RAFFLES INSTITUTION’S 186TH FOUNDER’S DAY
15 AUGUST 2009
SPEECH OF GUEST-OF-HONOUR, TOMMY KOH
Salutation
1 Professor Tan Ser Kiat (Chairman), Professor Cham Tao Soon (Deputy Chairman), Mrs Lim Lai Cheng (Principal), Mr Kirk D’Souza (Head Prefect), fellow Rafflesians.
Thank You
2 I wish to thank the Raffles family for inviting me to be your chief guest, on the happy occasion of your 186th Founder’s Day. I spent five happy years of my youth (1952 to 1957) in RI and am a proud Rafflesian.
100 Inspiring Rafflesians by Tan Guan Heng
3 In 2008, I had the great honour of launching my good friend, Tan Guan Heng’s book: 100 Inspiring Rafflesians. When I reflected on the lives of those remarkable men and women, I could not help but think that RI had made an indelible impact on their lives. The three hallmarks of an education in RI are: meritocracy, a culture of excellence and the spirit of public service. Neither wealth nor connection will get you into RI. The only thing that will get you into RI is your ability. Once admitted, you are taught by some of the best teachers in Singapore and you imbibe a culture of excellence. Some of the best and brightest products of RI have chosen not to pursue wealth but to serve the people, Singapore and the world. This probably explains the fact that our school has produced three Heads of State and two Prime Ministers for Singapore.
My Aspirations for Singapore
4 Our celebration of our country’s 44th anniversary of independence and 50 years of self-government has not ended. Tomorrow evening, our Prime Minister will deliver his annual National Day Rally speech. In this spirit, I will share with you a few of my aspirations for Singapore and Singaporeans.
Aspiration No. 1: Less Obsessed with Money
5 First, I wish that Singaporeans would be less obsessed with money. I have always heeded my mentor, S Rajaratnam’s warning that Singaporeans should not become a nation of people who know the price of everything and the value of nothing. I think we are in such danger. We seem to calculate everything in terms of money. We seem to think that a person’s worth is measured by the amount of money he or she makes. We have imitated one of the worst aspects of American capitalism, by paying our senior executives inflated salaries while, at the same time, stagnating the salaries of our middle and lower strata. As a result, Singapore has become a more unequal society than the United States. I am glad that the President recognises annually outstanding members of some of the professions which do not pay well, but make enormous contributions to our society, such as, teachers, nurses, social workers, librarians, etc. I also thank the media for showcasing selfless Singaporeans, who help the poor and the disadvantaged, both at home and abroad. Money is important. We all need enough money to live in reasonable comfort, but money cannot buy you a happy family, good friends, good health, peace of mind and joy. We should not allow our greed for money to corrupt the moral fabric of our nation and to undermine the ethic and integrity of our learned professions, such as, law and medicine.
Aspiration No. 2: To be a Kind and Gracious People
6 Second, I would like Singaporeans to be a kinder and more gracious people. Are we a kind people? I am inclined to say “yes”, when I remember the generosity with which Singaporeans responded to the victims of the Boxing Day tsunami, Cyclone Nargis and the Sichuan earthquake. I am constantly impressed by letters in the forum page of The Straits Times thanking some Singaporeans for the kindness they had shown to strangers. At the same time, I am shocked by the unkindness shown by some Singaporeans towards their foreign domestic workers and foreign workers more generally. Some of our foreign domestic workers are denied a decent place to sleep in, adequate food and rest and are treated as less than fellow human beings. As for the reports of wanton cruelty towards animals, I often wonder who are these monsters in our midst who commit such evil deeds. As for graciousness, there is much room for improvement in our driving manners or lack of them, and in the manner in which we conduct ourselves in our trains, buses and elevators.
Geneva of the East and Venice of the 21st Century
7 Third, I would like Singapore to become the Geneva of the East and the Venice of the 21st Century. I think Singapore can become a diplomatic centre, like Geneva. Singapore is a comfortable, efficient and secure venue for diplomatic meetings, including those between adversaries. In 1993, Singapore hosted a historic meeting between PRC and Taiwan. More recently, the US and North Korea held a meeting in Singapore. Venice existed as a City State for nearly 800 years. One of the reasons for its success and longevity was that it welcomed the merchants, artists and other talented people of different countries and civilisations to live and work in Venice. In the same way, Singapore should continue to welcome the talented people of all nations and civilisations to live and work in Singapore. We can be the Venice of the 21st Century. Singapore can also act as a facilitator of inter-faith and inter-civilisational dialogue.
Asian Cultural Renaissance
8 Fourth, Singapore can be the cultural hub of Southeast Asia and the champion of the Asian cultural renaissance. Singapore has the best cultural infrastructure in the region. Because of our small size and short history, we have no choice but to collect, research and display the heritage and artistic achievements of the region. As a result, we have the best collection of the visual arts of Southeast Asia, of the 19th and 20th Centuries. When the new National Art Gallery opens in a few years, it will showcase the visual art of Southeast Asia to the world. It was fitting that the world premiere of the Bugis epic, I La Galigo, was held at The Esplanade. We are holding an annual festival to celebrate the civilisation of an ASEAN country. However, Singapore can serve an even larger region. We can bring together the civilisations of Southeast Asia, Northeast Asia, South Asia and West Asia. The Asian Civilisations Museum is a symbol of our aspiration to be an exemplar of the Asian cultural renaissance. We should also support the recent initiatives by the Arts House to organise a conference and festival, “Asia on Edge”, and by NUS to establish a new “global Asia Institute”.
9 Fifth, Singapore can be Asia’s greenest city. Singapore is already Asia’s greenest city in the physical sense. Our trees, gardens and parks are much loved by Singaporeans and residents. Soon, we will have two new gardens in Marina Bay. Singapore is, however, green not just in the physical sense but also in its policies on water, sanitation, air pollution, land use, transportation, etc. Singapore can and should do even better. There is room for improvement in the more efficient use of energy, in industry, transportation and household. We should progressively phase out incandescent light bulbs in favour of energy saving bulbs. We should emulate the good examples of Japan and the US to incentivise consumers to switch from buying gas guzzlers to hybrid vehicles. We should follow the example of Japan, Korea and Taiwan by enacting a law requiring commercial establishments to separate food waste from other waste for recycling. We could be more energetic in promoting clean and renewable energy. We should consider enacting a law to prevent buildings of less than 30 years from being torn down for redevelopment. We should develop Singapore as a centre for the financing of green business and technology, a preferred venue for test-bedding green technologies, products and services and for carbon trading. In the 21st Century, more than half of humanity will live in cities. Singapore can become a model of a sustainable city and the most liveable city in Asia.
10 Sixth, I would like Singapore to become an important intellectual centre. We are making good progress. NUS and NTU are already recognised as world class universities. I am confident that SMU will soon join them. Our schools, institutes of technical education, polytechnics and arts colleges are much admired in Asia. As a result, Singapore is beginning to attract a large number of foreign students to study here. There has been a quantum leap in the percentage of our GDP invested in research and development. The culture of respect for learning and research is growing. Our think-tanks are expanding in quantity and quality. What more can we do? I would suggest three things: (i) more funds for research in the social sciences and humanities; (ii) greater willingness on the part of government to release official data to researchers; and (iii) a stronger culture of tolerance for alternative and dissenting views.
Conclusion
11 Those of us who were privileged to have attended this year’s National Day Parade were inspired and moved. After only 50 years of self-government and 44 years of independence, this little red dot of an accidental country has become secure, modern and prosperous. Sitting at Marina Bay, I could feel the spirit of our people: unity, resilience and optimism. Majullah Singapura!
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