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Coffeeshop Chit Chat - MM: Whoever joins us, is part of us woh</TD><TD id=msgunetc noWrap align=right> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=msgtable cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="96%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=msg vAlign=top><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgbfr1 width="1%"> </TD><TD><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead vAlign=top><TD class=msgF width="1%" noWrap align=right>From: </TD><TD class=msgFname width="68%" noWrap>kojakbt89 <NOBR></NOBR> </TD><TD class=msgDate width="30%" noWrap align=right>12:15 am </TD></TR><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgT height=20 width="1%" noWrap align=right>To: </TD><TD class=msgTname width="68%" noWrap>ALL <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgNum noWrap align=right> (1 of 3) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgleft rowSpan=4 width="1%"> </TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>43399.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgtxt>Jan 16, 2011
ON BEING SINGAPOREAN
Whoever joins us, is part of us
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Q You described Singapore as a nation in transition, given its young history where we do not have a common language, culture or geography. What must Singapore be like before you consider it a nation?
There must be a sense of self, a sense of identity, that you are prepared to die for your country, that you're prepared to die for one another. Just look at the Chinese, how many times they've been invaded, but they have re-created themselves when the invaders got weak because there is that cohesiveness: same language, same culture and the same Han race.
Are we the same language, same culture? No. We have adopted one language which is a foreign language, like the West Indies or some African countries which have adopted English but they are not one nation. If we lose our second language, we lose all sense of our identity, not just the Singaporean. You don't create a nation in 45 years.
Q Is there a worry that the influx of foreigners into Singapore will further dilute the national identity we're trying to build?
Maybe, but what's the choice? I keep on saying to Singaporeans, please have two children at least, if possible three. They have not responded.
Q At the risk of sounding sentimental, is there anything emotional about being Singaporean?
I went to Perth and met the Singaporeans who have settled there. They fondly remember Singapore. The man who organised the gathering has kept his son's passport as insurance. The son graduated from a university in Perth and was working as an accountant for one of the big firms. I said, 'Why do you keep the Singapore citizenship?' He said, 'Well, he went back to do his NS, he wants to make sure he's got an alternative in case there's a downturn here.'
He came back and did his NS, but his family is there. If he marries an Australian girl, if they're jobless there, he'll bring his Australian wife here. Supposing Perth became dry, with climate change, they may decide to come back. We are in a world of transition. The old patterns no longer hold.
Q What constitutes the Singapore identity? How would you pick out a Singaporean in a crowd?
My definition of a Singaporean, which will make us different from any others, is that we accept that whoever joins us is part of us. And that's an American concept. You can keep your name, Brzezinski, Berlusconi, whatever it is, you have come, join me, you are American. We need talent, we accept them. That must be our defining attribute.
If we don't have that attribute, are we going to have only those who are like us, Chinese from China like us? Indians from India like us? Malays from Malaysia are different from us now. In time, people from China, India or elsewhere come here, they change. That's a defining attribute. English will be our working language, and you keep your mother tongue. It may not be as good as your English but if you need to do business with China or India or Malaysia or Indonesia, you can ramp it up.
Q Many Americans are willing to die for their country, which they believe is a land of opportunity for people of all kinds. Is that how you see Singapore?
No, it's more than that. This is a near miracle. When you come in, you are joining an exceptionally outstanding organisation. It's not an ordinary organisation that has created this. You're joining something very special. It came about by a stroke of luck, if you like, plus hard work, plus an imaginative, original team. And I think we can carry on. Singapore can only stay secure and stable, provided it's outstanding.
Q When you were growing up, you were first a British subject, then a Japanese subject and then you were Malayan. At what point did you see yourself as a Singaporean and what does being Singaporean mean to you?
I'm not a typical Singaporean. Accidentally I created this entity called Singapore and it resulted in the Singaporean. I grew up, yes, as a British subject. My father was working first in Singapore.
My grandfather was a purser onboard Heap Eng Mo Shipping Line, belonging to Java's Sugar King Oei Tiong Ham, and he became the agent and power of attorney in Singapore. He made a fortune out of trade. He married my grandmother in Semarang and brought her here. My father was born in Semarang. As a child, he was brought here. Because his father was a British subject, he was born a British subject.
So when I was a child in Neil Road, which was then a posh area, we had Javanese servants in the house because they're harder working than the Malays. My grandmother spoke Javanese. Did I consider myself a Singaporean? No.
Then my father worked for Shell and he was sent to Johor and Batu Pahat and Kuantan. During school holidays, I used to go up, and you know, in those days, it was all one administration. You just drove through in a car, no customs, no immigration. I thought of myself as a Malayan.
But the Malays in Malaysia did not think of the Chinese and the Indians as belonging to Malaya. You are orang tumpangan, lodgers, so we can be turfed out. When we got turfed out, we had to create a Singapore identity. You've asked me what are the key attributes, I said those are the basic attributes. Without those attributes, Singapore cannot survive. If we are at odds with each other, we won't survive.
Q So in the beginning, being Singaporean was a conscious choice, a decision. At what point did that move from the head to the heart?
I cannot psychoanalyse myself that way. All I know is that we were put in circumstances that required us to identify ourselves as Singaporean. We became Singaporeans when the Malaysians put up the immigration and customs at the Causeway, and we had to do likewise. You had to show your identity card. Before that, you just passed through.
In a way, we welcomed it. Otherwise, the whole of the Malayan Railway land would be flooded with Malay squatters. Jobs here paid higher. That's how history is made. We were dealt this pack of cards. We must make the best of it. We've not done too badly.
