[h=2]They came, saw & loved SG since colonial days[/h]
June 9th, 2014 |
Author: Contributions
I refer to the 31 May 2014 Straits Times report “They came,
they saw, they loved S’pore”
PM Lee read two unsolicited letters in parliament that sang praises of
Singapore and LKY. One letter by an Italian woman, who accompanied her fiancé to
the Youth Olympics 2010, expressed admiration for LKY and wished for an LKY to
clean up Italian politics. Another, a Dane who studied at Insead Singapore,
claimed that Singapore changed him as a person. Given the overwhelming slant of
the public narrative post independence, it is no surprise that these visitors
are none the wiser than the many Singaporeans indoctrinated all these years.
Yet, we mustn’t be fooled into thinking that the appreciation of Singapore by
visitors is only a post independence phenomenon. Far from it, visitors have been
mesmerized and inspired by Singapore since colonial days as these letters
show:
• … I must admit that I consider Singapore a beautiful city and a marvelous
place to live in. The certain something about it has got me – and it had got me
already a few hours after my arrival … but having travelled over quite a big
part of the Far East and visited many cities, I may be allowed to say that
nowhere else have I found such an amount of helpfulness, of amiability and –
last not least – of efficiency, as here.
And now, before saying good – bye to
Singapore, shivering when I imagine my winterly arrival in Europe after a decade
spent in the Far East, I consider it my duty to express my gratitude towards all
those I have met during my stay in town.
And in spite of Singapore’s rain and heat and “Scotch and soda,” I shall
always keep a lovely memory of a beautiful town, of decent people and of the
most wonderful in my life.
[The Straits Times, 29 Jan 1949, page 9, Bouquet
for Singapore, Prof. W.R. Reynolds]
• … the buildings and steamers were a magnificent sight. I proceeded along
Collyer Quay, which leads through the commercial portions of the city, past the
Esplanade, Singapore Cricket Club, Raffles Museum and several buildings to …
Orchard Road. … I spent a fortnight in Singapore, thoroughly appreciating the
enjoyment I had in this most charmingly situated island. There is a
well-laid-out Botanical Garden in the suburbs of Tanglin some four miles from
the heart of Singapore. The Raffles Museum may be described as a fine one … The
Reservoir is a picturesque resort with its soft green-clad surroundings. Any
visitor to the Lion City will never deny that he did not behold the effigy of
the founder of that prosperous port. In the centre of the Esplanade, and in
abbreviated pantaloons with folded arms, stands Sir Stamford Raffles facing the
harbour. The late Sir Stamford Raffles’ reputation is lively brought before all
residents and visitors. Museum, Library, School, Hotel, Square and Reclamation
Ground, etc., commence with the renowned word “Raffles.” The grand views at
Tanjong Katong, the Brighton of Singapore a few miles out, with its pretty sky
and the cool inviting sea are the spot for holidaying. It is a lovely resort to
delight the eye that see, and the heart that can appreciate beauty. The features
of the place, indeed, are sufficient to excite interest and attention. N’oubliez
pas of its beauty said my friend to me one day on our way home from Tanjong
Katong. In this flourishing settlement one can find places that are most
enchanting and comfortable, and the writer had availed himself and had carpe
diem during his sojourn.
[Weekly Sun, 4 February 1911, Page 4, THE FAR EAST
AN IMPRESSION, Lee Yen Fat]
• A leading Australian tourist travel expert marvelled at Singapore’s great
potentialities of becoming a “focal point of world tourism.” Miss Bettie M.
Chisholm, an Australian National Air-ways tourist bureau chief said … I never
knew what a wonderful place Singapore was. It simply spells glamour,” she
said.
[The Singapore Free Press, 26 March 1957, Page 2, This city spells
glamour', Singapore as a 'must' for aussies]
• I am sure that nobody who has not actually visited Malaya can possibly
realize what a perfectly, beautiful country this is. That is typical of the
enthusiasm expressed by the majority of tourists one meets out here and of whom
there are all too few.
