Although he never wrote creatively again after returning to Singapore, Rajaratnam continued writing throughout the years, publishing Challenge of Confrontation , Malaysia and the World , Asia's Unfinished Revolution , and Singapore:Global City Rajaratnam in That same year, the S.
Rajaratnam scholarship fund was established in support of young, talented Singaporeans who wanted to pursue studies in arts, journalism and international relations; the fund was renamed the S. Rajaratnam Professorship in Strategic Studies in On 22 February , Rajaratnam passed away from heart failure at the age of 90 in Singapore. State flags on government buildings in Singapore were flown at half-mast for three days while his body lay in state at Parliament House.
On 25 February, he was accorded a state funeral at Esplanade — Theatres on the Bay. He was then cremated at Mandai Crematorium.
In memory of his immeasurable contribution to Singapore, a newly constructed building in his alma mater Raffles Institution was named the S. Rajaratnam Block that same year. Rajaratnam School of International Studies. Rajaratnam was published by Irene Ng. Rajaratnam , revealing a lesser known side to the founding father. Rajaratnam , a collection of literary works written by Rajaratnam during his time in the UK was also compiled and published by Ng in , adding on to Rajaratnam's body of artistic work.
Rajaratnam Papers Archive. Founding member, People's Action Party. Founding president, Singapore Union of Journalists. Member, Central Executive Committee. Published Challenge of Confrontation. Published Malaysia and the World. Published Asia's Unfinished Revolution. Member, Presidential Council for Minority Rights. Rajaratnam published. Rajaratnam scholarship fund established renamed in to S. Rajaratnam Professorship in Strategic Studies.
Edited by Irene Ng. His state funeral at the Esplanade saw world leaders and Singaporeans from all walks of life, coming to pay their respects. In , Raffles Institution named a new 7-storey building the S. Rajaratnam block in his honour. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in his honour. State funeral service of S. Rajaratnam at the Esplanade Concert Hall on 25 February Image from National Archives of Singapore. This briefcase belonged to S.
A Seiko gold watch that belonged to S. A Singapore Government Agency Website. Sinnathamby Rajaratnam A man who pledged his life to service 4 min read. In many ways, he enlarged Singapore's space and importance. After Singapore was severed from its natural hinterland Malaya, he coined the term 'global city' to describe his vision of a city plugged into the world. That was in , decades before the term 'globalisation' became fashionable.
Except for Mr Rajaratnam, the 'global city' was not just an abstract conception. It was a narrative that served at once to explain Singapore to Singaporeans and give them a sense of direction.
Ambassador-at-large Tommy Koh noted that after overcoming doubts over the legitimacy of Singapore's birth, he worked hard at establishing Singapore as a 'strong and valued' founding member of Asean in Up until , he charted the young country's diplomatic relations with the wider world, travelling around vocally championing the rights of small nations.
Those were the treacherous Cold War years, where it required great suppleness not to take sides and yet maintain friendly relations with the United States, Soviet Union and China simultaneously. But President S R Nathan noted that despite his courtly demeanour, silken manners and soft voice, Mr Rajaratnam never hesitated to be combative, when necessary.
He played a major role in negotiating with some of history's toughest guys like the Khmer Rouge, rallying the regional nations to take a stand against the Vietnamese invasion and occupation of Cambodia in and cobbling together a coalition. Mr Kishore Mahbubani, former Singapore permanent representative to the United Nations and now dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, recounted: 'He exhibited raw courage and was the bravest man I've known - even when the odds are against him.
According to Mr Rodolfo Severino, former Asean secretary-general and now a visiting senior research fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies: 'His personality and his ideas were very important to what Asean has become. He was also, from the beginning, an adherent of the market system, which at that time was not the policy of most Asean countries, but which eventually we all adopted.
He had no patience for little details, only big ideas. Mr Chia Cheong Fook, former Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs , who worked under him, said: 'He wasn't interested in administration, in ordinary matters of staff, in logistics, in details. He was interested in ideas and how to promote Singapore in the international community, the United Nations.
He never practised his speeches before a mirror, he was not interested in posturing. He spoke from the heart. Mr Barry Desker, director of Singapore's Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies and a former ambassador to Indonesia, said: 'The most memorable of these pieces was a hard-hitting attack on the Soviet Union and its regional allies. He was always acquiring for Singapore the widest possible recognition, despite the smallness of our size, notwithstanding ideological differences,' he said with a fond smile.
Even in times of prosperity, he tried to temper views that disregarded the vulnerability of Singapore. Uncle Raja's views , as I see them - S. Jothiratnam, 10 April The writer was formerly a lecturer in both the hard sciences and the social sciences in universities in the United States and Malaysia. Since the death of my uncle, Mr S. Rajaratnam, there have been bones of contention in the newspapers over what his views were, such as on multiculturalism, the forging of a Singaporean identity, materialism and the decline of intellectualism.
Before these bones fossilise, I would like to comment on them from my privileged perspective as one who, particularly from the s onwards, was uniquely able to discuss the outlines of the emergent Singapore with him on a frequent basis.
I am particularly concerned that his sophisticated, subtle and complex views on these matters are being oversimplified and second-guessed at in recent public discussions. It is with the aim of giving you some flavour of the nature of his thinking that I have written this piece.
In the s I was a boarder at the United World College or Singapore International School as it was then called and had much occasion to visit my uncle who, aside from being interested in seeing me, was also always keen to meet my various teenage girlfriends who came from all parts of the world. For me, it was a great way to impress the girls, taking them to meet my famous uncle; for him, my dating patterns became a sort of second crucible of inter-cultural relations, next to his own marriage, and formed the basis of many discussions on the subject.
Out of this period, certain salient points emerged, which have helped to mould the outlines of my own life and attitudes: I One must always act as if race does not matter - that is to say, irrespective of race. II Race is not to be confounded with ethnic identity - the formation of a personal identity is vital for the psychosocial well-being of any individual, and essential components of this identity are a sense of ethnicity and an appreciation of history. A person must have a sense of belonging in order to be a sound, socially healthy member of society.
At risk of overtaxing an old adage, a person without a cultural identity would be like a ship without a rudder. III It is not by ignoring race and ethnic identity that racial harmony is constructed, but by transcending the former while building upon the latter - in this construction, it must never be forgotten that what is being encouraged is the formation of an individual's identity within a communal context which, even according to Aristotle, is a psychologically desirable entity , rather than some crude communal identity, which, as Adolf Hitler's henchmen can attest to, can all too easily be transmogrified into a dangerous, unthinking beast.
IV The ideal model of that most elusive of quarries, multiculturalism, is not the overused, and rather inappropriate, metaphor of the all-effacing melting pot, but rather that of the stew pot, in which, to misquote a Parsi supplicant at the court of the emperor Akhbar, each component maintains its individual identity while simultaneously enhancing the flavour of the whole dish.
As even a cursory glance at his book collection would reveal, since his early days as a student, journalist and anti-colonialist thinker in London, my uncle has always concerned himself with an important triumvirate of interrelated issues: nationalism, nation-building and national identity.
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