Done by: Belle Ho(4), Carrin Tiang(07), Cheong YinYee(10), Chia Xue Jin(12), Gao Shan(14) and Vonisa(23)
Early life :
S.Rajaratnam was born in Sri Lanka . He was the second child of Sabapathy Pillai Sinnathamby and his wife . His father wanted him to be born for auspicious reasons after the death of his older brother . He was then brought back to Malaya and raised in Seremban and Selangor .
Rajaratnam studied in St Paul’s boys’ school , Victoria Institution in Kuala Lumpur , and later Raffles’ Institution in Singapore . In 1937 , he went to King’s College in London to pursue a degree . Due to World War 2 , he could not continue his education as he could not receive funding from his family . Then , he turned to journalism for a living . He met his wife Piroska Feher , a Hungarian teacher .
He returned to Singapore in 1948 when he joined the Malayan Tribune . In 1954 , he joined The Straits Times as a journalist .
Political career :
In 1954, Rajaratnam cofounded the People's Action Party together with Lee Kuan Yew,Goh Keng Swee and others. He became popular among his supporters for being able to effectively follow the 'mood of the people'. He thought of a multiracial Singapore and envisioned her to be a 'global city'. He organised major political campaigns against Singaporean groups on the far left. During his years in parliament, he served as Minister for Culture (1959), Minister for Foreign Affairs (1965-1980), Minister for Labour (1968-1971), and Second Deputy Prime Minister (1980-1985) and was later appointed as Senior Minister until his retirement in 1988. Rajaratnam is remembered for writing the Singapore National Pledge in 1966.
Later life to death :
He retired from political office in 1988 , then , he served at the Institute of South East Asian Studies as a Distinguished Senior Fellow from November 1 , 1988 to October 31 , 1997 . He was diagnosed with dementia and was unable to move or talk by 2001 . He died on 22 February 2006 of heart failure .
1.What makes a hero? Are heroes only those who have achieved what they want to achieve or did they arise from some 'special' circumstances?
What makes a hero ? To me , a hero should be a good person who really wanted to help others whole-heartedly . He or she always think about others before self . A hero is humble and selfless . A hero should be able to influence others to do good things . A hero is always searching for ways to help people . A hero is affected by the 'environment' around them . If there is a problem , he or she will want to help , even if they must sacrifice themselves , to solve the problem . Therefore , heros only arise from ' special ' circumstances , not what they achieve what they want to achieve . People who achieved what they want to achieve are successful people , not heros .Heros face many challenges . S.Rajaratnam faced many challenges . He faced many challenges like how to run Singapore .
By
Cheong Yin Yee
2.What challenges does a hero face and how does his/ her qualities enable him/ her to overcome challenges? Describe at least one challenge and how the hero overcomes the challenge.
Sir Rajaratnam started off as a writer in.The Straights times where he daringly wrote about the way singapore was being governed and his opinions, that displeasure incurred in the colonial government. He was then called for questioning by the government.He then cofounded PAP together with Lee kuan yew and others. He faced many challenges including the Konfrontasi conflict in the 1960s and the withdrawal of British troops in the early 1970s.
Rajaratnam helped to draw international attention to Vietnam's invasion of Cambodia in 1978. Sompong Sucharitkul, an aide of Thailand's then foreign minister Thanat Khoman, conveys Rajaratnam's stance on ASEAN membership for Sri Lanka in 1967.It was Rajaratnam who objected to the inclusion of Sri Lanka. He argued the country's domestic situation was unstable and there would be trouble. Not good for a new organisation.
During his term as Minister of Labour, he set down tough labour laws in attempt to restore stability in the Singaporean economy which in turn, attracted multinational corporations to invest in Singapore. This important appointment emphasised the trust that the government had in him in overcoming the challenges Singapore faced.
Once, Rajaratnam disagreed with then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew on the policy of giving incentives to women who are college graduates and have more children, as Rajaratnam felt that the policy was unfair. Although their differences in opinion on certain issues, Rajaratnam was loyal to Lee and remained as a member of the "core team" of Lee's government and they dominated Singapore political scene from 1959 to mid-1980s.In 1994, Rajaratnam was diagnosed with dementia and was unable to move or talk by 2001. He was assisted by six maids including his long-time maid of 21 years. Unfortunately, he had to leave us.
Quotes from Rajaratnam
“We believe in a democratic society by governments freely and periodically elected by the people... We believe, in the virtue of hard work and that those who work harder in society should be given greater rewards... We believe that the world does not owe us a living and that we have to earn our keep. “
We can see that Rajaratnam is a fair person , he believed in , “ You reap what you sow “ , and he stood up for what he thought and did it through his actions to keep Singapore a fair city .
Rajaratnam did not believe in the need for a strong opposition in Parliament , and he was unapologetic about the domain system in Singapore . He said :
“Given a one-party government, the capacity of such a government to act far more independently than if it were harassed by an opposition and by proxies, is obvious. In the game of competitive interference pawns which can behave like bishops and castles and knights can in certain circumstances be extremely inconvenient and very irritating. “
Once again , we see that Rajaratnam is firm in what he thought is right for Singapore , although some people do not agree with him , which is one of the challenges he faced , he still continued to try to convince people of what he thought .
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMcvESy3sxE( part 1)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMWsEJ35qL8&feature=related (part2)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S42Ek8m4iyk (part 3)
group 7 ( Alvin, Chia Che ,Derrick , Gillett , Zhi Wei,Li Kai )
ReplyDeleteHi.i can see that you all put in a lot of effort in doing the post. i like the part where you include some of the quotes that Rajaratam said in the past. It allows us to imagine how it was like during the past and the hardship and challenges that he faced.
I also like the videos that you included into the post. The video is relavant and interesting. It provides a different way to allow us to be able to learn more about Rajatranam instead of just understanding by words. The videos are also very interesting and engaging.There are a lot of information in the video and it is presented in a way that is very easy for us to understand.
I think you all may like to include some pictures of Rajaratnam and the events that happened. This will allow the post to be more interesting. ' A picture speaks a thousands words'. Through the pictures , we will be able to understand more about Rajaratnam.
Perhaps you all also should try to organise your information in way that is more easy to understand instead of writing a whole chunk of words. I suggest that you all can list down some of the main points or problems that he faced and elaborate them seperately. This will also us to be able to understand better.
Overall, WELL DONE! We learn a lot from your group's posting.Rajaratnam is indeed a hero of Singapore. Thanks a lot!