Sinnathamby Rajaratnam

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Sinnathamby Rajaratnam

Image:SRajaratnam smiling.jpg
Order:
Minister for Culture 3 June 1959 - 9 August 1965
Minister for Foreign Affairs 9 August 1965 - 1 June 1980
Minister for Labour 1968 - 1971
2nd Deputy Prime Minister 1980 - 1985
Senior Minister 1985 - 1988
Place of Birth Sri Lanka
Wife Piroska Feher

Sinnathamby Rajaratnam (25 February 1915 – 22 February 2006), was a Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore from 1980 to 1985 and a long time Minister and member of the cabinet from 1959 to 1988. He is regarded as one of the founding fathers of independent Singapore as it achieved self-government in 1959 and later independence in 1965. He devoted much of his adult life to public service in Singapore and helped shape the mentality of Singaporeans on contemporary issues. He is widely known as S. Rajaratnam.

Contents

[edit] Early life

The second child of Sabapathy Pillai Sinnathamby and his wife, both of Sri Lankan Tamil descent, Rajaratnam was born in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. His father had wanted him to be born there for auspicious reasons after the premature death of his older brother. He was then brought back to Malaya and raised in Seremban and Selangor.

Rajaratnam studied in Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus, St Paul's boys' school, Victoria Institution in Kuala Lumpur, and later in Raffles Institution in Singapore. In 1937, he went to King's College, London to pursue a law degree. However, due to World War II, he was unable to receive funding from his family to continue his studies; instead, he turned to journalism to earn a living. He met his wife Piroska Feher, a Hungarian teacher while in London.

He returned to Singapore in 1948 when he joined the Malayan Tribune. In 1954, he joined The Straits Times as a journalist. He was bold in writing about the way Singapore was governed by the British. This incurred the displeasure of the colonial government. His column, "I write as I please", attracted so much attention that he was called for questioning by the government.

[edit] Political career

In 1954, Rajaratnam cofounded the People's Action Party together with Lee Kuan Yew, Goh Keng Swee and others. He became popular among his supporters for being able to effectively follow the 'mood of the people'. He thought of a multiracial Singapore and envisioned her to be a 'global city'. He was also actively involved in organising major political campaigns against Singaporean groups on the far left. During his years in parliament, he served as Minister for Culture (1959), Minister for Foreign Affairs (1965-1980), Minister for Labour (1968-1971), and Second Deputy Prime Minister (1980-1985) and was later appointed as Senior Minister until his retirement in 1988. Rajaratnam is remembered for writing the Singapore pledge in 1966.

Rajaratnam was Singapore's first foreign minister, following its abrupt independence in 1965. During his tenure as foreign minister, Rajaratnam helped Singapore gain entry into the United Nations and later the Non-Aligned Movement in 1970. He built up the Foreign Service and helped to establish diplomatic links with other countries and secure international recognition of the new nation's sovereignty. He carried out the foreign policy of international self-assertion to establish Singapore's independence during the period when the country faced significant challenges including the Konfrontasi conflict in the 1960s and the withdrawal of British troops in the early 1970s. Rajaratnam was one of the five "founding fathers" of ASEAN in 1967 and helped to draw international attention to Vietnam's invasion of Cambodia in 1978.

During his term as Minister of Labour, he implemented tough labour laws to attempt to restore stability in the Singaporean economy and attracted multinational corporations to invest in Singapore. This important appointment emphasised the trust that the government had in him in overcoming the challenges Singapore faced.

Throughout his political career, he played a key role in the successive pragmatic and technocratic People's Action Party governments that radically improved Singapore's economic situation, alongside huge developments in social development on the island with massive expansion of healthcare programmes, pensions, state housing and extremely low unemployment. This is well underlined by his following statement:

We believe in a democratic society by governments freely and periodically elected by the people... We believe, in the virtue of hard work and that those who work harder in society should be given greater rewards... We believe that the world does not owe us a living and that we have to earn our keep.[1]

Nonetheless, Rajaratnam did not believe in the need for a strong opposition in parliament, which he considered "non-communist subversion"; he was unapologetic about the dominant party system in Singapore saying:

Given a one-party government, the capacity of such a government to act far more independently than if it were harassed by an opposition and by proxies, is obvious. In the game of competitive interference pawns which can behave like bishops and castles and knights can in certain circumstances be extremely inconvenient and very irritating.[2]

Rajaratnam was a strong believer in multi-racialism in Singapore, and when drafting the Singapore National Pledge in 1966 just two years after the 1964 Race Riots, he wrote the words "One united people, regardless of race, language or religion." In the 1980s and 1990s, when the government began implementing several policies to promote the use of "mother tongue" languages and ethnic-based self-help groups such as Chinese Development Assistance Council (CDAC) and Mendaki, Rajaratnam expressed his opposition to these policies which, in his view, ran counter to the vision of establishing a common Singaporean identity where "when race, religion, language does not matter". He advocated for greater racial integration which he felt was still lacking in the country.