[The Straits Times, 20 January 1954, Page 6, TELL
WORLD ABOUT BEAUTY OF MALAYA, W.G.C Blunn]
• Of Malaya, he holds a very high opinion, finding it a bright, clean,
prosperous and pleasant land compared with other countries of the East, with
roads as admirable for the pedestrian as motor-owners have found them for
driving. He has seen no such roads in any other part of his Eastern tour and few
to compare with them elsewhere.
[The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile
Advertiser (1884-1942), 25 April 1928, Page 6, THE SINGING SOLDIER, An
Interesting traveller of many lands, High Praise for Malaya]
• … He told the Straits Times: “I have never seen such wonderful blocks of
flats, I have never seen such clean-looking, obviously prosperous people
anywhere in the tropics in my life” … “Here, everybody seems to be freshly
laundered” … The S.I.T. flats, which he toured yesterday, “staggered him.” …
“People in Liverpool where we consider ourselves to be in the forefront of town
planning and slum clearance, would fight to get an S.I.T flat in one of the new
blocks I saw to-day.
[The Straits Times, 10 June 1952, Page 5, He is all
praise for SIT homes]
• The S.I.T should be congratulated for developing Queenstown into a
beautiful estate which was once covered with shrubs and graveyards. Queenstown
should now be considered a model housing estate for Singapore. It has the
highest building, schools, markets, good roads and plenty of playing grounds for
children and very good flats.
[The Straits Times, 8 September 1956, Page 12,
A SLUM IN THE MAKING]
• … I must say that telephone communication in this part of the world is
second to none. I personally has found both in the Federation and in Singapore a
willing courtesy and helpfulness that I am sure will be difficult to surpass
anywhere in the world
[The Straits Times, 8 August 1958, Page 6, SERVICE
SECOND TO NONE, Singapore]
• As a British Serviceman fortunate enough to serve here in Singapore during
his overseas tour, may I say how much I admire the community for its rapid
economic and social recovery since 1945.
[The Straits Times, 8 September
1948, Page 4, A SERVICEMAN'S ADMIRATION, Nicholas Pollock]
• It was with very mixed feelings that I watched our ship approaching the
coast of Singapore …
… I always enjoy driving along from Raffles Hotel to
Collyer Quay. That view has not changed, specially if you look into the distance
and not at the water’s edge! The ships are not looking as gay yet as in pre-war
days, but they are there just the same, an ever-pleasant sight. The vast expanse
of sky and sea and cloud effects are so beautiful.
Then, the other night, we
heard an old friend, the Town Hall clock. It was good to hear that again. It is
god too, to see the Cricket Club so clean and unchanged in its colour scheme. A
happy landmark of pre-war Singapore.
I am struck too with the abundance of
unrationed tinned goods. After the grim good conditions in England, I was quite
speechless when I saw mountains of tins of food, fruit, vegetables, chickens,
fish and meat in plenty in the market …
I have felt so often, since returning
here, how thankful one should be to live in a country like this, full of
sunshine and friendly people, and we should count our blessings because they are
many.
[The Straits Times, 23 August 1946, Page 4, It Hasn't Changed]
Thus, the admiration that visitors have for Singapore today is the admiration
they have been having for us since colonial days, nothing’s changed. It is a
legacy we proudly inherit from the British, not from LKY or the PAP.
The descriptions below reveal how the solid foundation upon which independent
Singapore stands had been firmly established during colonial days and that our
journey from a fishing village began with Sir Stamford Raffles:
• … I thank you, Members of the Centenary Committee, for giving me the honour
and privilege of unveiling this tablet to the memory of Sir Stamford Raffles
who, 100 years ago, with wonderful foresight, founded this Settlement, then a
mangrove swamp with some 150 inhabitants … The tonnage that now enters this port
yearly is over six million tons and the value of imports and exports in 1917 was
119 millions sterling. These figures show how Sir Stamford’s child has grown and
they emphasize the extraordinary foresight of this truly great man.
