"Sometimes he used to look outside from his office and give a glance at the Gurkha pesonnel deployed there. They would snap alert," Gurung said. "He appeared confident of security in Gurkha hands."
Gurung served for several years as Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) at Lee's residence and office. During that time, Gurung had an opportunity to watch Singapore's guiding hand from up close. He is witness to Singapore being transformed by Lee into one of Asia's tiger economies.
"When I joined the Singapore Police in 1976, Lee was prime minister of the country," Gurung recalled. He was prime minister from 1959, when Singapore became independence from British rule.
Gurung was born in Singapore in 1958, when his father Lok Bahadur worked for the Singapore Police. He grew up there and later joined the police force himself.
"When Singapore gained Independence, Nepal had already become free of Rana rule," Gurung observed.
After independence, Singapore went on to became one of the developed countries of Asia while Nepal is still struggling, he further observed.
Lee came to power in Singapore when King Mahendra in Nepal staged his coup and swept aside parliamentary democracy, he said.
There were forms of authoritarianism in both countries, imposing limits on free speech and public assembly.
But while Lee developed Singapore and the country has emerged as one of Asia's wealthiest, Nepal has remained at more or less the same ranking as before.
"As far as I known, the prime minister's own body guard has always been Singaporean while the Gurkhas have been deployed for security at his residence and office, the treasury and the borders," Gurung said.
He did not get a chance to personally meet and talk to Lee Kuan Yew. He believes Lee did not transform Singapore single-handed. He took the leadership and formed the team that did it.
Gurung feels that Nepal's leaders should learn from Lee and foster team work for our own development.
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