Commemative coin to mark 100th anniversary of Lee Kuan Yew's birth

A commemorative coin will be launched this year, along with exhibitions and other ground-up initiatives, to mark the 100th anniversary of former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew's birth.

The late Mr Lee, Singapore's founding Prime Minister and co-founder of the ruling People's Action Party, was born on Sep 16, 1923.

He died on Mar 23, 2015, at the age of 91.

Minister for Manpower Tan See Leng said on Tuesday in Parliament that some government agencies have planned initiatives to pay tribute to Mr Lee.

A commemorative coin will be issued by the Monetary Authority of Singapore MAS later this year as a reminder of Mr Lee's values and vision he said.

The National Heritage Board has an ongoing traveling exhibition for the Founders Memorial, which will be developed to commemorate the legacy of Singapore's pioneers. The agency will put together a more extensive exhibition on key historical milestones at the National Museum later this year.

This year is also the 60th year of Singapore's greening journey since Mr Lee launched the first tree planting campaign in 1963 and NParks will have various activities to mark this milestone, Dr Tan said.

As Singapore's founding Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew holds a special place in Singapore's history, he told the House, adding that many groups from the community have come up with ideas to pay tribute to him.

They felt it was important to remember Mr Lee's contributions to Singapore and the ideals he represented, said Dr Tan.

They wanted to raise awareness of Mr Lee's contributions among Singaporean youths, many of whom were very young or not yet born when Mr Lee stepped down from the Cabinet. These ideas include conferences to examine the late Mr Lee's legacy, publications inspired by his values and work as well as other activities to engage younger Singaporeans on his role in the country's history, said the minister.

Some business leaders have proposed setting up a fund for private donations that will be used to support educational causes. Education was a cause dear to Mr Lee's heart and they felt that the fund would be a fitting tribute to him.