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When Lee Kuan Yew became Prime Minister of Singapore in 1959, he set a trend that, simply because it came from him, had to be followed by his successors. This was the marking of a new premiership with a slogan. Under Lee Kuan Yew, it was ‘A Rugged Society’, under Goh Chok Tong, ‘A Gracious Society’, and under the present Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, ‘An Inclusive Society’.
Mr Lee not only set the trend for a national slogan, but its very form, that is, a short phrase comprising a noun for the total aggregate of the nation, its people and their national aspirations, preceded by an adjective that could change, depending on the preference of the new premier. Indeed, through the adjective he could announce to the people his specific goal for them and what he hoped to achieve during his term in office.
The ‘Rugged Society’ of Lee Kuan Yew was appropriate for an era when the society was going through its most trying times, and ruggedness, with all its correlates of toughness, discipline, resilience, perseverance and determination, was certainly called for. The frequently heard, stern exhortation those days was ‘Work hard, depend on yourself,’ followed by the grim reminder: ‘Nobody owes you a living’. There was no dearth of reminders. ‘If you don’t move forward, you’ll move backwards. And if you move backwards, you’ll go under.’
The image of the Rugged Society was provided by Mr Lee himself. In the newspapers and on TV, whether talking to the crowds, arguing in a debate, confronting adversaries, the image of Mr Lee’s aggressively thrusting jaw, frowning brow and pugnacious raised fist, became deeply imprinted in the people’s consciousness. It provoked awe, fear, admiration, and most of all trust. For Singaporeans could see that it was precisely Mr Lee’s living up to the austere demands embodied in his slogan that enabled him to solve the problems then plaguing the young nation, allowing the people to live and work in safe surroundings. Mr Lee began his task by cracking down on troublesome elements, namely the gangsters, Communist sympathisers, mischief-making racists and unruly trade unionists. Then having cleaned up the political and social environment, he went on to consider the basic needs of the people, providing subsidised, affordable housing with modern sanitation, schools and public amenities. Over the years, he took the city state, once so poor and vulnerable, from one level of material prosperity to another.
When the prosperity moved on to a non-material form, namely, culture, Mr Lee insisted on the need for culture of the rugged kind, coining the phrase ‘cultural ballast’ (ballast being the heavy substance such as gravel, lead or coarse stone placed on the outer surface of a ship’s hull to ensure stability) For a time, the coinage was taken up and passed around by the educated masses who never stopped admiring Mr Lee as the consummate wordsmith. All the while, he maintained his tough stance, coming down hard on those who opposed him and got in his way, especially his political critics. He never relinquished his knuckleduster.
But the Rugged Society had its costs which became evident with the rise of a new generation. Mr Lee must have realised that with the emergence of a younger, better educated population, a change of ruling style was necessary and in the 80′s, he was ready to have a successor. The new Prime Minister was Mr Goh Chok Tong (who, Mr Lee later revealed to a startled public, had never been his choice). As a leader, Mr Goh was completely different from Mr Lee in style and temperament. While Mr Lee was tough-talking and belligerent, Mr Goh was mild-mannered and urbane. More significantly, Mr Goh’s philosophy was totally different, as conveyed by his slogan, ‘A Gracious Society’.
Indeed, ‘gracious’ was a complete U-turn from ‘rugged’. The slogan emphasized the need for a society to acquire qualities that would have been decried in the earlier era as not only irrelevant but detrimental. When Mr Goh quoted the elder Mr George Bush’s promise of a ‘kinder, gentler society,’ Mr Lee must have been tempted to retort, ‘It was toughness and roughness that got us where we are!’ But the qualities Mr Goh advocated were of a much higher order on the human scale, including courtesy, considerateness and compassion, which Mr Goh must have considered as ultimately the true marks of a civilised and mature society.
They also included qualities of refinement of mind and manners, such as the love of reading and of the arts. Mr Goh had on more than one occasion bemoaned the absence of the reading habit in Singaporeans, compared to, say, the Japanese. Moreover, the reading preference of Singaporeans was a very narrow one, limited to material of a purely utilitarian and functional nature, or with low intellectual content, as shown by the predominance in bookshops of books on business and managerial skills, computer programs, trade manuals, sports and beauty magazines, gossip tabloids etc. Mr Goh called on Singaporeans to emulate the Swiss, the best example, in his opinion, of a highly civilised, urbane and cultured society, the best model of ‘gracious living’. In terms of the well-known Maslovian hierarchy of human needs, ranging in a pyramidal structure from the most fundamental at the base to the highest at the peak, Mr Goh’s values would have occupied the peak, far above Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s at the base.
Now many had wondered about the major slogan switch by Mr Goh. Was it a deliberate attempt to show his determination to be free of the powerful Mr Lee? After all, he could not have forgotten Mr Lee’s cutting remark that if he, Mr Lee, had had his way, Dr Tony Tan would have been his choice for premiership. Neither could he have forgotten all the ungenerous speculations during his term about how he was being just a transitional stand-in, a ‘seat warmer’ preparing the way for Mr Lee’s son, Lee Hsien Loong, to take over. It must have been a matter of pride, dignity and self-assertiveness for Mr Goh to come up with his particular slogan.
