I took one at Ochard Tw, cost 300 for 1 shot.
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Was SG a Fishing Village Before FAP Traitors Took Over? Here is the Proof!
- Thread starter makapaaa
- Start date
I took one at Ochard Tw, cost 300 for 1 shot.
Singapore was NOT a fishing village in 1965
http://therealsingapore.com/content/history-singapore-101-we-were-not-fishing-village-1965
Mislabelling Singapore as a fishing village in 1965 is not only factually wrong, it also gives the PAP way too much credit for the kind of economic transformation they have delivered post-independence. What the PAP inherited in 1965 was a city that was already had very good infrastructure - from a well run civil service (police, education, hospitals etc), public utilities (water, electricity, drainage), a thriving port, a transport network (an excellent national road network complete with a public transport system), to a business community that had already achieved great success.
This was a process that started back in 1819 when Sir Stamford Raffles first landed in Singapore - that was when the story started, not 1965! Driven by the success of entrepôt trade, the port of Singapore was already one of the world's most prominent ports before WW2 - given its strategic position at the southern most point of mainland Asia, making it a natural place for ships to make a stop en route between East Asia (China, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Vietnam, Philippines etc) and India, the Middle East, Africa, Europe and beyond.
The key factor was in fact the building of the Suez Canal in Egypt. Once the Suez Canal opened in 1869, Singapore lay directly on the route from Europe to Asia. In the minds of the locals and the British Colonial Office, it had now become firmly anchored as an integral part of the British colonial chain in Asia.
What you can deliver depends so much on what you are given - let me give you an example. When I was serving national service, I gave private tuition to some students (a very Singaporean thing indeed). I had a whole range of students: from the RJC student who was determined to get a distinction for his Economics 'S' paper to the poor kid from a neighbourhood JC who was struggling to pass 'A' level Economics.
Needless to say, I had an easy time with that RJC student as we were having mostly philosophical debates about economics - he didn't need help really, he just needed someone to challenge him in a way to develop more innovative ways to approach the subject. Whereas with the neighbourhood JC kid, I did what I could but to no avail. The RJC student did get his 'S' paper distinction (he had brilliant results and went on to be a scholar) and the neighbourhood JC kid failed his economics exam - what is the conclusion? Depending on whom you ask, they will either tell you I was a great tuition teacher or an awful tuition teacher. Do you know what made the difference in those two students?
http://therealsingapore.com/content/history-singapore-101-we-were-not-fishing-village-1965
Mislabelling Singapore as a fishing village in 1965 is not only factually wrong, it also gives the PAP way too much credit for the kind of economic transformation they have delivered post-independence. What the PAP inherited in 1965 was a city that was already had very good infrastructure - from a well run civil service (police, education, hospitals etc), public utilities (water, electricity, drainage), a thriving port, a transport network (an excellent national road network complete with a public transport system), to a business community that had already achieved great success.
This was a process that started back in 1819 when Sir Stamford Raffles first landed in Singapore - that was when the story started, not 1965! Driven by the success of entrepôt trade, the port of Singapore was already one of the world's most prominent ports before WW2 - given its strategic position at the southern most point of mainland Asia, making it a natural place for ships to make a stop en route between East Asia (China, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Vietnam, Philippines etc) and India, the Middle East, Africa, Europe and beyond.
The key factor was in fact the building of the Suez Canal in Egypt. Once the Suez Canal opened in 1869, Singapore lay directly on the route from Europe to Asia. In the minds of the locals and the British Colonial Office, it had now become firmly anchored as an integral part of the British colonial chain in Asia.
What you can deliver depends so much on what you are given - let me give you an example. When I was serving national service, I gave private tuition to some students (a very Singaporean thing indeed). I had a whole range of students: from the RJC student who was determined to get a distinction for his Economics 'S' paper to the poor kid from a neighbourhood JC who was struggling to pass 'A' level Economics.
Needless to say, I had an easy time with that RJC student as we were having mostly philosophical debates about economics - he didn't need help really, he just needed someone to challenge him in a way to develop more innovative ways to approach the subject. Whereas with the neighbourhood JC kid, I did what I could but to no avail. The RJC student did get his 'S' paper distinction (he had brilliant results and went on to be a scholar) and the neighbourhood JC kid failed his economics exam - what is the conclusion? Depending on whom you ask, they will either tell you I was a great tuition teacher or an awful tuition teacher. Do you know what made the difference in those two students?
