This Endowment Fund to establish the S. Rajaratnam School of International
Studies at Nanyang Technological University will remind Singaporeans
of one of the key figures in the founding of the Republic of Singapore. In August 1965, as foreign minister of newly independent Singapore,
Raja set out to make friends for Singapore and to avoid making
enemies. His integrity
and polite disposition won the respect of the many leaders he worked with.
Raja accepted Singapore's vulnerabilities as a geopolitical fact. But he
maximized Singapore's assets as a small but resolute and principled member
of the UN. His
thought-provoking speeches at the UN, at non-aligned and ASEAN meetings made
Singapore's voice listened to on important issues. He kept good personal
relations with leaders who held diametrically opposing views, such as Vietnamese
Foreign
Minister Nguyen Co Thach, especially during the Vietnamese occupation of
Cambodia in the 1980s.
Raja was at his best when under attack. My most vivid memory of him was when
we were pummeled day after day by the communist United Front in Barisan Socialis
from 1961 to 1963. They berated and denounced us daily at mass rallies and
in the Chinese language press. I often felt bored at having to rebut their
wild
accusations, but Raja was different. A chain smoker with a cigarette between
his lips, taking sips of coffee during pauses, he would bang away at his
typewriter, to rebut and demolish every one of their diatribes. He could
string words together
with great effect.
After the 1964 communal riots in Singapore, I had grave forebodings
of ever increasing intense communal conflicts developing. We both
feared a communal
bloodbath. But
he injected a positive mood by exploring positive outcomes. That was how
he launched the Malaysian Solidarity Convention. He assured me that he,
Toh Chin Chye and
the other PAP leaders who came from Peninsula Malaya could mobilise their
friends and muster support across Malaysia including Sabah and Sarawak.
He spurred me
on to resist the UMNO Ultra's intimidation. Never once did he consider
giving up the fight. He was a tower of strength.
When faced with the Tunku's (Prime Minister of Malaysia) decision to separate
Singapore from Malaysia, he agonized over it. It was with the utmost reluctance
that he signed the Separation Agreement. He then had to face and explain
what happened to the many Malaysian leaders he had mobilised to join our
cause of
a Malaysian-Malaysia.
Then he set to work tirelessly for a multi-racial Singapore, determined
that no minority would be sat upony as Singaporeans had been in Malaysia.
Our National Pledge is his legacy. After two communal riots in 1964, we
were not at our most optimistic. In spite of our dark moody Raja had the
conviction
and optimism to give expression to what we in Singapore must aspire to
be. He crafted the words of the pledge; I tightened them; the cabinet adopted
them as
the National Pledge. It was an act of faith.
Raja's contribution was not in bricks and mortar, or in concrete and glass,
but in ideas, sentiment and spirit. Everyday when the Pledge is recited
in our schools,
our children will remind themselves that they have to live up to our aspirations.
Naming of this graduate school of international studies after S. Rajaratnam
is a small tribute to his work as Foreign Minister.
Mr Lee Kuan Yew
Minister Mentor
24 November 2006
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