His successor Mr Lee Hsien Loong saw fit to make a significant change in the national slogan that would take it in a different direction. His...
http://catherinelim.sg/2014/11/06/a-new-national-slogan-for-singapores-50th-birthday/
Mr Lee not only set the trend for a national slogan, but its very form, that is, a short phrase comprising a noun for the total aggregate of the nation, its people and their national aspirations, preceded by an adjective that could change, depending on the preference of the new premier. Indeed, through the adjective he could announce to the people his specific goal for them and what he hoped to achieve during his term in office.
The ‘Rugged Society’ of Lee Kuan Yew was appropriate for an era when the society was going through its most trying times, and ruggedness, with all its correlates of toughness, discipline, resilience, perseverance and determination, was certainly called for. The frequently heard, stern exhortation those days was ‘Work hard, depend on yourself,’ followed by the grim reminder: ‘Nobody owes you a living’. There was no dearth of reminders. ‘If you don’t move forward, you’ll move backwards. And if you move backwards, you’ll go under.’
The image of the Rugged Society was provided by Mr Lee himself. In the newspapers and on TV, whether talking to the crowds, arguing in a debate, confronting adversaries, the image of Mr Lee’s aggressively thrusting jaw, frowning brow and pugnacious raised fist, became deeply imprinted in the people’s consciousness. It provoked awe, fear, admiration, and most of all trust. For Singaporeans could see that it was precisely Mr Lee’s living up to the austere demands embodied in his slogan that enabled him to solve the problems then plaguing the young nation, allowing the people to live and work in safe surroundings. Mr Lee began his task by cracking down on troublesome elements, namely the gangsters, Communist sympathisers, mischief-making racists and unruly trade unionists. Then having cleaned up the political and social environment, he went on to consider the basic needs of the people, providing subsidised, affordable housing with modern sanitation, schools and public amenities. Over the years, he took the city state, once so poor and vulnerable, from one level of material prosperity to another.
When the prosperity moved on to a non-material form, namely, culture, Mr Lee insisted on the need for culture of the rugged kind, coining the phrase ‘cultural ballast’ (ballast being the heavy substance such as gravel, lead or coarse stone placed on the outer surface of a ship’s hull to ensure stability) For a time, the coinage was taken up and passed around by the educated masses who never stopped admiring Mr Lee as the consummate wordsmith. All the while, he maintained his tough stance, coming down hard on those who opposed him and got in his way, especially his political critics. He never relinquished his knuckleduster.
But the Rugged Society had its costs which became evident with the rise of a new generation. Mr Lee must have realised that with the emergence of a younger, better educated population, a change of ruling style was necessary and in the 80′s, he was ready to have a successor. The new Prime Minister was Mr Goh Chok Tong (who, Mr Lee later revealed to a startled public, had never been his choice). As a leader, Mr Goh was completely different from Mr Lee in style and temperament. While Mr Lee was tough-talking and belligerent, Mr Goh was mild-mannered and urbane. More significantly, Mr Goh’s philosophy was totally different, as conveyed by his slogan, ‘A Gracious Society’.
Indeed, ‘gracious’ was a complete U-turn from ‘rugged’. The slogan emphasized the need for a society to acquire qualities that would have been decried in the earlier era as not only irrelevant but detrimental. When Mr Goh quoted the elder Mr George Bush’s promise of a ‘kinder, gentler society,’ Mr Lee must have been tempted to retort, ‘It was toughness and roughness that got us where we are!’ But the qualities Mr Goh advocated were of a much higher order on the human scale, including courtesy, considerateness and compassion, which Mr Goh must have considered as ultimately the true marks of a civilised and mature society.
They also included qualities of refinement of mind and manners, such as the love of reading and of the arts. Mr Goh had on more than one occasion bemoaned the absence of the reading habit in Singaporeans, compared to, say, the Japanese. Moreover, the reading preference of Singaporeans was a very narrow one, limited to material of a purely utilitarian and functional nature, or with low intellectual content, as shown by the predominance in bookshops of books on business and managerial skills, computer programs, trade manuals, sports and beauty magazines, gossip tabloids etc. Mr Goh called on Singaporeans to emulate the Swiss, the best example, in his opinion, of a highly civilised, urbane and cultured society, the best model of ‘gracious living’. In terms of the well-known Maslovian hierarchy of human needs, ranging in a pyramidal structure from the most fundamental at the base to the highest at the peak, Mr Goh’s values would have occupied the peak, far above Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s at the base.
Now many had wondered about the major slogan switch by Mr Goh. Was it a deliberate attempt to show his determination to be free of the powerful Mr Lee? After all, he could not have forgotten Mr Lee’s cutting remark that if he, Mr Lee, had had his way, Dr Tony Tan would have been his choice for premiership. Neither could he have forgotten all the ungenerous speculations during his term about how he was being just a transitional stand-in, a ‘seat warmer’ preparing the way for Mr Lee’s son, Lee Hsien Loong, to take over. It must have been a matter of pride, dignity and self-assertiveness for Mr Goh to come up with his particular slogan.
His successor Mr Lee Hsien Loong saw fit to make a significant change in the national slogan that would take it in a different direction. His...
http://catherinelim.sg/2014/11/06/a-new-national-slogan-for-singapores-50th-birthday/