[The
Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser (1884-1942), 6 February 1919,
Page 94, THE GOVERNOR'S SPEECH]
• The great Scottish orientalist Dr. John Crawfurd, F. R. S,, who was
appointed immediate successor to Colonel William Farquhar (Resident 1819 –
1823), as Governor of Singapore from 1823 to 1826, in his description of the
life of Sir Stamford Raffles, wrote in 1856 the following lines:-
“In 1817,
he (Raffles) was appointed to the Government of Bencoolen, with the title of
Lieutenant – Governor. This poor Settlement, however, afforded no scope for his
ambition and activity. He betook himself, therefore, to the study of natural
history; made an enterprising journey into the interior of Sumatra, visiting a
part of that great island which no European had ever seen before; and with the
view of establishing a commercial emporium and free port in a convenient and
central position, he proceeded to Bengal, and laid his scheme before the
Marquess of Hastings. This gave rise to the establishment of Singapore in 1819,
the most enduring monument of his reputation … for in his last visit to it in
1828, he saw a miserable village of piratical Malay fishermen already converted
into a prosperous commercial community.”
[The Straits Times, 7 February 1941,
Page 8, SINGAPORE'S FOUNDER - Sir Stamford Raffles and Col. Farquhar]
• Take for example, the man to whom we owe the possession of Singapore, the
Gate of the Far East, a naval base of the utmost importance, a great commercial
centre, and the most prosperous of all the British Crown Colonies – Sir Stamford
Raffles.
[Eastern Daily Mail and Straits Morning Advertiser, 22 January 1907,
Page 3, BRITISH MALAYA'S PROSPERITY]
• Mr. Malcolm MacDonald, the Commissioner-General, last night proposed the
toast at the banquet in the Victoria Memorial Hall in honour of the grant of the
Royal Charter incorporating the town of Singapore as a city. And this is what he
said:
I have the honour to propose a unique toast – “The City of Singapore.” Never
before in history has it been proposed. Tonight for the first time it will be
acclaimed by a great gathering of Singapore citizens, and your glad greeting to
it will be echoed down the centuries by your children and your children’s
children into countless generations.
This evening our thoughts naturally fly back to a day one hundred and
thirty-two years ago, when the great Stamford Raffles landed here. In the words
of a contemporary chronicler, … There were four or five little huts and six or
seven coconut tress which had been planted there, and …… one house a little
larger, but also built of atap, where the Temenggong lived.”
With his keen, far-seeing gaze Raffles strolled along the shore, soon
afterwards to be name the Esplanade …
Singapore’s first historic stroke of
luck, and one of its abiding glories, is that its founded happened to be a man
whose clarity of vision and greatness of mind and spirit have never been
surpassed in modern times. That morning Stamford Raffles dreamed all the fine
things which have since come true in Singapore.
The first purpose of the new
settlement was to promote trade between the islands of the surrounding
archipelago and the countries of the world beyond. At once in 1819 Singapore
began to fulfill that aim. Merchandise came flowing to it from all directions
like a flood tide.
… Singapore became steadily one of the greatest commercial centres on earth,
helping to uplift the standards of living of peoples not only in South East
Asia, but also throughout the world.
Where there was on only, 132 years ago, a sandy beach and some windswept
bushes, with a few small huts shaded by half a dozen coconut trees, there is now
a myriad of streets with the homes of close on a million people, and large
business houses and banks and streets of shops; and a City Hall and a Supreme
Court and a University and a potential Parliament chamber; and Christian
churches, Muslim mosques, Buddhist temples and Hindu shrines, composing all
together a fair city which is the pride of its citizens and the envy of its
neighbours.