It Was The British That Brought Singapore From A Fishing Village To A Trading Port
[video=youtube;2K_oPjKOD1Q]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2K_oPjKOD1Q[/video]
Video Credit: Apple Daily
More info (in Chinese): http://hk.apple.nextmedia.com/realtime/news/20150323/53559369
Excerpt from http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lee_Kuan_Yew:
Repression, Sir is a habit that grows. I am told it is like making love-it is always easier the second time! The first time there may be pangs of conscience, a sense of guilt. But once embarked on this course with constant repetition you get more and more brazen in the attack. All you have to do is to dissolve organizations and societies and banish and detain the key political workers in these societies. Then miraculously everything is tranquil on the surface. Then an intimidated press and the government-controlled radio together can regularly sing your praises, and slowly and steadily the people are made to forget the evil things that have already been done, or if these things are referred to again they're conveniently distorted and distorted with impunity, because there will be no opposition to contradict.
- Lee Kuan Yew as an opposition PAP member speaking to David Marshall, Singapore Legislative Assembly, Debates, 4 October, 1956
[video=youtube;2K_oPjKOD1Q]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2K_oPjKOD1Q[/video]
Video Credit: Apple Daily
More info (in Chinese): http://hk.apple.nextmedia.com/realtime/news/20150323/53559369
Excerpt from http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lee_Kuan_Yew:
Repression, Sir is a habit that grows. I am told it is like making love-it is always easier the second time! The first time there may be pangs of conscience, a sense of guilt. But once embarked on this course with constant repetition you get more and more brazen in the attack. All you have to do is to dissolve organizations and societies and banish and detain the key political workers in these societies. Then miraculously everything is tranquil on the surface. Then an intimidated press and the government-controlled radio together can regularly sing your praises, and slowly and steadily the people are made to forget the evil things that have already been done, or if these things are referred to again they're conveniently distorted and distorted with impunity, because there will be no opposition to contradict.
- Lee Kuan Yew as an opposition PAP member speaking to David Marshall, Singapore Legislative Assembly, Debates, 4 October, 1956
Re: Singapore was NOT a fishing village in 1965
Areas where the Ang Mohs lived and worked were developed but the rest of the Island where sinkies lived was nothing more than swampland dotted with fishing villages.
I should know because I lived in one of those villages.
Areas where the Ang Mohs lived and worked were developed but the rest of the Island where sinkies lived was nothing more than swampland dotted with fishing villages.
I should know because I lived in one of those villages.
Re: Singapore was NOT a fishing village in 1965
before you moved to bedok, you were intrigued by the camera (not cameraman) at toa payoh village.
toa payoh in 1963.....
before you moved to bedok, you were intrigued by the camera (not cameraman) at toa payoh village.
toa payoh in 1963.....
Re: Singapore was NOT a fishing village in 1965
evidence of pap and lky goodness. before and after scenes of toa payoh with pap in power....all in the same pic in 1968. if the pap did not create hdb and started turning swamps to housing estates, sg would still resemble the filthy swarmpy kampongs in the foreground.
evidence of pap and lky goodness. before and after scenes of toa payoh with pap in power....all in the same pic in 1968. if the pap did not create hdb and started turning swamps to housing estates, sg would still resemble the filthy swarmpy kampongs in the foreground.
Re: Singapore was NOT a fishing village in 1965
Most expensive public housing in the world!!!!!
Most expensive public housing in the world!!!!!
A lot of infrastructure was already built by the british before pap
[h=1]A LOT OF INFRASTRUCTURE WAS ALREADY BUILT BY THE BRITISH BEFORE PAP[/h]
Post date:
24 Mar 2015 - 10:36pm
The history of modern water supply in Singapore began with the construction of the MacRitchie Reservoir, which was built by the British in 1868.
The Lower Peirce Reservoir and the Upper Seletar Reservoir were completed in 1910 and 1940 respectively, in order to supply the rapidly modernizing colonial city with sufficient water.
The construction of the Johor to Singapore causeway was completed in 28th June, 1924.
In 1927 the municipal commissioners of Singapore and Sultan Ibrahim of the state and territories of Johor in neighboring Malaya signed an agreement that allowed Singapore to rent land in Johor and use its water for free.
In 1932 a pipeline to transport the raw water to Singapore was inaugurated. Another pipeline was built to return a smaller quantity of treated water to Johor.
Most probably the writer was born in a migrant coolie ancestry living in a wooden squatter with zinc roof shed without any piped water other than a dug-up water well.
Unfortunately, this writer still has the inferior gene inherited from his coolie ancestry after so many generation.
All the necessary infrastructure in Singapore was mainly built by the British Colonial Master long before PAP was in power.
