S. Rajaratnam, The Authorised Biography (Volume One): The Singapore Lion
Irene Ng
ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute: 2010
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S. Rajaratnam, The Authorised Biography (Volume Two): The Lion’s Roar
Irene Ng
ISEAS—Yusof Ishak Institute: 2024
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We, the citizens of Singapore, pledge ourselves as one united people, regardless of race, language or religion…”

“Being Singaporean is not a matter of ancestry. It is conviction and choice.”

Recited in state schools as the national pledge and cited in ministerial speeches, these now familiar statements came from Sinnathamby Rajaratnam (1915–2006), usually known as S. Rajaratnam. A journalist, literary writer and founding member of the People’s Action Party (PAP), Rajaratnam served as minister of culture, labour and foreign affairs at various, sometimes overlapping, times. He was deputy prime minister from 1980 to 1985 and a senior minister—the first to hold such a position in Singapore—from 1985 until his retirement in 1988.

Despite this, Rajaratnam’s legacy remains largely obscured in Singapore’s public imagination. It’s not surprising; while Rajaratnam retired and gradually faded from public life, Lee Kuan Yew continued to hold office and give public interviews, speeches and commentaries. His son, Lee Hsien Loong, was also the country’s prime minister from 2004 to 2024. When the senior Lee died in 2015, there was a week-long period of national mourning, with tens of thousands of mourners queuing to pay their respects. Rajaratnam’s state funeral in 2006 was a much more modest affair in comparison.

• Tags: Irene Ng, Issue 38, Liew Kai Khiun, Singapore