Lee Hsien Yang refers to the ephemeral nature of political power in one-word post on Facebook

Since even Parliament deems it necessary to refer to the Cambridge Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, Oxford Learners Dictionary, and Macmillan Dictionary to ‘educate’ its members on the meaning of ‘difficult’ words, we think it is important to first explain what “ephemeral” means.

In his first comments since an extended heated debate in Parliament over two days centred around him and his wife, Lee Suet Fern, Lee Hsien Yang has made a cryptic one-word post on his Facebook – ‘OZYYMANDIAS’. “Ozymandias” is a sonnet written by the English Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, and it is considered a metaphor for the ephemeral nature of political power.

Incidentally, today is the 8th anniversary of Singapore’s founding Prime Minister, Mr Lee Kuan Yew. He died on 23 March 2015.

Interestingly, Mr Lee’s son, Li Shengwu, also referred to Ozymandias during his eulogy for his grandfather in 2015.

“Once, at the suggestion that a monument might be made for him, my grandfather replied, “Remember Ozymandias”. He was, of course, referring to Shelley’s sonnet about Ramses the Second, the greatest Pharaoh of the Egyptian empire.

“In the poem, a lone traveller encounters a broken statue in the desert. On the statue, the inscription, “My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings; look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!”  Nothing beside remains.”

Mr Li added, “I think his meaning was that, if Singapore does not persist, then a monument will be no help.  And if Singapore does persists, then a monument will be unnecessary.  And that assessment is accurate: His legacy is not cold stone, but a living nation. We could no more forget him than we could forget the sky.”

While the younger Lees are clear about their disdain for hero worship, the government plans to commemorate his 100th birth anniversary with a series of official events and activities later this year.