What PAP has done is to replaced it with new improvement as it move along, including your wooden squalor with concreted squalor.
This writer has eyes, yet cannot see.
He has ears, yet cannot hear.
And he has brain, yet cannot think.
Skull & Bones
*Comment appeared in: Without LKY, we’d be drinking water from dug-up wells!
[h=1]A LOT OF INFRASTRUCTURE WAS ALREADY BUILT BY THE BRITISH BEFORE PAP[/h]
Post date:
24 Mar 2015 - 10:36pm
The history of modern water supply in Singapore began with the construction of the MacRitchie Reservoir, which was built by the British in 1868.
The Lower Peirce Reservoir and the Upper Seletar Reservoir were completed in 1910 and 1940 respectively, in order to supply the rapidly modernizing colonial city with sufficient water.
The construction of the Johor to Singapore causeway was completed in 28th June, 1924.
In 1927 the municipal commissioners of Singapore and Sultan Ibrahim of the state and territories of Johor in neighboring Malaya signed an agreement that allowed Singapore to rent land in Johor and use its water for free.
In 1932 a pipeline to transport the raw water to Singapore was inaugurated. Another pipeline was built to return a smaller quantity of treated water to Johor.
Most probably the writer was born in a migrant coolie ancestry living in a wooden squatter with zinc roof shed without any piped water other than a dug-up water well.
Unfortunately, this writer still has the inferior gene inherited from his coolie ancestry after so many generation.
All the necessary infrastructure in Singapore was mainly built by the British Colonial Master long before PAP was in power.
What PAP has done is to replaced it with new improvement as it move along, including your wooden squalor with concreted squalor.
This writer has eyes, yet cannot see.
He has ears, yet cannot hear.
And he has brain, yet cannot think.
Skull & Bones
*Comment appeared in: Without LKY, we’d be drinking water from dug-up wells!
Re: A lot of infrastructure was already built by the british before pap
[h=2]Without LKY, we’d be drinking water from dug-up wells![/h]
March 23rd, 2015 |
Author: Contributions
I’m neither pro-PAP nor pro-opposition. My stand is that I would vote for the best man who stands in my constituency. Certainly, I won’t vote for opposition losers who have been rejected by voters multiple times, like a certain doctor from the university. These people are pretty thick skin if you ask me – already rejected by the people but still want to waste our time standing for election.
Reading the comments here, I can see a lot of biasness against Mr Lee Kuan Yew.
Mr Lee may not be perfect but certainly, he has helped build Singapore to what it is today.
Compare Singapore with our neighbouring countries, there are hardly any corruptions here. This we must thank Mr Lee for his steadfastness to keep Singapore clean. Remember Teh Chean Wan, a high-powered minister in Mr Lee’s cabinet? When it was found out that Teh was receiving corrupt money, Mr Lee did not cover up for his minister. He knew that prosecuting Teh will harm the image of the government but he still went ahead to investigate him. You can’t find this sort of character in leaders of our regional countries.
Yes, many of you say Mr Lee paid his ministers and himself millions of dollars. But don’t forget, this has been approved by our parliament, the highest authority in our country. Please don’t say our parliament rubber-stamp his decision because if the people don’t like it, the people could have voted the PAP MPs out. But the people did not. The people continue to have faith in PAP and Mr Lee, and successively voted in PAP in the 90s and 2000s.
Even in the last election, PAP was still able to obtain 60% votes, a big majority by Western standard. What does this show? It shows that the people are with Mr Lee and his party. The people have got no problem paying the ministers highly because the people know that this will help stamp out corruptions. The people who make noise are just the minorities like you guys here.
Next, if you want to talk about the economy, in terms of per capita GDP, we are the world’s number 3 according to IMF. We even beat countries like Norway, Switzerland, US, Germany, Australia and all other western nations, except Luxembourg.
In terms of current account balance as a percentage of GDP, we are top 10 in the world, also according to IMF. We even beat Switzerland. The countries ahead of us are from middle-east which produce oil. We have no natural resources and yet able to make it top 10.
These are very proud achievements which you guys cannot deny. They are hard and cold facts. Without Mr Lee, you think we could have arrive?
You people shouldn’t behave like ingrates. Go ask your parents and grandparents how they live in the 50s and 60s. Compare then and now. You cannot deny that life is better. You have HDB flat unlike last time when one whole family will squeeze into 1 room living in Kampong. Water had to come from wells. Today, you turn on the tap, water will simply flow out. Again, these are hard cold facts which you cannot deny.