<HR SIZE=1 width="50%">Something special
This is a near miracle. When you come in, you are joining an exceptionally outstanding organisation... It came about by a stroke of luck, if you like, plus hard work, plus an imaginative, original team. And I think we can carry on. Singapore can only stay secure and stable, provided it's outstanding.
MM LEE, on why Singapore is more than just a land of opportunity
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ON BEING SINGAPOREAN
Whoever joins us, is part of us
<!-- by line --><!-- end by line -->
<!-- end left side bar --><!-- story content : start -->
Q You described Singapore as a nation in transition, given its young history where we do not have a common language, culture or geography. What must Singapore be like before you consider it a nation?
There must be a sense of self, a sense of identity, that you are prepared to die for your country, that you're prepared to die for one another. Just look at the Chinese, how many times they've been invaded, but they have re-created themselves when the invaders got weak because there is that cohesiveness: same language, same culture and the same Han race.
Are we the same language, same culture? No. We have adopted one language which is a foreign language, like the West Indies or some African countries which have adopted English but they are not one nation. If we lose our second language, we lose all sense of our identity, not just the Singaporean. You don't create a nation in 45 years.
Q Is there a worry that the influx of foreigners into Singapore will further dilute the national identity we're trying to build?
Maybe, but what's the choice? I keep on saying to Singaporeans, please have two children at least, if possible three. They have not responded.
Q At the risk of sounding sentimental, is there anything emotional about being Singaporean?
I went to Perth and met the Singaporeans who have settled there. They fondly remember Singapore. The man who organised the gathering has kept his son's passport as insurance. The son graduated from a university in Perth and was working as an accountant for one of the big firms. I said, 'Why do you keep the Singapore citizenship?' He said, 'Well, he went back to do his NS, he wants to make sure he's got an alternative in case there's a downturn here.'
He came back and did his NS, but his family is there. If he marries an Australian girl, if they're jobless there, he'll bring his Australian wife here. Supposing Perth became dry, with climate change, they may decide to come back. We are in a world of transition. The old patterns no longer hold.
Q What constitutes the Singapore identity? How would you pick out a Singaporean in a crowd?
My definition of a Singaporean, which will make us different from any others, is that we accept that whoever joins us is part of us. And that's an American concept. You can keep your name, Brzezinski, Berlusconi, whatever it is, you have come, join me, you are American. We need talent, we accept them. That must be our defining attribute.
If we don't have that attribute, are we going to have only those who are like us, Chinese from China like us? Indians from India like us? Malays from Malaysia are different from us now. In time, people from China, India or elsewhere come here, they change. That's a defining attribute. English will be our working language, and you keep your mother tongue. It may not be as good as your English but if you need to do business with China or India or Malaysia or Indonesia, you can ramp it up.
Q Many Americans are willing to die for their country, which they believe is a land of opportunity for people of all kinds. Is that how you see Singapore?
No, it's more than that. This is a near miracle. When you come in, you are joining an exceptionally outstanding organisation. It's not an ordinary organisation that has created this. You're joining something very special. It came about by a stroke of luck, if you like, plus hard work, plus an imaginative, original team. And I think we can carry on. Singapore can only stay secure and stable, provided it's outstanding.
Q When you were growing up, you were first a British subject, then a Japanese subject and then you were Malayan. At what point did you see yourself as a Singaporean and what does being Singaporean mean to you?
I'm not a typical Singaporean. Accidentally I created this entity called Singapore and it resulted in the Singaporean. I grew up, yes, as a British subject. My father was working first in Singapore.
My grandfather was a purser onboard Heap Eng Mo Shipping Line, belonging to Java's Sugar King Oei Tiong Ham, and he became the agent and power of attorney in Singapore. He made a fortune out of trade. He married my grandmother in Semarang and brought her here. My father was born in Semarang. As a child, he was brought here. Because his father was a British subject, he was born a British subject.
So when I was a child in Neil Road, which was then a posh area, we had Javanese servants in the house because they're harder working than the Malays. My grandmother spoke Javanese. Did I consider myself a Singaporean? No.
Then my father worked for Shell and he was sent to Johor and Batu Pahat and Kuantan. During school holidays, I used to go up, and you know, in those days, it was all one administration. You just drove through in a car, no customs, no immigration. I thought of myself as a Malayan.
But the Malays in Malaysia did not think of the Chinese and the Indians as belonging to Malaya. You are orang tumpangan, lodgers, so we can be turfed out. When we got turfed out, we had to create a Singapore identity. You've asked me what are the key attributes, I said those are the basic attributes. Without those attributes, Singapore cannot survive. If we are at odds with each other, we won't survive.
Q So in the beginning, being Singaporean was a conscious choice, a decision. At what point did that move from the head to the heart?
I cannot psychoanalyse myself that way. All I know is that we were put in circumstances that required us to identify ourselves as Singaporean. We became Singaporeans when the Malaysians put up the immigration and customs at the Causeway, and we had to do likewise. You had to show your identity card. Before that, you just passed through.
In a way, we welcomed it. Otherwise, the whole of the Malayan Railway land would be flooded with Malay squatters. Jobs here paid higher. That's how history is made. We were dealt this pack of cards. We must make the best of it. We've not done too badly.
<HR SIZE=1 width="50%">Something special
This is a near miracle. When you come in, you are joining an exceptionally outstanding organisation... It came about by a stroke of luck, if you like, plus hard work, plus an imaginative, original team. And I think we can carry on. Singapore can only stay secure and stable, provided it's outstanding.
MM LEE, on why Singapore is more than just a land of opportunity
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