[The Straits Times, 23 September 1951, Page 10, This new city is the envy of
others', Mr. Malcolm MacDonald, the Commissioner-General]
Sir Stamford Raffles is our one and only founding father and creator of this
magnificent city from a fishing village. Let us continue to build on his great
legacy by adding to, not stealing from his illustrious history.
Thank you
Ng Kok Lim
Straits Times, They came, they saw, they loved S’pore, 31 May 2014
THIS week’s five-day debate focused mainly on ways to improve policies and
society, but Members of Parliament also took stock of Singapore’s achievements
through the de-cades as the Republic prepares to celebrate its 50th year of
independence.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said the Singapore brand name
stands for something good in the world. “Many who visit us are very impressed by
what they see,” he said.
He also read out portions of two “unsolicited”
letters – one sent to his father, former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, and the
other to him – from foreigners recounting their stay here.
The first was
written by an Italian woman who had accompanied her fiance to the Youth Olympic
Games here in 2010.
“I spent the happiest period of my life in Singapore,”
she wrote.
In the letter, she recounted her favourite dishes (“I am crazy for
Chinese carrot cake”) and her joy in seeing the Alexandra Park Connector
completed when she returned last year.
She also expressed her admiration for
the elder Mr Lee and wrote: “When I look at my beautiful country ruined by bad
politicians… and bad political choices, I think we would need someone like you
to adjust everything.”
The other letter was from a Danish man, who studied at
business school Insead in Singapore, to PM Lee.
Being in Singapore changed
him as a person, he said.
The man wrote: “The proudness of the Singaporeans,
the climate, the perfectly working infrastructure, the hospitality you meet as a
student at Insead, the police officers who several times took their time to say
hi to my boys on the streets, the kindness from everyday people all around, of
course it is the sum of all this that makes Singapore what it is to me.”
He
added: “I just want to say thank you Singapore – for what you have given me and
my family. And if I can do anything to give something back, I would be happy to
do so. And it could be anything.”
Rounding up his point on what Singapore has
achieved, Mr Lee said: “We must build on this foundation and aim high, so that
Singapore will remain a special place, and we can create an even better future
for our children.”
they saw, they loved S’pore”
PM Lee read two unsolicited letters in parliament that sang praises of
Singapore and LKY. One letter by an Italian woman, who accompanied her fiancé to
the Youth Olympics 2010, expressed admiration for LKY and wished for an LKY to
clean up Italian politics. Another, a Dane who studied at Insead Singapore,
claimed that Singapore changed him as a person. Given the overwhelming slant of
the public narrative post independence, it is no surprise that these visitors
are none the wiser than the many Singaporeans indoctrinated all these years.
Yet, we mustn’t be fooled into thinking that the appreciation of Singapore by
visitors is only a post independence phenomenon. Far from it, visitors have been
mesmerized and inspired by Singapore since colonial days as these letters
show:
• … I must admit that I consider Singapore a beautiful city and a marvelous
place to live in. The certain something about it has got me – and it had got me
already a few hours after my arrival … but having travelled over quite a big
part of the Far East and visited many cities, I may be allowed to say that
nowhere else have I found such an amount of helpfulness, of amiability and –
last not least – of efficiency, as here.
And now, before saying good – bye to
Singapore, shivering when I imagine my winterly arrival in Europe after a decade
spent in the Far East, I consider it my duty to express my gratitude towards all
those I have met during my stay in town.
And in spite of Singapore’s rain and heat and “Scotch and soda,” I shall
always keep a lovely memory of a beautiful town, of decent people and of the
most wonderful in my life.
