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SINGAPORE: Singapore is where it is today because of the effort that was put into building the country, said Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew.
Mr Lee made this point at a recently concluded dialogue with tertiary students at the National University of Singapore.
He said without people with ruggedness and a do or die attitude, there will not be the Singapore that exists today.
Mr Lee noted that unlike the older generation, most young Singaporeans do not know what it is like to be poor.
But he said young Singaporeans can emotionally and intellectually understand that if one does not make the same effort, Singapore will regress.
To illustrate the value of hard work, Mr Lee gave a personal insight into how he raised his children to become self-reliant and why the family decided not to live at the official residence at the Istana.
Mr Lee said: "As Prime Minister, I was given a house at Sri Temasek. So I took them (our children) there one day to play and Sri Temasek was on high ground. They were playing with a ball, the ball rolled down, and the butler ran about 50 to 60 yards to pick up the ball and bring it back.
"My wife and I watched and said if we stay here for five years, our children will grow up believing that life is like that - that somebody will always be there to be pick up balls for them, (so) we stayed at home."
- CNA/sc
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