Without Mr Lee and PAP, we won’t be here. We will still be drinking water from dug-up wells! :kma:
grateful citizen
[h=2]Without LKY, we’d be drinking water from dug-up wells![/h]
Reading the comments here, I can see a lot of biasness against Mr Lee Kuan Yew.
Mr Lee may not be perfect but certainly, he has helped build Singapore to what it is today.
Compare Singapore with our neighbouring countries, there are hardly any corruptions here. This we must thank Mr Lee for his steadfastness to keep Singapore clean. Remember Teh Chean Wan, a high-powered minister in Mr Lee’s cabinet? When it was found out that Teh was receiving corrupt money, Mr Lee did not cover up for his minister. He knew that prosecuting Teh will harm the image of the government but he still went ahead to investigate him. You can’t find this sort of character in leaders of our regional countries.
Yes, many of you say Mr Lee paid his ministers and himself millions of dollars. But don’t forget, this has been approved by our parliament, the highest authority in our country. Please don’t say our parliament rubber-stamp his decision because if the people don’t like it, the people could have voted the PAP MPs out. But the people did not. The people continue to have faith in PAP and Mr Lee, and successively voted in PAP in the 90s and 2000s.
Even in the last election, PAP was still able to obtain 60% votes, a big majority by Western standard. What does this show? It shows that the people are with Mr Lee and his party. The people have got no problem paying the ministers highly because the people know that this will help stamp out corruptions. The people who make noise are just the minorities like you guys here.
Next, if you want to talk about the economy, in terms of per capita GDP, we are the world’s number 3 according to IMF. We even beat countries like Norway, Switzerland, US, Germany, Australia and all other western nations, except Luxembourg.
In terms of current account balance as a percentage of GDP, we are top 10 in the world, also according to IMF. We even beat Switzerland. The countries ahead of us are from middle-east which produce oil. We have no natural resources and yet able to make it top 10.
These are very proud achievements which you guys cannot deny. They are hard and cold facts. Without Mr Lee, you think we could have arrive?
You people shouldn’t behave like ingrates. Go ask your parents and grandparents how they live in the 50s and 60s. Compare then and now. You cannot deny that life is better. You have HDB flat unlike last time when one whole family will squeeze into 1 room living in Kampong. Water had to come from wells. Today, you turn on the tap, water will simply flow out. Again, these are hard cold facts which you cannot deny.
Without Mr Lee and PAP, we won’t be here. We will still be drinking water from dug-up wells! :kma:
grateful citizen
Re: A lot of infrastructure was already built by the british before pap
Why don't UK MPs call Raffles the founding father then?
Why don't UK MPs call Raffles the founding father then?
Singapore was already a modern city in 1965. LKY said so.
After watching TV in the last 2 nights, I heard LKY's speech on 12 September 1965 that confirmed Singapore was already a modern city in 1965.
"Over 100 years ago, this was a m&d-flat, swamp. Today, this is a modern
city. Ten years from now, this will be a metropolis. Never fear."
http://www.nas.gov.sg/archivesonline/data/pdfdoc/lky19650912a.pdf
TRANSCRIPT OF A SPEECH MADE BY THE PRIME MINISTER,
MR. LEE KUAN YEW, AT THE SREE NARAYANA MISSION IN
SEMBAWANG ON 12TH SEPTEMBER, 1965.
Mr. Chairman, friends,
I want to say how delighted I am this morning to be able to join you in
presenting these scholarships to 10 students, $100/- each, and not only to Indian
students. The money probably came all from Indians because they are members
of your Mission but the scholarships are also being given to Malays and to
Chinese too.
It is these little gestures which make for harmony and understanding.
I remember reading not so long ago about some special scholarships they
were going to name after one of their leaders in Malaya, and they were going to
get everybody to contribute, but the scholarships were only for one group. It
makes life a rather difficult and trying business. But that is now no longer our
business: we cannot interfere. We mind our own affairs.
2
lky\1965\lky0912a.doc
But I say, neverthless, as Dr. Ismail has said in Canberra -- and he is a
honest man who said that one day these two territories will come back again, but
under very different circumstances and different conditions. And he was an
honest man to say that if Singapore remained in Malaysia, there would be
language and race riots in 1967. He said that -- I did not say that. He said that
and it was reported in Canberra. I got the newspapers sent back to me. Because
Singapore was setting the example in tolerance, multi-lingualism, multi-racialism;
a multi-regligious, multi-cultural society. And there are some people whose
grasp of history is somewhat limited and they are the people who shout these
slogans: " One race, one language, one religion"
It worries me. I think they ought to see the optician and put on their
glasses. Then they will know there are many races, racial groups, but one
nationality. I think they ought to see the ear specialist because obviously, their
ears are not hearing properly. Or, they will know that we speak many languages.
