Box5

Living people should not have airports named after them, like Bill Clinton or George H.W. Bush. That's for dead people.

Recently, the founder of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew, died. Since the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) has a military base in the U.S. near Boise, Idaho, that's a place to start.....

LKY Airport (Boise, Idaho).

or

Lee Airport

or

Lee Kuan Yew Airport

I favor the first. Write to them! http://www.iflyboise.com/airport-guide/contact-us/

obscure2k

Moving thread to the Singapore Forum.
Obscure2k
TravelBuzz Moderator

84fiero

RSAF does not "have a military base" there. The US Air Force's Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho, hosts a joint training squadron to train RSAF F-15SG aircrew and maintainers.

http://www.mountainhome.af.mil/news/...p?id=123149991

Why wouldn't SIN airport be the prime candidate to be named after him?

(btw even where airports are re-named, it's certainly not common to change the IATA identifier...and LKY already designates a small airfield in Tanzania.)

dannybhoy

I'd rather not rename Changi Airport. Too many things in Singapore can be attributed to him, one way or another, more or less.

I'd rather limit it to those like good governance (e.g. LKY School of Public Policy which already bears his name), the gardens (Gardens by the Bay and Botanical Gardens, since he has long been associated with the garden city image of Singapore - tree planting day etc.), maybe even anti-corruption (e.g. the HQ of CPIB).

Personally I feel renaming an airport after some political leader a bit cliched.

iluvcruising2

We will find out soon, maybe as soon as Sunday during the official funeral service, what will be done to remember Mr Lee Kuan Yew.

Meantime, we mourn.

jpatokal

In Cabinet, Lee Kuan Yew expressly requested that his house be demolished after his death, so it can't become a place of worship. I can't see him happy about having airports etc named after him either -- Singapore as a whole is already his monument.

Box5

Changi Airport has a good enough name already.

That's why it's better to that Boise re-name their airport after him. It would remind people who wouldn't have known about LKY and also continue to honor him.

iluvcruising2

The crowds turning up at the Padang, waiting their turn to pay their last respects at the Parliament House.



I paid my last respects. I made a video of the experience here. Indeed, Lee Kuan Yew's greatest contribution is Singapore. Singapore is his monument.
https://youtu.be/-Z3_-P-ju2U

On balance, I think it would not be a good idea to rename Changi Airport. Changi Airport has built up an incredible brand name over the years and there is no real need to change that. Hopefully the Government will have thought of a better idea by now.

KrazyTrain18

There are plenty of other ways to honour him. I think it would be unwise to rename Changi airport at this stage as it's built up quite the reputation under that name.

IAN-UK

Changi is something of a worldwide brand, even though one uneasily shared with episodes of judicial killing.

I wouldn't have thought Lee's name would do anything to enhance the international recognition of Singapore (Changi) airport.

After all, Lee was no Kennedy nor a John Paul II; not a Chopin or John Lennon. He was honoured by Putin and admired by other authoritarian regimes: but perhaps too tainted to have a place at the international top table.

Perhaps better to name something uniquely Singaporean after him: suggestions?

crazycrab955

Doesn't this sort of nonsense belong in OMNI? Moderators? Where art thou?

dannybhoy

Please. Gongs are cheap. While I don't like the idea of renaming Changi or any airport after a pol, what makes LKY less deserving than say Sukarno or King Abdulaziz Al Saud to have an airport named after him?

LKY admired Ronald Reagan. Should the Americans not have renamed DCA for the Gipper (well I think they shouldn't have but there are loads of other reasons why not...)?

And John Lennon really... You're saying a leader who helped lift his countrymen out of poverty and led the building of a prosperous nation and a thriving economy out of an island with no natural resources or adequate water supplies is not the equal of a martyred Scouser who was admittedly one of the finest musicians of his generation? Not even the same league, not even the same sport...

IAN-UK

But you're missing the point. Lennon - and his band - were some of the most well known people and most popular performers on the planet. Liverpool airport can hope that some of the international cachet can attach itself to the city and its airport.

Outside the region, Lee was virtually unknown to the public.

dannybhoy

When the region in question is Asia with two of the most populated countries in the world, 2 of the top 3 economies, etc., it's probably good enough for S'pore. Considering the context of S'pore, little more than 10% of London's square area within the M25 and only 50 years of independence, it's better than could be reasonably expected. I'm pretty sure that no one in 1960s Singapore would have expected this.

And while Liverpool holds on to the international cachet of its most famous son presumably to erase the Merseyside stereotype of Toxteth estates, hub-cap nickers and street urchins bricking trains, in the case of S'pore should it decide to rename Changi airport to LKY Changi Airport, it would be more of an effort to honour the country's founding leader and builder.

iluvcruising2

The late Mr LKY wasn't fond of having monuments named after him. His response was 'Remember Ozymandias."

His grandson delivered a lovely eulogy which made reference to this point.