Mr S Rajaratnam:
Early Years- Mr S Rajaratnam was born in 1915 in Jaffna, Ceylon, which is now Sri Lanka. He was the second child of Sabapathy Pillai Sinnathamby. Both his parents were Sri Lankan Tamil descent. His father had wanted him to be born in Jaffna due to auspicious reasons, after the premature death of his older brother. He was raised in Seremban, Malaysia.
His father, who was a supervisor of rubber estates, rose to become a plantation owner. Mr S Rajaratnam had attend the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus for 6 months and was transferred to a boys' school, St Paul. He continued his education in Victoria Institution, which is in Kuala Lumpur, and then attended Raffles Institution in Singapore.
In 1937, when he was 22, he went to King's College in London to pursue a law degree. However, owing to the World War Two, he had to abort his dream of getting a law degree as he was unable to receive funding from his family to carry on his Education. In London, he met his wife Piroska Feher, who was a Hungarian teacher.
In 1948, he returned to Singapore, when he joined the Malayan Tribune. He became a journalist for The Straits Times in 1954, where he was bold in writing about the way how British had governed Singapore. It has triggered the displeasure of the colonial government and he had attracted so much attention that he was called for questioning by the government.
Political Career- In the same year Mr S Rajaratnam had triggered the displeasure of the colonial government due to his audacious way of writing in The Straits Times, he had co-founded the People's Action Party together with Lee Kwan Yew and Goh Keng Swee with the help of some other people. He was popular among his supporters for being able to effectively follow the 'mood of the people'. Due to his far-sightedness, he thought of Singapore to become a multi-racial country where she will become a 'global city', thus, People's Action Party(PAP) was born, in which it work towards on building a new country. PAP is also focused on multi-racial and multi-religious issues, where all races will receive equal treatment in education, housing and wealth.
P.A.P logoIn his years in the parliament, he served as the 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. One of his great contributions was for writing the Singapore National Pledge in 1966, where students will get to recite the Singapore Pledge after singing the National Anthem in school everyday.
He was also Singapore's first foreign minister, after her independence in 1965. During his post as a foreign minister, He helped Singapore to gain entry in the United Unions. In 1970, he helped her gain another entry in the Non-Aligned Movement.
Mr S Rajaratnam had made Singapore to become a strong and valued founding member of ASEAN.
Reflections of S Rajaratnam- When I first opened the file of the history homework, I have no idea who he was, and what he did. After searching up on him, I realised that he has helped Singapore a great deal. From looking at the schools he has attend to, I think he is a highly educated person with a passion for higher goals, otherwise he would not have studied so hard to attend those prestigious schools. Besides that, I think he should be a quite straight-forward person, otherwise the colonial government would not be aroused by what he wrote in The Straights Times. Despite all, he, Lee Kwan Yew, Goh Keng Swee and some other people had founded PAP. After searching the goals and focus of PAP, it has dawned on me that Mr S Rajaratnam had contributed a lot. If he had not came up with this idea together with the aid of some people, Singapore might be a mess today as there is no system to control the people. The focus of PAP is to build a new country and to give an equal chance to everybody. If Mr S Rajaratam can think of 'fairness', it shows that he is a just person.
Even though I recite The Pledge almost everyday, I had, until now, no idea who wrote The Pledge. Until today, then I know it was Mr S Rajaratnam. We owe a lot to this man, who has helped us in many ways. I am glad that we had this assignment, if not I would have never known who is he, or what he did.
Dr Goh Keng Swee:
Early Years- Dr Goh Keng Swee was born into a middle-income Peranakan family in Malacca
on the 6th of October, 1918. He was the fifth child of Goh Leng Inn, who was a manager of a rubber plantation, and Tan Swee Eng, who was born into a family who had produced Malaysian Politician Tun Tan Cheng Lock. Incidentally, the son of Tun Tan Cheng Lock, Tun Tan Siew Sin, became Dr Goh Keng Swee's lifelong political opponent.
Dr Goh Keng Swee moved to Singapore when he was two years old, where his maternal grandparents owned several properties. Their family then moved to Pasir Panjang rubber estate when his father had gotten a job there and became manager in 1933. Being a peranakan, Dr Goh had spoken English and Malay at home; and Sunday church services were held at home in Malay.
Dr Goh graduated from Anglo-Chinese Primary and Secondary school
where he was second in class in the Senior Cambridge Examinations. In 1939, He graduated from Raffles College with Class II Diploma in Arts with a special distinction in economics. After that, he joined the colonial Civil Service as a tax collector with the War Tax Department but was almost fired as according to his superiors, was not very good at his job. Not long after World War II, he joined the Singapore Volunteer Corps, which was a local militia. Even so, he returned to being a tax collector. In 1942, he married his secretary-cum-colleague Alice Woon, and had a child Goh Kian Chee two years later. He brought his family back to Malacca, and returned back to Singapore in 1946, which was after the Japanese Occupation. That year, he joined the Department of Social Welfare, and was active in post-war administration. He became supervisor of the Department's Research Section six months later.