And they will know that today Sunday, Christians go to church: Friday, Malays
go to their mosques: Indians have Thaipusam, Deepavali and their ceremonial
occasions; so with Buddhists, so with Seventh Day Adventists, on a Saturday.
And what is wrong about that?
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lky\1965\lky0912a.doc
We will set the example. This country belongs to all of us. We made this
country from nothing, from m&d-flats. It is man, human skill, human effort which
made this possible. You came, you worked -- for yourselves, yes. But in the
process, your forefathers and my forefathers who came here: we built this
civilization.
It is one of the few cities in Asia where you can get anything you want.
You pick up the telephone: it works; and it not only works internally. You can
pick up the telephone and speak to Delhi, London, Tokyo, Canberra ---anywhere
you want. Do you think you can do that just by shouting slogans? You can get
the best in any of the hotels in meal. European food? You can get the best in
any one of the hotels in town. Chinese food? What kind do you like? There is
Cantonese, Hokkien and Teochew. Indian food? There are South Indian, North
Indian: anything you like. Malay food? You like Sumatran food, nasi padang?
Where else in the world can you get this?
And I say, we will progress. I was sad not because Singapore was going
to suffer: No. I was sad because by this separation, we could not help millions
of our own people, our own countrymen in Malaya, in Sabah and Sarawak to
progress with us. That was why I was sad. We could not help them any more.
4
lky\1965\lky0912a.doc
They have now got to help themselves. They have got to throw up their own
leaders and they have got to take a stand. We cannot interfere.
Here in Singapore, in ten years, Geyland Serai will be another and better
Queens town all the shacks will be demolished. I say that for Singapore because
I do not think Singapore is boasting when it says it can do it. It will do it. But do
you think in ten years, the kampongs in Malaya will have Queens towns? I do
not think so.
If you want that, then you must have the thrust, the ideas, the dynamism,
the push, the tolerance of each other. That is why I was sad for them who are
our people. Not just Chinese and Chinese, Indians and Indians. They are many
Malays here.
Half of our police force comes from Malaya. Their familes are left behind
there. They will be quartered; they will live in modern civilised conditions.
Their families will come down here and they will want to stay with them, and we
will have to say "No" because there is a limit to what we can absorb. We have
only got 214 square miles. It is a cruel thing to do this. But it has to be done,
some people wanted it this way. We could have helped them emerge, but it was
not be to be.
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lky\1965\lky0912a.doc
But I say to you : Here we make the model multi-racial society. This is
not a country that belongs to any single community: it belongs to all of us. You
helped built it; your fathers, your grandfathers helped build this, There was no
naval base here, and it is not the British who built it. It was your labour, your
father's labour which built that.. My (great) grandfather come here and built.
Yes, he came here looking for his fortune, but he stayed -- my grandfather was
born here.
Over 100 years ago, this was a m&d-flat, swamp. Today, this is a modern
city. Ten years from now, this will be a metropolis. Never fear.[/B]
Some people think that just because we are a small place, they can put the
screws on us. It is not so easy. We are a small place in size, and geography.
But in the quality of the men, the administration, the organisation, the mettle in a
people, the fibre therefore, don't try. That is why we got booted out. If they
could have just squeezed us like an orange and squeezed the juice out, I think the
juice would have been squeezed out of us, and all the goodness would have been
sucked away. But it was a bit harder, wasn't it? It was more like the durian.
You try and squeeze it, your hand gets hurt. And so they say, "Right, throw out
the durain." But inside the durian is a very useful ingredient, high protein. And
we will progress.
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lky\1965\lky0912a.doc
40 percent more than 40 percent of the purchasing power of the whole of
Malaysia is in Singapore. We may be 20% of the population of Malaysia, but
purchasing power, the capacity to buy goods like microphone, clocks, drinks,
fans, lights, television, transistors: the money is here because here they work.
And if people do not want that 40% -- 44% market -- well, that is their business.
We want to open the market with them, buy if they do not want it we will make
our own soap ... We are buying soap from Petaling Jaya: Lux. You know, it is
always advertised on TV: Lever Brothers. It is no harm, we buy the soap: It is
good for them; it is good for us. We can make motor-cars together for the whole
of Malaysia. And never forget, if it came to the point then Lever brothers may
have to set up a soap factory here, because after all, nearly half the sales are in
Singapore.
