Experience Singapore Literature

S. Rajaratnam: Writer, Thinker, Dreamer

By Judy Goh

Throughout history, people from all walks of life have contemplated the questions: What makes a man? Or more importantly, what makes a man, different from others before him?

One such curious man who is worthy of scrutiny is none other than one of our founding fathers, S. Rajaratnam, who is perhaps best known for penning our nation’s beautifully-crafted pledge to the youth who recite it every day. He was Singapore’s first foreign minister and is revered as a harbinger of politics and nation-building in Singapore. A school has been named after him (S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University). However, not much is known to the masses who do not study beyond secondary school social studies or Singapore’s history.

Yet, with the debut of S. Rajaratnam: The Singapore Lion, an on-going exhibition at the National Library Building Level 10 Promenade and Irene Ng’s biography of the man himself, the makings of this impressive figure has been placed under the microscope and magnified.

A dedicated team has put together an intricate exhibition of S. Rajaratnam’s life and works from primary sources and photographs. Samples of S. Rajaratnam’s notes in his own handwriting are on display, along with foldout boards chronicling the young S. Rajaratnam’s ventures from birth in Ceylon (modern-day Sri Lanka) to law education in London, World War II and beyond in a captivating, chronological layout of a timeline. A plasma screen has original video footage and a photo montage of S. Rajaratnam with narration on loop. Near the back, a collection of books S. Rajaratnam owned stand in pristine condition beneath glass, neat annotations made by his own hand covering each page.

S. Rajaratnam was as much of a literary great as a formidable politician, testified to by his days as a journalist for various local and global news corporations, as well as a vociferous debater. To celebrate his achievements in these areas, his political commentaries and articles, speeches, fictional works (his short stories have been published in anthologies) and newspaper articles featuring him have been catalogued and bound into books, accessible at the exhibition also.

From the exhibit, I was sure of three things.

1. A great man knows himself.

S. Rajaratnam, since he was a young migrant, befriended people from all walks of life. His primary school classmates were of various races and religions, his college friends from left-wing parties with ideologies vastly different from those of colonial rule. This eventually led to his vision of a ‘Singaporean Singapore’ where people from backgrounds of Technicolor lived harmoniously.

Family was an issue, as he reunited with his family in Singapore to much disapproval at his non-Hindu bride. This aside, his identity was shaped by societal forces beyond his control. Nevertheless, he took control into his own hands when he made the firm decision to give up his career in journalism to join the People’s Action Party (PAP) as a full-time politician and candidate for parliament.

2. A great man has character.

S. Rajaratnam knew how to voice his thoughts coherently through speech and the written word; his thoughts were profound with knowledge. He read extensively and annotated his books with concepts ranging from social contract theory between the government and its citizens, to fighting imperialism, to turning Singapore into a ‘global city’. From experiences in London, where he studied and dropped out of law school, he reportedly praised the economical theory described in Marxism of but became wary of Communism, which he observed to be a paradoxical doctrine.

3. A great man has ambition.

S. Rajaratnam didn’t just know how to express himself and was knowledgeable about the world, but he dreamed a little bit more.

Nationalism paved the way for Singapore’s nation-building through the creation of national symbols such as the pledge, flag and anthem, which was to bond Singaporeans with a sense of identity. He preempted the phenomenon of globalisation early in the twenty-first century and sought to turn Singapore into a ‘global city’, a term he had picked up from British historian Arnold J. Toynbee’s book Cities on the Move. His foresight and determination to make those dreams a reality was what made his contributions to Singapore so significant.

S. Rajaratnam was a great man, no doubt. His life works were the result of, in my opinion, understanding, thinking and dreaming, in addition to putting his ideas into effect. Will you be the next one?

Be inspired by S. Rajaratnam: The Singapore Lion. The exhibition will run till 4 May 2010 30 June 2010 (extended!)

Judy is a second-year student at the Victoria Integrated Programme. As an aspiring writer and avid reader, she enjoys events organised by the National Library. She also occasionally contributes articles, interviews and reviews to the monthly publication What’s Up, a local students’ newspaper. Read her past review of ‘Behind a Cultural Cage’ here.

About the exhibition... One of Singapore’s foremost visionaries, S. Rajaratnam (1915-2006),
the ‘Ideas Man’, was best known for bringing visions to reality. A founding member of the
People’s Action Party, Singapore’s first Minister for Culture and the first Minister for
Foreign Affairs, he took office during a tumultuous period in Singapore’s history. His
contributions, such as shaping a national identity and putting Singapore on the world map,
continue to exert concrete influence in Singapore today. Bringing together materials from
various agencies, this exhibition aims to provide a clearer glimpse into one of Singapore’s
most monumental figures.

This exhibition is organised by the National Library of Singapore in conjunction with the
launch of The Singapore Lion: A Biography of S. Rajaratnam by Member of Parliament
(Tampines GRC), Irene Ng, and with the strong support from Singapore Press Holdings
Limited, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, National Archives of Singapore, National
Museum of Singapore and MediaCorp Pte Ltd.

For more details, access NBDCS website

30 January 2010, 1.00pm at National Library Board with Josephine Chia, author of seven published books in Singapore and the UK.