[The Straits Times, 29 Jan 1949, page 9, Bouquet
for Singapore, Prof. W.R. Reynolds]
• … the buildings and steamers were a magnificent sight. I proceeded along
Collyer Quay, which leads through the commercial portions of the city, past the
Esplanade, Singapore Cricket Club, Raffles Museum and several buildings to …
Orchard Road. … I spent a fortnight in Singapore, thoroughly appreciating the
enjoyment I had in this most charmingly situated island. There is a
well-laid-out Botanical Garden in the suburbs of Tanglin some four miles from
the heart of Singapore. The Raffles Museum may be described as a fine one … The
Reservoir is a picturesque resort with its soft green-clad surroundings. Any
visitor to the Lion City will never deny that he did not behold the effigy of
the founder of that prosperous port. In the centre of the Esplanade, and in
abbreviated pantaloons with folded arms, stands Sir Stamford Raffles facing the
harbour. The late Sir Stamford Raffles’ reputation is lively brought before all
residents and visitors. Museum, Library, School, Hotel, Square and Reclamation
Ground, etc., commence with the renowned word “Raffles.” The grand views at
Tanjong Katong, the Brighton of Singapore a few miles out, with its pretty sky
and the cool inviting sea are the spot for holidaying. It is a lovely resort to
delight the eye that see, and the heart that can appreciate beauty. The features
of the place, indeed, are sufficient to excite interest and attention. N’oubliez
pas of its beauty said my friend to me one day on our way home from Tanjong
Katong. In this flourishing settlement one can find places that are most
enchanting and comfortable, and the writer had availed himself and had carpe
diem during his sojourn.
[Weekly Sun, 4 February 1911, Page 4, THE FAR EAST
AN IMPRESSION, Lee Yen Fat]
• A leading Australian tourist travel expert marvelled at Singapore’s great
potentialities of becoming a “focal point of world tourism.” Miss Bettie M.
Chisholm, an Australian National Air-ways tourist bureau chief said … I never
knew what a wonderful place Singapore was. It simply spells glamour,” she
said.
[The Singapore Free Press, 26 March 1957, Page 2, This city spells
glamour', Singapore as a 'must' for aussies]
• I am sure that nobody who has not actually visited Malaya can possibly
realize what a perfectly, beautiful country this is. That is typical of the
enthusiasm expressed by the majority of tourists one meets out here and of whom
there are all too few.
[The Straits Times, 20 January 1954, Page 6, TELL
WORLD ABOUT BEAUTY OF MALAYA, W.G.C Blunn]
• Of Malaya, he holds a very high opinion, finding it a bright, clean,
prosperous and pleasant land compared with other countries of the East, with
roads as admirable for the pedestrian as motor-owners have found them for
driving. He has seen no such roads in any other part of his Eastern tour and few
to compare with them elsewhere.
[The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile
Advertiser (1884-1942), 25 April 1928, Page 6, THE SINGING SOLDIER, An
Interesting traveller of many lands, High Praise for Malaya]
• … He told the Straits Times: “I have never seen such wonderful blocks of
flats, I have never seen such clean-looking, obviously prosperous people
anywhere in the tropics in my life” … “Here, everybody seems to be freshly
laundered” … The S.I.T. flats, which he toured yesterday, “staggered him.” …
“People in Liverpool where we consider ourselves to be in the forefront of town
planning and slum clearance, would fight to get an S.I.T flat in one of the new
blocks I saw to-day.
[The Straits Times, 10 June 1952, Page 5, He is all
praise for SIT homes]
• The S.I.T should be congratulated for developing Queenstown into a
beautiful estate which was once covered with shrubs and graveyards. Queenstown
should now be considered a model housing estate for Singapore. It has the
highest building, schools, markets, good roads and plenty of playing grounds for
children and very good flats.
[The Straits Times, 8 September 1956, Page 12,
A SLUM IN THE MAKING]
• … I must say that telephone communication in this part of the world is
second to none. I personally has found both in the Federation and in Singapore a
willing courtesy and helpfulness that I am sure will be difficult to surpass
anywhere in the world
[The Straits Times, 8 August 1958, Page 6, SERVICE
SECOND TO NONE, Singapore]
• As a British Serviceman fortunate enough to serve here in Singapore during
his overseas tour, may I say how much I admire the community for its rapid
economic and social recovery since 1945.