You ask the Straits Times: what percentage of their newspaper is sold in
Singapore? True, we are only two-million. But we have the highest literacy rate
in the whole of Asia. Nearly half of Straits Times, if not more, is sold here.
Here, everybody buys a copy. There, may be one kampong buys one copy and
everybody looks at it. It is true. We are talking now in terms of hard cash; the
hard facts of life. And if people wants to be hard to us, then we have got it
survive. And we can keep this market to ourselves. But this is all shortsighted.
Let us throw our eyes over the horizon into the future. What does our Dr. Ismail
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say: This will come back again. But under very different circumstances and
different conditions.
You know and I know that anybody who says, "Go back to Malaysia on
the same circumstances". Will be called a lunatic; isn't it? We were patient; we
were tolerant. We put with it hoping that they would see the light. But we had
to be firm. We could not give in. So, as a result we are out.
History is a long process of attrition. It will go on. And one day, it will
come back together. You see, this is not like a map and you can take a pair of
scissors and cut off Singapore and then take it and paste it in the South Pacific
and forget about it. It is not possible. This is part of the mainland of the
continent of Asia. And that Causeway .... You know, the Japanese blew it up;
it was still rebuilt. It is part of history; and you are part of history. You are part
of this place as much as I am; as much as Inche Othman Wok, my colleague, is;
and I say that is the way it will be in the end.
Finally, may I congratulate you for having made progress since I last
visited your mission in 1963, and especially commend you for having made a
symbolic gesture in giving scholarships not just to Indians. But Indians who
8
lky\1965\lky0912a.doc
contributed to the Narayana Mission took this money and gave it to Malay and
Chinese students as well. In that way, we must prosper.
And I guarantee you this: there will be a Constitution which we will get
re-drawn in which minority rights .... You know, it is very easy in Singapore for
people to stand up and if you talk, "One race, one language, one religion," there
will be a lot trouble, you know. We do not want that sort of thing. That is
stupidity. So we are going to get the Chief Justice of India, Australia, New
Zealand and a few others together with our own Chief Justice and a few of our
eminent lawyers to draft "entrenched" clauses .... You know, "entrenched": no
government can just cancel the clauses. Entrenched, and enforcible.
If anybody thinks he is being discriminated against either for a flat or a
scholarship or a job or for social welfare relief because of race, or language or
religion, he can go to the court, take out a writ; and if he proves that it was
because of discrimination on the ground of race, language, religion, culture, then
the court will have to enforce the Constitution and ensure minority rights.
We are an equal society. You are equal to me; I am equal to you. Nobody
is more equal than others. In some places, they say, "we are all equal." But what
they mean is they are more equal, you see -- which makes life very difficult. But
9
lky\1965\lky0912a.doc
here, when we say "equal", we really mean it. We do not have to do it in
Singapore. But we are thinking in terms of 100, 200 years, 1,000 years. You
must help them emerge. And there is only one way: education and economist
thrust.
And with those words, I wish you all peace, prosperity in Singapore.
Thank you.
After watching TV in the last 2 nights, I heard LKY's speech on 12 September 1965 that confirmed Singapore was already a modern city in 1965.
"Over 100 years ago, this was a m&d-flat, swamp. Today, this is a modern
city. Ten years from now, this will be a metropolis. Never fear."
http://www.nas.gov.sg/archivesonline/data/pdfdoc/lky19650912a.pdf
TRANSCRIPT OF A SPEECH MADE BY THE PRIME MINISTER,
MR. LEE KUAN YEW, AT THE SREE NARAYANA MISSION IN
SEMBAWANG ON 12TH SEPTEMBER, 1965.
Mr. Chairman, friends,
I want to say how delighted I am this morning to be able to join you in
presenting these scholarships to 10 students, $100/- each, and not only to Indian
students. The money probably came all from Indians because they are members
of your Mission but the scholarships are also being given to Malays and to
Chinese too.
It is these little gestures which make for harmony and understanding.
I remember reading not so long ago about some special scholarships they
were going to name after one of their leaders in Malaya, and they were going to
get everybody to contribute, but the scholarships were only for one group. It
makes life a rather difficult and trying business. But that is now no longer our
business: we cannot interfere. We mind our own affairs.