Dr Goh had worked hard and earned himself a scholarship, which has enabled him to pursue his academics at the LSE, London School of Economics and Political Science. In London, he met fellow students with the same dream- to seek independence for British Malaya. They were mainly Abdul Razak, Maurice Baker, Lee Kwan Yew and Toh Chin Chye. Dr Goh was the founding chairman of a student discussion group, the Malayan Forum, in 1948. He excelled in Economics, which he has gotten first class honours for it in 1951, and had won the William Farr Prize, for achieving the highest marks in Statistics.
He was appointed assistant secretary of its Research Section upon his return to the Department of Social Welfare. In 1952, together with fellow civil servant Kenneth M. Byrne, he formed the Council of Joint Action to lobby against salary and promotion policies that favoured Caucasians over Asians.
In 1954, Goh returned to LSE for doctoral studies with the help of a University of London scholarship. In 1956, He completed Ph.D. and returned to the Department of Social Welfare, where he served as Assistant Director and then Director.
Political Career- His political career started the moment he quit his job from the Cilvil Service and became a full-time worker in PAP in August, 1958. He was a key member of the PAP's Central Executive Committee, and had become its Vice Chairman afterwards. He finally contested the Kreta Ayer seat in the general election in 1959. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly on 30 May that year. He joined the first government of Prime Minister Lee Kwan Yew as Minister for Finance. In this role, he assumed stewardship of Singapore's economy. Being the Minister for Finance, he had instilled a strict discipline on where the money is being invested to and had cut salaries for the workers. Owing to his strict discipline, PAP managed to save a lot of money.
He had established a few developments during his days in PAP, which had aid Singapore a lot, in terms of orderliness. In 1965, when Singapore gained independence, Dr Goh became Minister for the Interior and Defence until 1967. He was responsible for strengthening Singapore's military and domestic security capabilities. One of the key policies he created was National Service, where able-bodied young men of the age 18 had to be conscripted.
In 1979, he was in charged of the Education Ministry, where he changed the development of education by introducing streaming and religious education.
Dr Goh retired as Deputy Prime Minister in December 1984, due to personal reasons.
Reflections of Dr Goh Keng Swee: I learned who was Dr Goh Keng Swee only days before I knew who was Mr S Rajaratnam. After reading the contributions Dr Goh did for Singapore, I realised that Singapore would not have been what she is today if not for him. I think one of the greatest way he helped us was changing the education system. Education is important, and if the system is not organised properly, there would be major problems. Dr Goh helped organise the system, that is why students in Singapore are able to receive rich education now. I believe I will not receive such a good education today, if not for him. I read comments about him over the internet; most of them said that he was a strict but kind man. I think other than strict and kind, he possess the quality of being a leader. Because first of all, he is smart. If he wasn't smart, he would not have won so many scholarships. I should learn from him; live life to the fullest and achieve as much as we can. Even if I've never met this great man in my life, I think he has already taught me to strive for excellence.
Who has contributed more to Singapore: In personal opinion, I think that Dr Goh contributed more to Singapore as the policies he had came up with seems to be more beneficial to our country. For example, the policy about National Service. If he had not come up with that, Singapore will not be ready for any disasters, and our people would be so lost. But because he came up with the National Service policy, we know that Singapore will be a safer and more peaceful country. Another policy which I am grateful he came up with is the streaming in education. If he had not come up with that policy, Singapore's education would be messed up. Ever since he created the streaming policy, Singapore has more people graduating from University. It is important for our people to receive a good education because that will foresee our future. If the students in my batch are not hardworking and they do not study hard and get a certificate, the future for our next generation would not be a good one as most of us would not be able to find jobs. Hence, by creating the streaming policy, Dr Goh has opened a path for us to more jobs. Besides that, he had committed all his time in PAP, trying to help us make our country to become a better place. But still, if Mr S Rajaratnam had not founded the PAP together with him, I do not think that he will have the responsibilities of the many posts he had achieved, and thus come out with the various policies; hence, we need to thank Mr S Rajaratnam too.
-Deborah ( 8 )
1E5
Malacca
on the 6th of October, 1918. He was the fifth child of Goh Leng Inn, who was a manager of a rubber plantation, and Tan Swee Eng, who was born into a family who had produced Malaysian Politician Tun Tan Cheng Lock. Incidentally, the son of Tun Tan Cheng Lock, Tun Tan Siew Sin, became Dr Goh Keng Swee's lifelong political opponent.
Dr Goh Keng Swee moved to Singapore when he was two years old, where his maternal grandparents owned several properties. Their family then moved to Pasir Panjang rubber estate when his father had gotten a job there and became manager in 1933. Being a peranakan, Dr Goh had spoken English and Malay at home; and Sunday church services were held at home in Malay.
