I refer to the 29 Jan 2014 Straits Times letter “Timely to reinforce founding fathers’ values” [1] by Mr Georgie Lee Heng Fatt.
Singapore’s big day is not 2015 but 2019 because 2015 isn’t our 50th birthday but our 50th anniversary of our divorce from Malaysia whereas 2019 is Singapore’s 200th birthday.
1965 is our year of independence as well as our year of separation from Malaysia. Whether we view it from an independence perspective or a separation perspective, neither qualifies as our birth year. If we become independent at the age of say 30, do we say we were born at the age of 30? If we become divorced at the age of 60, do we say we were born at the age of 60? Clearly, we were born at age 0 which occurred in 1819 when Sir Stamford Raffles founded Singapore.
One might argue there were former kingdoms and civilisations that ruled Singapore in ancient times. However, the last kingdom that occupied the land of Singapore was razed to the ground by the Portuguese in 1613. More than 200 years separated those former civilisations from the founding of modern Singapore in 1819. There was thus a clean and clear break between those ancient civilisations and modern Singapore. The Singapore that we know today has continuously evolved since 1819 and can be traced back to 1819. To reset our age in 1965 is to betray our true forefathers who literally carved a city out of a jungle.
It is also a grave mistake to refer to our post-independence leaders as our founding fathers because people like Lee Kuan Yew did absolutely nothing to deserve that title. When we think of founding fathers, we think of people like George Washington, Ghandi and Sun Yat Sen. The common thread that binds these people and that uniquely qualifies them as founding fathers is their common struggle against colonial or foreign masters to gain independence for their respective peoples. Lee Kuan Yew never did anything remotely close to that. When the Japanese came, he didn’t fight them but worked for them instead. When it was time to fight the British for Singapore’s independence after the war, he again did nothing of that sort but cooperated and worked for the British instead. Because he had been such a good boy, the British and subsequently the Tungku helped him gain power by locking up the Leftists who were the ones who fought for our independence. In fact, LKY didn’t even want independence and cried the day we were separated from Malaysia. He fought not for the independence of Singapore but for Singapore’s marriage into Malaysia and short changing Singaporeans in the process. It was Tungku Abdul Rahman whom we must thank for giving us our independence.
Singapore owes much of its progress to the strong moral values of its people, values carried by various cultures from where they came and given opportunity to blossom and grow in a progressive climate rooted in British institutions. These values of our Singaporean forefathers were neither espoused nor moulded by any one man, let alone Lee Kuan Yew. Let us not short change our own forefathers by taking away the credit of strong moral values owed to them and heaping them onto a single person or select group of individuals. Anyone who is capable of locking political opponents for more than 30 years will never be worthy of our moral emulation.
If we truly come to terms with history and facts, we must accept that Lee Kuan Yew never created Singapore, never fought for our independence and in fact married us into Malaysia, committed morally unacceptable acts like locking opponents for 30 years. We can never accept Lee Kuan Yew as our founding father without cheapening what it means to be a founding father.
Thank you.
Ng Kok Lim
[1] Straits Times, Timely to reinforce founding fathers’ values, 29 Jan 2014, Georgie Lee Heng Fatt
I AM encouraged by Education Minister Heng Swee Keat’s call for all Singaporeans to offer ideas on how Singapore can mark its 50th birthday (“Big bash ‘for all’ as little red dot turns 50″; last Saturday).
His statement that “turning 50 is as much about looking forward as it is about looking back” is a timely reminder that amid the celebrations, there should be serious reflection on how we want to shape our future.
Singapore owes much of its progress to the strong moral values espoused by its founding fathers. They were excellent role models who upheld values such as integrity, selflessness, justice, honour, thrift and diligence, and supported the building of strong families.
Many of these values have been eroded over the years.
Hence, there is no better time than now to take stock, press the “reset” button and reaffirm the values that have served us well in nurturing a prosperous and compassionate society.
Singaporeans should come forward with not only proposals on how best to celebrate the nation’s 50th birthday, but also suggestions on how we may propagate the values that our founding fathers held so dear.
Celebrate history we must. But at a time when our social fabric is showing signs of strain, there should be an urgency to find ways to restore, strengthen and practise the values that our founding fathers worked so hard to preserve.
I hope other citizens will join me in responding to Mr Heng’s call.