2
lky\1965\lky0912a.doc
But I say, neverthless, as Dr. Ismail has said in Canberra -- and he is a
honest man who said that one day these two territories will come back again, but
under very different circumstances and different conditions. And he was an
honest man to say that if Singapore remained in Malaysia, there would be
language and race riots in 1967. He said that -- I did not say that. He said that
and it was reported in Canberra. I got the newspapers sent back to me. Because
Singapore was setting the example in tolerance, multi-lingualism, multi-racialism;
a multi-regligious, multi-cultural society. And there are some people whose
grasp of history is somewhat limited and they are the people who shout these
slogans: " One race, one language, one religion"
It worries me. I think they ought to see the optician and put on their
glasses. Then they will know there are many races, racial groups, but one
nationality. I think they ought to see the ear specialist because obviously, their
ears are not hearing properly. Or, they will know that we speak many languages.
And they will know that today Sunday, Christians go to church: Friday, Malays
go to their mosques: Indians have Thaipusam, Deepavali and their ceremonial
occasions; so with Buddhists, so with Seventh Day Adventists, on a Saturday.
And what is wrong about that?
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We will set the example. This country belongs to all of us. We made this
country from nothing, from m&d-flats. It is man, human skill, human effort which
made this possible. You came, you worked -- for yourselves, yes. But in the
process, your forefathers and my forefathers who came here: we built this
civilization.
It is one of the few cities in Asia where you can get anything you want.
You pick up the telephone: it works; and it not only works internally. You can
pick up the telephone and speak to Delhi, London, Tokyo, Canberra ---anywhere
you want. Do you think you can do that just by shouting slogans? You can get
the best in any of the hotels in meal. European food? You can get the best in
any one of the hotels in town. Chinese food? What kind do you like? There is
Cantonese, Hokkien and Teochew. Indian food? There are South Indian, North
Indian: anything you like. Malay food? You like Sumatran food, nasi padang?
Where else in the world can you get this?
And I say, we will progress. I was sad not because Singapore was going
to suffer: No. I was sad because by this separation, we could not help millions
of our own people, our own countrymen in Malaya, in Sabah and Sarawak to
progress with us. That was why I was sad. We could not help them any more.
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They have now got to help themselves. They have got to throw up their own
leaders and they have got to take a stand. We cannot interfere.
Here in Singapore, in ten years, Geyland Serai will be another and better
Queens town all the shacks will be demolished. I say that for Singapore because
I do not think Singapore is boasting when it says it can do it. It will do it. But do
you think in ten years, the kampongs in Malaya will have Queens towns? I do
not think so.
If you want that, then you must have the thrust, the ideas, the dynamism,
the push, the tolerance of each other. That is why I was sad for them who are
our people. Not just Chinese and Chinese, Indians and Indians. They are many
Malays here.
Half of our police force comes from Malaya. Their familes are left behind
there. They will be quartered; they will live in modern civilised conditions.
Their families will come down here and they will want to stay with them, and we
will have to say "No" because there is a limit to what we can absorb. We have
only got 214 square miles. It is a cruel thing to do this. But it has to be done,
some people wanted it this way. We could have helped them emerge, but it was
not be to be.
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But I say to you : Here we make the model multi-racial society. This is
not a country that belongs to any single community: it belongs to all of us. You
helped built it; your fathers, your grandfathers helped build this, There was no
naval base here, and it is not the British who built it. It was your labour, your
father's labour which built that.. My (great) grandfather come here and built.
Yes, he came here looking for his fortune, but he stayed -- my grandfather was
born here.
Over 100 years ago, this was a m&d-flat, swamp. Today, this is a modern
city. Ten years from now, this will be a metropolis. Never fear.[/B]
Some people think that just because we are a small place, they can put the
screws on us. It is not so easy. We are a small place in size, and geography.
But in the quality of the men, the administration, the organisation, the mettle in a
people, the fibre therefore, don't try. That is why we got booted out. If they
could have just squeezed us like an orange and squeezed the juice out, I think the
juice would have been squeezed out of us, and all the goodness would have been
sucked away. But it was a bit harder, wasn't it? It was more like the durian.
You try and squeeze it, your hand gets hurt. And so they say, "Right, throw out
the durain." But inside the durian is a very useful ingredient, high protein. And
we will progress.
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40 percent more than 40 percent of the purchasing power of the whole of
Malaysia is in Singapore. We may be 20% of the population of Malaysia, but
purchasing power, the capacity to buy goods like microphone, clocks, drinks,
fans, lights, television, transistors: the money is here because here they work.
And if people do not want that 40% -- 44% market -- well, that is their business.