[The Straits Times, 8 September
1948, Page 4, A SERVICEMAN'S ADMIRATION, Nicholas Pollock]
• It was with very mixed feelings that I watched our ship approaching the
coast of Singapore …
… I always enjoy driving along from Raffles Hotel to
Collyer Quay. That view has not changed, specially if you look into the distance
and not at the water’s edge! The ships are not looking as gay yet as in pre-war
days, but they are there just the same, an ever-pleasant sight. The vast expanse
of sky and sea and cloud effects are so beautiful.
Then, the other night, we
heard an old friend, the Town Hall clock. It was good to hear that again. It is
god too, to see the Cricket Club so clean and unchanged in its colour scheme. A
happy landmark of pre-war Singapore.
I am struck too with the abundance of
unrationed tinned goods. After the grim good conditions in England, I was quite
speechless when I saw mountains of tins of food, fruit, vegetables, chickens,
fish and meat in plenty in the market …
I have felt so often, since returning
here, how thankful one should be to live in a country like this, full of
sunshine and friendly people, and we should count our blessings because they are
many.
[The Straits Times, 23 August 1946, Page 4, It Hasn't Changed]
Thus, the admiration that visitors have for Singapore today is the admiration
they have been having for us since colonial days, nothing’s changed. It is a
legacy we proudly inherit from the British, not from LKY or the PAP.
The descriptions below reveal how the solid foundation upon which independent
Singapore stands had been firmly established during colonial days and that our
journey from a fishing village began with Sir Stamford Raffles:
• … I thank you, Members of the Centenary Committee, for giving me the honour
and privilege of unveiling this tablet to the memory of Sir Stamford Raffles
who, 100 years ago, with wonderful foresight, founded this Settlement, then a
mangrove swamp with some 150 inhabitants … The tonnage that now enters this port
yearly is over six million tons and the value of imports and exports in 1917 was
119 millions sterling. These figures show how Sir Stamford’s child has grown and
they emphasize the extraordinary foresight of this truly great man.
[The
Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser (1884-1942), 6 February 1919,
Page 94, THE GOVERNOR'S SPEECH]
• The great Scottish orientalist Dr. John Crawfurd, F. R. S,, who was
appointed immediate successor to Colonel William Farquhar (Resident 1819 –
1823), as Governor of Singapore from 1823 to 1826, in his description of the
life of Sir Stamford Raffles, wrote in 1856 the following lines:-
“In 1817,
he (Raffles) was appointed to the Government of Bencoolen, with the title of
Lieutenant – Governor. This poor Settlement, however, afforded no scope for his
ambition and activity. He betook himself, therefore, to the study of natural
history; made an enterprising journey into the interior of Sumatra, visiting a
part of that great island which no European had ever seen before; and with the
view of establishing a commercial emporium and free port in a convenient and
central position, he proceeded to Bengal, and laid his scheme before the
Marquess of Hastings. This gave rise to the establishment of Singapore in 1819,
the most enduring monument of his reputation … for in his last visit to it in
1828, he saw a miserable village of piratical Malay fishermen already converted
into a prosperous commercial community.”
[The Straits Times, 7 February 1941,
Page 8, SINGAPORE'S FOUNDER - Sir Stamford Raffles and Col. Farquhar]
• Take for example, the man to whom we owe the possession of Singapore, the
Gate of the Far East, a naval base of the utmost importance, a great commercial
centre, and the most prosperous of all the British Crown Colonies – Sir Stamford
Raffles.
[Eastern Daily Mail and Straits Morning Advertiser, 22 January 1907,
Page 3, BRITISH MALAYA'S PROSPERITY]
• Mr. Malcolm MacDonald, the Commissioner-General, last night proposed the
toast at the banquet in the Victoria Memorial Hall in honour of the grant of the
Royal Charter incorporating the town of Singapore as a city. And this is what he
said:
I have the honour to propose a unique toast – “The City of Singapore.” Never
before in history has it been proposed. Tonight for the first time it will be
acclaimed by a great gathering of Singapore citizens, and your glad greeting to
it will be echoed down the centuries by your children and your children’s
children into countless generations.
