Othman's Passing A Deep Loss - S'pore PM

By Massita Ahmad SINGAPORE, April 18 (Bernama) – "His passing is a deep loss to Singapore," said Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on the demise of Othman Wok, a founding father of Singapore. In his latest Facebook posting, he said he was deeply saddened by his passing. Othman died at the Singapore General Hospital at 12.21pm on Monday. He was 92. The Singapore Government will accord Othman the honour of being borne on the ceremonial gun carriage for his final journey from the Sultan Mosque to Pusara Abadi at the Choa Chu Kang Muslim Cemetery on Tuesday. He said Othman was one of the signatories of the Separation Agreement, was a courageous champion of a multi-racial, multi-religious, and meritocratic Singapore, and one of (Singapore’s first prime minister) Lee Kuan Yew’s closest comrades. "Encik Othman was minister of social affairs. He had put in place, measures that continue to serve the Malay community today. For example, he set up the Singapore Pilgrimage Office and the system of registration for sheikh hajis and pilgrim brokers," Lee wrote. Lee noted that Othman also took an active interest in the building of the first National Stadium, and promoted the Singapore Grand Prix years before F1 came to Singapore. For his many contributions, Othman was conferred the Order of the Nila Utama (2nd class) in 1983. "My deepest condolences to the family of Encik Othman Wok. His passing is a deep loss to Singapore," he ended the posting with his initial LHL. --BERNAMA