Rajaratnam also disagreed with then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew on the policy of giving incentives to women who are college graduates and have more children, as Rajaratnam felt that the policy was unfair. Despite their differences in opinion on certain issues, Rajaratnam was loyal to Lee and he remained as a member of the "core team" of Lee's government that include Goh Keng Swee, Hon Sui Sen and Lim Kim San, and they dominated Singapore political scene from 1959 to mid-1980s.

[edit] Later Life

Rajaratnam retired from political office in 1988 as part of the leadership transition. He then served at the Institute of South East Asian Studies as a Distinguished Senior Fellow from November 1, 1988 to October 31, 1997.

In 1994, Rajaratnam was diagnosed with dementia and was unable to move or talk by 2001. He was assisted by six maids including his long-time maid of 21 years, Cecelia Tandoc.

[edit] Death

Rajaratnam died on 22 February 2006 of heart failure, 3 days shy of his 91st birthday [3]. As a mark of respect, Mediacorp channel 5 and 8 observed the one-minute of silence of procedure that night. The State flag on all government buildings was flown at half-mast from 23 February to 25 February 2006.

The body of the late Rajaratnam rested at his home in 30 Chancery Lane from 22 to 23 February. Some of his former colleagues, Toh Chin Chye, S Dhanabalan, Othman Wok, Lee Hsien Loong, S R Nathan and Tharman Shanmugaratnam paid their last respects at his home. His body lay in state at Parliament House from 9:30am to 9:00pm on February 24, 2006.

In recognition of his contributions as one of Singapore's founding fathers, Rajaratnam was accorded a state funeral at the Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay on 25 February 2006. The coffin was carried from Parliament House to the Esplanade at 1:30pm on a ceremonial gun carriage, past the historic Civic District. The service was attended by President S. R. Nathan, Cabinet ministers, members of parliament and invited people from all walks of life. During the funeral, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, Ambassador-at-Large Tommy Koh and the Chief Mourner Dr. V K Pillay, an orthopaedic surgeon, delivered their eulogies. Minister Mentor Lee broke down while delivering his eulogy, and the national flag and the Order of Temasek which was draped on the casket was given to SR Nathan and later to V.K. Pillay. The National Pledge was recited by the mourners in honour of Rajaratnam, who penned down the National Pledge against the backdrop of racial riots in the 1950s and 1960s to inculcate in all Singaporeans his vision of building one united Singapore regardless of race, language or religion.

The state funeral was telecast live on Channel NewsAsia. The programme, called "Farewell to S. Rajaratnam", aired from 1:30 to 3:15 pm (SST) on February 25, 2006. His body was cremated at 5:00 pm, at Mandai Crematorium.

Organizations with which Rajaratnam was associated in life published obituaries in The Straits Times; these included The Institute of South East Asian Studies, Ceylon Sports Club, Singapore Ceylon Tamils' Association, Singapore Indian Fine Arts Society, Nanyang Technological University, Old Rafflesians' Association, Raffles Institution, Raffles Junior College and Raffles Girl's School. The Institute of South East Asian Studies noted:

In the words he himself chose, "We are sorry that he has left the Earth."

We are by far the richer because he was with us. We fondly remember and cherish his humility, his warmth, his scholarship, his vision and his deep and unending love for Singapore and all Singaporeans. Yes, we are truly sorry that he has left the earth.[4]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Adapted from speech by S Rajaratnam, Minister for Foreign Affairs, at a dinner in honour of His Excellency Mr. Hans Dietrich Genscher, Minister for Foreign Affairs, 20 April 1977.
  2. ^ S. Rajaratnam. 1975. "Non-Communist Subversion in Singapore," in: Seah Chee Meow (ed.). Trends in Singapore: Proceedings and Background Papers. Singapore: Singapore University Press, p. 118.
  3. ^ "Former DPM Rajaratnam dies at age 90", Channel NewsAsia, 22 February 2006.
  4. ^ The Straits Times, Friday, February 24, 2006, Pg H25-26
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Preceded by
none, post created after self government		 Minister for Culture
3 June 1959 - 9 August 1965		 Succeeded by
Othman Wok
(post renamed as Minister for Culture and Social Affairs)
Preceded by
none, post created following Independence		 Minister for Foreign Affairs
9 August 1965 - 1 June 1980		 Succeeded by
S Dhanabalan
Preceded by
Unknown		 Minister for Labour
1968 - 1971		 Succeeded by
Unknown
Preceded by
none		 Second Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore
1980 - 1985		 Succeeded by
Ong Teng Cheong
Preceded by
none, post created		 Senior Minister
1985 - 1988		 Succeeded by
Lee Kuan Yew (post vacant until 1990)
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