We want to open the market with them, buy if they do not want it we will make
our own soap ... We are buying soap from Petaling Jaya: Lux. You know, it is
always advertised on TV: Lever Brothers. It is no harm, we buy the soap: It is
good for them; it is good for us. We can make motor-cars together for the whole
of Malaysia. And never forget, if it came to the point then Lever brothers may
have to set up a soap factory here, because after all, nearly half the sales are in
Singapore.
You ask the Straits Times: what percentage of their newspaper is sold in
Singapore? True, we are only two-million. But we have the highest literacy rate
in the whole of Asia. Nearly half of Straits Times, if not more, is sold here.
Here, everybody buys a copy. There, may be one kampong buys one copy and
everybody looks at it. It is true. We are talking now in terms of hard cash; the
hard facts of life. And if people wants to be hard to us, then we have got it
survive. And we can keep this market to ourselves. But this is all shortsighted.
Let us throw our eyes over the horizon into the future. What does our Dr. Ismail
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say: This will come back again. But under very different circumstances and
different conditions.
You know and I know that anybody who says, "Go back to Malaysia on
the same circumstances". Will be called a lunatic; isn't it? We were patient; we
were tolerant. We put with it hoping that they would see the light. But we had
to be firm. We could not give in. So, as a result we are out.
History is a long process of attrition. It will go on. And one day, it will
come back together. You see, this is not like a map and you can take a pair of
scissors and cut off Singapore and then take it and paste it in the South Pacific
and forget about it. It is not possible. This is part of the mainland of the
continent of Asia. And that Causeway .... You know, the Japanese blew it up;
it was still rebuilt. It is part of history; and you are part of history. You are part
of this place as much as I am; as much as Inche Othman Wok, my colleague, is;
and I say that is the way it will be in the end.
Finally, may I congratulate you for having made progress since I last
visited your mission in 1963, and especially commend you for having made a
symbolic gesture in giving scholarships not just to Indians. But Indians who
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contributed to the Narayana Mission took this money and gave it to Malay and
Chinese students as well. In that way, we must prosper.
And I guarantee you this: there will be a Constitution which we will get
re-drawn in which minority rights .... You know, it is very easy in Singapore for
people to stand up and if you talk, "One race, one language, one religion," there
will be a lot trouble, you know. We do not want that sort of thing. That is
stupidity. So we are going to get the Chief Justice of India, Australia, New
Zealand and a few others together with our own Chief Justice and a few of our
eminent lawyers to draft "entrenched" clauses .... You know, "entrenched": no
government can just cancel the clauses. Entrenched, and enforcible.
If anybody thinks he is being discriminated against either for a flat or a
scholarship or a job or for social welfare relief because of race, or language or
religion, he can go to the court, take out a writ; and if he proves that it was
because of discrimination on the ground of race, language, religion, culture, then
the court will have to enforce the Constitution and ensure minority rights.
We are an equal society. You are equal to me; I am equal to you. Nobody
is more equal than others. In some places, they say, "we are all equal." But what
they mean is they are more equal, you see -- which makes life very difficult. But
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here, when we say "equal", we really mean it. We do not have to do it in
Singapore. But we are thinking in terms of 100, 200 years, 1,000 years. You
must help them emerge. And there is only one way: education and economist
thrust.
And with those words, I wish you all peace, prosperity in Singapore.
Thank you.
Re: Singapore was already a modern city in 1965. LKY said so.
Yes the city area was modern because that is where the Ang Mohs worked and played. After all they were the ruling elite of the day.
However Singaporeans were not so lucky. They lived in swampland and fishing villages. I should know because I lived in one of those villages.
Yes the city area was modern because that is where the Ang Mohs worked and played. After all they were the ruling elite of the day.
However Singaporeans were not so lucky. They lived in swampland and fishing villages. I should know because I lived in one of those villages.
Re: Singapore was already a modern city in 1965. LKY said so.
i remember sg was mostly undeveloped when i was young. this memory is from the many field excursions we took while we were still pre-puberty.
i remember sg was mostly undeveloped when i was young. this memory is from the many field excursions we took while we were still pre-puberty.
Re: Singapore was already a modern city in 1965. LKY said so.
Yes the whole area surrounding my fishing village was nothing but swampland.
Yes the whole area surrounding my fishing village was nothing but swampland.
Re: Singapore was already a modern city in 1965. LKY said so.
Boss, Telok Kurau area not that bad in the 50s and 60s lah... The Grand Hotel, St Pats, KC at Martia road, those sea side bungalows... Swampland? Mai lai lah...
Boss, Telok Kurau area not that bad in the 50s and 60s lah... The Grand Hotel, St Pats, KC at Martia road, those sea side bungalows... Swampland? Mai lai lah...