This post was first published before the death of Mr Lee Kuan Yew.

We have been receiving news on Facebook updates about ex-PM Lee Kuan Yew’s health. Like many of us who were born and raised in Singapore, I stood vigil all night discussing the future with friends.

Is it true?

I cannot sleep.

Me too.

The conversation kept going until we knew there was nothing left to listen to or read about on the official pages.

I want to stay away from idle chatter or participate in negative comments about him. He is a prominent world figure. So I am preparing myself space for my mind and heart to positiveness.

Keeping My Mandarin Alive

There’s this question that I constantly get asked. Why do you study Mandarin? To be honest, I don’t actually have an answer to that because my father never told us. Neither did my mother. So I spent almost half my lifetime answering a simple question. Of course, with the increasing popularity of Chinese as the language for business in Asia and probably the world, the general comment about my father was, ” He had great foresight. ” But what if that never was his reason or plan. What if he only thought of it out of necessity? Moving forward…

A part of me does not want to know if the ex-PM finally leaves us. I had bought a book about his pursuit to study Mandarin. I found it in a second-hand shop at Bras Basah Complex. The shopkeeper said, ” You want this? I thought nobody wants. Ok, take $10/-.”

Mr Lee Kuan Yew died on 23rd March 2015. R.I.P.

I couldn’t put the book down for days! This book about the ex-PM learning Mandarin has helped me uncover a few truths. One is that unless you are absolutely sure that you can continue with your journey to success in life, love and business without new knowledge, you will give up on learning anything.

You Can Never Hate Your Mandarin: What Lee Kuan Yew Showed Me

There have been many books written about him, for him and around his life. This will be the only way I feel connected with this man. It’s good to be connected to his better side because we are carrying on with life. We want supportive thoughts. Good things happen when we think well. I had blogged about the book. It will continue to be a great inspiration for me to continue learning and teaching Mandarin.