Dr Goh graduated from Anglo-Chinese Primary and Secondary school
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where he was second in class in the Senior Cambridge Examinations. In 1939, He graduated from Raffles College with Class II Diploma in Arts with a special distinction in economics. After that, he joined the colonial Civil Service as a tax collector with the War Tax Department but was almost fired as according to his superiors, was not very good at his job. Not long after World War II, he joined the Singapore Volunteer Corps, which was a local militia. Even so, he returned to being a tax collector. In 1942, he married his secretary-cum-colleague Alice Woon, and had a child Goh Kian Chee two years later. He brought his family back to Malacca, and returned back to Singapore in 1946, which was after the Japanese Occupation. That year, he joined the Department of Social Welfare, and was active in post-war administration. He became supervisor of the Department's Research Section six months later.
Dr Goh had worked hard and earned himself a scholarship, which has enabled him to pursue his academics at the LSE, London School of Economics and Political Science. In London, he met fellow students with the same dream- to seek independence for British Malaya. They were mainly Abdul Razak, Maurice Baker, Lee Kwan Yew and Toh Chin Chye. Dr Goh was the founding chairman of a student discussion group, the Malayan Forum, in 1948. He excelled in Economics, which he has gotten first class honours for it in 1951, and had won the William Farr Prize, for achieving the highest marks in Statistics.
He was appointed assistant secretary of its Research Section upon his return to the Department of Social Welfare. In 1952, together with fellow civil servant Kenneth M. Byrne, he formed the Council of Joint Action to lobby against salary and promotion policies that favoured Caucasians over Asians.
In 1954, Goh returned to LSE for doctoral studies with the help of a University of London scholarship. In 1956, He completed Ph.D. and returned to the Department of Social Welfare, where he served as Assistant Director and then Director.
Political Career- His political career started the moment he quit his job from the Cilvil Service and became a full-time worker in PAP in August, 1958. He was a key member of the PAP's Central Executive Committee, and had become its Vice Chairman afterwards. He finally contested the Kreta Ayer seat in the general election in 1959. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly on 30 May that year. He joined the first government of Prime Minister Lee Kwan Yew as Minister for Finance. In this role, he assumed stewardship of Singapore's economy. Being the Minister for Finance, he had instilled a strict discipline on where the money is being invested to and had cut salaries for the workers. Owing to his strict discipline, PAP managed to save a lot of money.
He had established a few developments during his days in PAP, which had aid Singapore a lot, in terms of orderliness. In 1965, when Singapore gained independence, Dr Goh became Minister for the Interior and Defence until 1967. He was responsible for strengthening Singapore's military and domestic security capabilities. One of the key policies he created was National Service, where able-bodied young men of the age 18 had to be conscripted.
In 1979, he was in charged of the Education Ministry, where he changed the development of education by introducing streaming and religious education.
Dr Goh retired as Deputy Prime Minister in December 1984, due to personal reasons.
Reflections of Dr Goh Keng Swee: I learned who was Dr Goh Keng Swee only days before I knew who was Mr S Rajaratnam. After reading the contributions Dr Goh did for Singapore, I realised that Singapore would not have been what she is today if not for him. I think one of the greatest way he helped us was changing the education system. Education is important, and if the system is not organised properly, there would be major problems. Dr Goh helped organise the system, that is why students in Singapore are able to receive rich education now. I believe I will not receive such a good education today, if not for him. I read comments about him over the internet; most of them said that he was a strict but kind man. I think other than strict and kind, he possess the quality of being a leader. Because first of all, he is smart. If he wasn't smart, he would not have won so many scholarships. I should learn from him; live life to the fullest and achieve as much as we can. Even if I've never met this great man in my life, I think he has already taught me to strive for excellence.
Who has contributed more to Singapore: In personal opinion, I think that Dr Goh contributed more to Singapore as the policies he had came up with seems to be more beneficial to our country. For example, the policy about National Service. If he had not come up with that, Singapore will not be ready for any disasters, and our people would be so lost. But because he came up with the National Service policy, we know that Singapore will be a safer and more peaceful country. Another policy which I am grateful he came up with is the streaming in education. If he had not come up with that policy, Singapore's education would be messed up. Ever since he created the streaming policy, Singapore has more people graduating from University. It is important for our people to receive a good education because that will foresee our future. If the students in my batch are not hardworking and they do not study hard and get a certificate, the future for our next generation would not be a good one as most of us would not be able to find jobs. Hence, by creating the streaming policy, Dr Goh has opened a path for us to more jobs. Besides that, he had committed all his time in PAP, trying to help us make our country to become a better place. But still, if Mr S Rajaratnam had not founded the PAP together with him, I do not think that he will have the responsibilities of the many posts he had achieved, and thus come out with the various policies; hence, we need to thank Mr S Rajaratnam too.
-Deborah ( 8 )
1E5
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