For more pictures, click here

Facilitated by Dr Kirpal Singh, with the author of ‘The Singapore Lion’ Irene Ng (Member of Parliament, Tampines GRC) the audience were treated to a wonderful insight of Rajaratnam and his literary side. In conjuction with the book launch by ISEAS on 4 February, interesting and thought-provoking questions arose from this sharing session.

more pictures here

“A man whose vision and ideas have shaped the successful Singapore that we live in today” – Aaron

” May his enduring vision help us to move forward from past to present into the future of our great nation. Truly, a Lion, Legend & Leader.” - Chandra Sekar

“I never knew he had so much impact in the Singapore history.’ - Kite

Check out the exhibition housed on level 10 of the National Library Building. From now till 4 May 2010.  Admission is free.

What makes a truly Singaporean play?

Indulge in a little bit of Singapore culture with Boom by award-winning local playwright, Jean Tay. Written against the backdrop of land scarcity issues in Singapore, Boom is an en-bloc tale offering a surreal take on life in Singapore.

Boom tells the story of an elderly woman and her property agent son in Singapore, who are struggling over the potential en-bloc sale of their home.

Join playwright Jean Tay for more of the play as she shares her world of playwriting in a Singaporean context, the struggles and triumphs and if you are an aspiring playwright, how to get your play off the ground. Jean will also talk about the usage of Singlish and local languages in her play and her take on what makes a truly Singaporean play.

Register for the programme here.

(if you have problems doing so, pls email to Athena_AZIZ@nlb.gov.sg)

What are you currently reading?
I am re-reading the book S. Rajaratnam: The Prophetic and the Political which presents a selection of his speeches and writings.  It is edited by Chan Heng Chee and Obaid ul Haq. I have just completed writing the first volume of Rajaratnam’s biography, The Singapore Lion, and am now working on the second volume. This requires me to hit the refresh button in my brain! Re-reading his speeches from various sources is part of that process.

How many books do you currently own? Have you read them all?
Oh, hundreds and hundreds. I have a habit of buying more books than I can reasonably read at one time, so I am constantly expanding my bookshelves and building new ones in every nook and cranny. There is a stack of books I have meant to read but have yet to get to. I find that I do my best uninterrupted reading when away on a holiday, and always travel with a book or two. Few things are more enjoyable than savouring a well-written book. In Singapore, my reading is often for research related to work, such as for Parliament speeches.

What’s unique about your own library?
My eclectic library has been transformed over the last five years. It used to be packed with books on philosophy and politics. Also novels. But since 2005, I have been immersing myself in biographies – of Lincoln, Churchill, Roosevelt, Mandela, Nehru, Mao, etc – because I was embarking on writing my first book, the biography of S Rajaratnam. I read to learn what worked in a biography and what didn’t, and what made a great biography. Then in 2007, I married Graham Berry, the former CEO of the Scottish Arts Council. He is a very literary man, and has a formidable collection of books. His library is now fused with mine and still growing rapidly. It is wonderful to be married to a man who also loves books and discussing them.

In the event of a fire (touch wood), what is/ are the book(s) that you will save?
I had the privilege of helping Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew to edit his memoirs, The Singapore Story, and From Third World to First. He wrote inscriptions in the copies he gave me when they were first published. In the first, he wrote: “Many thanks for most helpful suggestions that improved my text.” In the second, he wrote: “To Irene Ng, whose skilful editing made this a more readable book.” MM Lee was very gracious in writing these words, which made these two books especially precious to me.

Taken in 2006, at the University of Edinburgh when Irene was awarded the Honorary Professorial Fellowship

Born in Penang, Malaysia, Irene Ng came to Singapore to further her studies in 1980. She is now a Singaporean. She studied sociology, English language and philosophy at the National University of Singapore and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and Social Science in 1986. She later obtained her Master of Science in international relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science. In June 2006, she was awarded an Honorary Professorial Fellowship at the University of Edinburgh. From 1986 to 2001, she worked as a journalist for the Singapore Press Holdings and was the senior political correspondent of The NewPaper and The Straits Times.

She has won journalism and writing awards. In 2001, she gave up journalism to join politics in Singapore. She currently serves as the Member of Parliament for Tampines GRC. After joining politics, she worked as director of programmes and senior research fellow at the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, and later, as a director at National Trades Union Congress. In 2009, she returned to her passion for writing as a full-time writer. She is currently Writer-in-Residence at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies,Singapore.

Josephine Chia

Josephine Chia writes both fiction and non-fiction and has published seven books. Her first literary break was when she was one of the winners of UK’s Ian St. James Awards in 1992 for her short story, Tropical Fever, which was subsequently published in an anthology by Harper Collins. Since then, Josephine has won several other literary prizes and is a member of UK’s Society of Authors and UK Society of Women Writers & Journalists. She lives in West Sussex, England.

Find out more at www.josephinechia.com

Take a peek at Phine’s library and what she’s reading now.

What are you currently reading? I generally read a fiction and Non-fiction in the same period depending on my mood.

Current Fiction: David Lodge: A Deaf Sentence

Non-fiction: Bill Bryson: Shakespeare

How many books do you currently own? 1,000 books!! They are falling off my shelves and I am slowly getting rid of them.

Have you read them all? Yes! Some of them more than once.

What’s unique about your own library? Besides fiction, I read philosophy books, yoga and spiritual. Many of the books are also used for my teaching the respective subjects, Creative Writing, Yoga & Teaching English as a Second Language.

In the event of a fire (touch wood), what is/ are the book(s) that you will save?  My Collins Millennium Dictionary & The Dalai Lama Book of Daily Meditations.

Josephine's library

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