MANILA, Philippines – Hours after Singapore founding leader Lee Kuan Yew died on Monday, March 23, veteran Filipino photojournalist George Gascon recalled the years he spent taking photos of the prime minister for the Singapore Straits Times.

Those photos endeared him to Lee, who eventually gave him access even to his closed-door events. 

It wasn’t an easy task to begin with.

Gascon arrived in Singapore in 1992 after years of shooting for a rambunctious Philippine media. He found himself in a new environment where every move was measured, especially around the prime minister who built the city-state from scratch, ruled with an iron fist, and frowned upon a free press.

On his 3rd year at the Singapore Straits Times as a photographer, Gascon was asked by his editors, who were then doing a book on Lee, to join them in their interviews with him at Istana. This began Gascon’s fascinating period with Asia’s towering leader.

As protocol dictated, photographers were given limited time to take photos of Lee. They usually did not stay long enough to finish the writers’ interviews. But Gascon managed to stay not only long enough with his editors but in areas in Lee’s office where photographers were forbidden to go. 

“I’m not sure why, but he did allow me to stay and take as many photos as I could,” Gascon, now 62 and retired, told Rappler in Filipino in a phone interview. “Even my editors were surprised because, during the series of interviews, I would be allowed to take photos from various angles, and the prime minister would let me.”

Gascon’s favorite shot of the series was the one he took just as Lee was about to open the door to his inner office – again a no-entry area for photographers.

The book – Lee Kuan Yew, The Man and His Ideas – was launched in 1997. At the book signing, Gascon recalled that Mrs Lee, Kwa Geok Choo (who died in 2010), took time to personally thank him for the “beautiful photos of my husband.”

What made him and Lee click?

Perhaps it’s Gascon’s unobtrusive, quiet style. Because the shoots were often in the prime minister’s office and considering Lee’s strong, no-nonsense personality, Gascon figured that the least the obstruction, the better for both cameraman and subject.

Gascon chose not to bring any equipment with him except his cameras. He preferred to use natural light, making do without any lighting set-up. “As long as I didn’t distract him. That was my priority. I didn’t use flash. The less equipment, the better.” 

Gascon timed his shots. He avoided taking them while Lee was deep in his thoughts or was about to say something to the person he’s meeting with. “Having spent many times with him, I know when he’s processing his thoughts and is about to say something. I would take my shots after. Timing was important,” Gascon said.

‘My photographer’

Gascon would become a permanent fixture in Lee’s events – a photographer who could click away as he wished.

Before his Cabinet and visiting state leaders, Lee would introduce Gascon as “my photographer.” Gascon particularly remembers Lee’s one-on-one with then Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri. After an event at Istana, Lee told Megawati that the photographer with them is a Filipino and that he’s “my photographer.”

Gascon’s photographs of Lee are seen in most of the books on the prime minister, as well as Lee’s own memoirs, and even in those posted by wire agencies after his death.

One photo taken by Gascon in 1998 featured a soft side of Lee. The prime minister was standing with his wife next to a wax sculpture of himself at Madame Tussaud’s wax museum. The photo was shown in an exhibit last year in Singapore.

It was a case of “blink and you will miss it,” the Straits Times quoted Gascon as saying. “His smile was fleeting…even though he was surrounded by other media, we got the shot,” Gascon said, as quoted by Straits Times.

Gascon had shot presidents before Lee. He worked for years with the Ministry of Public Information under the Marcos government, assigned to take photos of then President Ferdinand Marcos. After the 1986 EDSA revolt, he worked in various newspapers that assigned him to cover Philippine presidents and politicians.

“So when I arrived in Singapore, people advised me to take it easy when taking photos of the prime minister. He would give cold stares to photographers, I was told,” Gascon said. “But I felt okay with it.”

Retirement and Lee’s advice

In 2001, Gascon decided to return to the Philippines for good. He and his wife Sylvia had bought a farm in Tagaytay.

Lee learned about this, and he would tell Singapore officials that Gascon was leaving Singapore to be a “farmer.” Gascon recalled the prime minister teasing him no end about his decision to retire: “What a waste, he’s going farming!”

Gascon and his wife Sylvia paid a final courtesy call on Lee before they left for Manila in 2002.

And the prime minister’s word of advice? “Take good care of your hard-earned money.”

It was an advice Gascon definitely needed – and heeded. – Rappler.com