This evening our thoughts naturally fly back to a day one hundred and
thirty-two years ago, when the great Stamford Raffles landed here. In the words
of a contemporary chronicler, … There were four or five little huts and six or
seven coconut tress which had been planted there, and …… one house a little
larger, but also built of atap, where the Temenggong lived.”
With his keen, far-seeing gaze Raffles strolled along the shore, soon
afterwards to be name the Esplanade …
Singapore’s first historic stroke of
luck, and one of its abiding glories, is that its founded happened to be a man
whose clarity of vision and greatness of mind and spirit have never been
surpassed in modern times. That morning Stamford Raffles dreamed all the fine
things which have since come true in Singapore.
The first purpose of the new
settlement was to promote trade between the islands of the surrounding
archipelago and the countries of the world beyond. At once in 1819 Singapore
began to fulfill that aim. Merchandise came flowing to it from all directions
like a flood tide.
… Singapore became steadily one of the greatest commercial centres on earth,
helping to uplift the standards of living of peoples not only in South East
Asia, but also throughout the world.
Where there was on only, 132 years ago, a sandy beach and some windswept
bushes, with a few small huts shaded by half a dozen coconut trees, there is now
a myriad of streets with the homes of close on a million people, and large
business houses and banks and streets of shops; and a City Hall and a Supreme
Court and a University and a potential Parliament chamber; and Christian
churches, Muslim mosques, Buddhist temples and Hindu shrines, composing all
together a fair city which is the pride of its citizens and the envy of its
neighbours.
[The Straits Times, 23 September 1951, Page 10, This new city is the envy of
others', Mr. Malcolm MacDonald, the Commissioner-General]
Sir Stamford Raffles is our one and only founding father and creator of this
magnificent city from a fishing village. Let us continue to build on his great
legacy by adding to, not stealing from his illustrious history.
Thank you
Ng Kok Lim
Straits Times, They came, they saw, they loved S’pore, 31 May 2014
THIS week’s five-day debate focused mainly on ways to improve policies and
society, but Members of Parliament also took stock of Singapore’s achievements
through the de-cades as the Republic prepares to celebrate its 50th year of
independence.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said the Singapore brand name
stands for something good in the world. “Many who visit us are very impressed by
what they see,” he said.
He also read out portions of two “unsolicited”
letters – one sent to his father, former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, and the
other to him – from foreigners recounting their stay here.
The first was
written by an Italian woman who had accompanied her fiance to the Youth Olympic
Games here in 2010.
“I spent the happiest period of my life in Singapore,”
she wrote.
In the letter, she recounted her favourite dishes (“I am crazy for
Chinese carrot cake”) and her joy in seeing the Alexandra Park Connector
completed when she returned last year.
She also expressed her admiration for
the elder Mr Lee and wrote: “When I look at my beautiful country ruined by bad
politicians… and bad political choices, I think we would need someone like you
to adjust everything.”
The other letter was from a Danish man, who studied at
business school Insead in Singapore, to PM Lee.
Being in Singapore changed
him as a person, he said.
The man wrote: “The proudness of the Singaporeans,
the climate, the perfectly working infrastructure, the hospitality you meet as a
student at Insead, the police officers who several times took their time to say
hi to my boys on the streets, the kindness from everyday people all around, of
course it is the sum of all this that makes Singapore what it is to me.”
He
added: “I just want to say thank you Singapore – for what you have given me and
my family. And if I can do anything to give something back, I would be happy to
do so. And it could be anything.”
Rounding up his point on what Singapore has
achieved, Mr Lee said: “We must build on this foundation and aim high, so that
Singapore will remain a special place, and we can create an even better future
for our children.”
