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http://meltwaternews.com/prerobot/s...times.com//Insight/Story/STIStory_520797.html
AS A young seamen welfare officer more than 50 years ago, President S R Nathan was nearly sacked by then Finance Minister Goh Keng Swee over a complaint from a sailor.
A run-in with Mr Lim Chin Siong, then Political Secretary to the Minister for Finance, over yet another issue raised by a sailor depressed him so much that he wanted to quit his job.
His traumatic moments with the newly elected People's Action Party (PAP) Government and the trying encounters with seafarers, gangsters, trade unionists and communists are the stuff that his first book is made up of.
Launched on Tuesday, the 120-page book titled Why Am I Here? is an intensely personal account of his work as a seamen welfare officer from 1956 to 1962.
During those six years, Mr Nathan was what in today's context would be called a social worker helping trouble-stricken sailors and port workers.
At a press conference at the Istana last week, Mr Nathan disclosed that he chose to write on this particular episode in his life because it was the first challenge of his career.
'I went into an area in which nobody had worked before. I had no brief. I had to create my own brief,' he said.
In his book, he recounted how he received an urgent request to meet then Chief Minister David Marshall at his office in Fullerton Building one afternoon.
Mr Nathan, who was working as an almoner or medical social worker at the time, thought he was to be punished for a possible complaint from a member of the public.
Recalling his response when he was offered the job of seamen welfare officer, he wrote: 'Somewhat dumbstruck, I managed only to say that I would be happy to do so, if the Chief Minister so wished.'
Until today, he could only guess why Mr Marshall, who headed the Labour Front government, had picked him for the job.
The only reason that came to mind: a dissertation he wrote on the nature and extent of problems faced by seamen in Singapore for his diploma in social studies at the University of Malaya based in Singapore.
Mr Nathan was among the university's pioneer batch of social work students when he started on the course in 1952 at the age of 28.
Before that, he had studied for the equivalent of the A levels on his own while holding down a job. He attended Anglo-Chinese Primary and Middle School as well as Victoria School.
Born in Singapore, the young Mr Nathan spent his childhood in Muar, Johor, where his father worked as a lawyer's clerk in a firm that serviced rubber plantations. The family returned to Singapore when his father lost his job during the rubber slump of the 1930s.
When he was eight, his father killed himself. At 16, he left home after a quarrel with his mother and went back to Muar where he worked as a clerk. Then war broke out. Because he picked up Japanese quickly, he became a translator for the Japanese civilian police.
Rough diamonds
WHEN Mr Nathan started his new job at the Marine Department, he discovered to his horror that neither his superiors nor the seamen he was to serve had any idea what his role was to be.
He did not even know which particular group of seamen he was supposed to serve. All he knew was that he was supposed to help seafarers and look after those needing social welfare or medical help.
It turned out to be an eye-opening experience for the 32-year-old Mr Nathan as many of the seamen were uneducated and often crude in their manners.
Most did not speak English so his clerk had to double up as a translator of Chinese dialects. They were so used to standing while addressing their superiors that the seamen had to be coaxed to sit while narrating their problems to him.
Describing them affectionately as 'rough diamonds', he said that they would look after their own kind with fierce devotion, noting that it was common for them to allot a percentage of their monthly pay to the family of a dead seaman.
'I know of instances where fellow seamen who had never known the family, never known the wife, never known the children, would make an allotment for an unknown family just because they've been working together. So it's a very strong bond they had,' he said.
He recalled that many foreign seamen fell seriously ill in Singapore and had no money to get home, while some died alone here. Then there were those who were exploited by the ship owners - wrongfully discharged, not paid their wages and subjected to bad treatment.
In penning their plight in his book, Mr Nathan said he hopes that his readers will learn how formidable human problems can be and how important it is for people to show compassion and concern.
'I'm sure in daily life there are many such happenings. We come across them directly and indirectly... and if possible, we should give them a helping hand,' he said.
Chaplain's advice
WHEN the PAP came to power in 1959, he ran into difficulties with the party's minions whom he described as 'a law unto themselves'.
These PAP functionaries would actively solicit for complaints from seamen with unresolved problems and raise them with Cabinet ministers or political secretaries.
It was one such incident that almost got him sacked by Mr Goh Keng Swee.
A local crew member had been dismissed by a Swedish vessel over discipline issues. When Mr Nathan failed to get the Swedish consul-general to overturn the discharge, the legendary finance minister wanted him dismissed.
'The minister became agitated alleging that I had not been forceful enough. What he failed to see was that neither the Singapore government nor I had the jurisdiction in a matter where the sole authority lay with the consul-general,' he wrote.
'Foreign relations was outside the purview of the Singapore colonial government, as the British government in Singapore was responsible for Singapore's external relations.'
Such were his trials and tribulations during the early years of the PAP Government that he almost called it quits over another incident.
A young seaman with an unreasonable demand had complained about him to Mr Lim Chin Siong, then Political Secretary to the Minister for Finance. Mr Lim was the leftist leader who later broke ranks with the PAP to form Barisan Sosialis.
Depressed, he made plans for his departure from the civil service. 'I seriously felt it was best to find something else to do, where my contribution would be better appreciated. As I was already married and my wife had an income, I thought I could take a risk... I seriously felt that I was doing a thankless job.'
But he changed his mind when Father Fox, a Catholic chaplain from the Maris Stella Missions to Seamen and a regular visitor to his office, walked in by chance.
After listening to Mr Nathan's woes, the chaplain asked: 'Have you ever asked yourself why you are here?'
Then he explained: 'Over the period that you have worked in this job, how many have walked through that door, relieved that you had solved their problem or helped them face their difficulties?
'Perhaps they have not shown their gratitude but in their heart of hearts they would have left in the belief that there was someone like you to turn to in times of need.'
Because of that little speech from Father Fox, many a time in the course of his long career, Mr Nathan would ask himself: 'Why am I here?' The question meant so much to him that he chose it for the title of his book.
Fortunately, his troubles with PAP government officials did not last long.
'The initial period was difficult not because of the leaders but because of the underlings who probably wanted to be more revolutionary than their bosses. But after a time, we all knew that there were difficulties even within the Government. All that changed within the first year.'
Mr Nathan left the job three years later in 1962, and joined the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) as the assistant director of its research unit.
He spent four years with the labour movement and then went on to various jobs including being the First Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, executive chairman of Straits Times Press, High Commissioner to Malaysia, Ambassador to the United States, director of the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies and Ambassador-at-large. In September 1999, he became the President of Singapore.
One of the highlights of his years as a civil servant was his role in the handling of terrorists who hijacked the passenger ferry Laju in 1974, after they failed to blow up oil tanks on Pulau Bukom. Mr Nathan, then the director of the Defence Ministry's Security and Intelligence Department, helped to negotiate the successful release of the hostages.
In 1994, as Singapore's Ambassador to the United States, he appeared on the Larry King Live show to speak about the caning of American Michael Fay for vandalism. Amid much criticism from the American public, Mr Nathan stoutly defended Singapore's stand.
So what's next on his plate?
Mr Nathan chose not to reveal too much, except for his plans to write a second book - this time on his work at the NTUC, which he also described as one of the most satisfying points in his career.
When asked if he would pen his memoirs, he replied: 'Well, I hope to some day. But you must remember this: A lot of people write to rewrite history. Whether they're intellectually honest in their rewriting of history, it's very important for you to distinguish the two. You'll get many stories saying how they were chasing some big ideals and so on.
'So it's very important that when people write history, you question their motives, their intellectual honesty, and against the reality of history.'
Mr Nathan's book is available at the NUS Co-Op bookstore at $29.90.
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