡知名作家林宝音形容为“专制、实际且不浪费时间、鲜少动真情”的人，资政没有把这些话当一回事，认为林宝音是一名小说家，因此把一个人的性格给简单化了。“有人会这么简单或简单化吗？”
谈到现今的新加坡社会，现在的年轻人让资政感到担忧，他们强烈要求更大的政治开放，希望能自由地交换看法等。“他们认为这是理所当然的，可以随意作无理的改变。他们以为（制度）能自动运作。我知道情况永远不会如此。”
引述成语“盖棺论定”
资政担心他们所要求的这类公开的政治斗争，迟早会走向以种族为基础的政治，这样一来“我们的社会将分裂。”
《纽约时报》的这篇文章以资政谈生命的终结作为结尾。
资政引述了一句中国成语“盖棺论定”，认为一个人的功绩必须等到过世后，才能下结论，
“等棺材盖上了，才决定。到时才作评估。在棺材未盖上之前，我还有可能会做出愚蠢的事。”
Photos taken with his wife in the early days.
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Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing
Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing
Short video clip.
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Acknowledgement:
Articles and photos extracted from Singapore Media, Newspaper
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