His background
Born in 25 February 1915 in Jaffna, Sri Lanka, he was only three months old when he was brought back to Seremban, Malaysia where his father rose from being a supervisor of rubber estates to a plantation owner. He began his early education at St Paul's Institution in Seremban. It was at this stage, he became an avid reader with the greatest influence from his uncles who bought him many books. He went on to study at Victoria Institution, Kuala Lumpur and finally Raffles Institution, Singapore. In 1937, he went to King's College, London to study law. He was too involved in politics as a member of the Marxist Left Book Club and failed to complete his studies.
He worked as a journalist to support himself when financial aid from his father was terminated during the war due to the lack of communication between London and Malaya. He married a Hungarian in 1941 and stayed in London for several years. After the war, they returned to Malaya in 1947. Rajaratnam worked as a journalist in the Malaya Tribune from 1948 to 1950 and left to join theSingapore Standard as an Associate Editor in 1950. From 1954 to 1959, he was the Editorial staff of The Straits Times in Singapore.
As a journalist, he wrote articles related to the political issues in Singapore and Malaya. His open anti-British and anti-Communist stance attracted the attention of Lee Kuan Yew, Toh Chin Chye and Goh Keng Swee, who together with Rajaratnam formed the People's Action Party in 1954.
In 1959, he resigned from The Straits Times to run for the Legislative Assembly seat of Kampong Glam. He was also the first Foreign Affairs Minister after Singapore gained independence in 1965.Rajaratnam together with the former minister Ong Pang Boon, composed the National Pledge with an emphasis on a united and multi-racial society in 1966.
He was also the former Minister for Labour and Culture, the Second Deputy Prime Minister in 1980 till he stepped down in 1985 and became a Senior Minister.
Rajaratnam died peacefully of heart failure on 22 February 2006 at his home in Chancery Lane. He was one of the pioneer leaders who helped in shaping the development of Singapore.
His contribution
He was Singapore’s first and longest serving Foreign Affair Minister and had conceptualized and implemented Singapore together with Lee Kuan Yew and Goh Keng Swee. He had also overcome the doubts at first about the legitimacy of Singapore’s birth. He had made Singapore a strong and valued member of ASEAN. He made many friends in all parts of the world for Singapore. He created a unique tradition for Singapore at the United Nation. He would always deliver a thoughtful and eloquent speech with a single focus each year which has become the hallmark of the annual address by the Singapore foreign minister to the UN General Assembly. He had also composed the National Pledge with an emphasis on a united and multi-racial society in 1966 together with the former minister Ong Pang Boon. He was one of our illustrious founding fathers and the architect if our foreign policy.
Born in 25 February 1915 in Jaffna, Sri Lanka, he was only three months old when he was brought back to Seremban, Malaysia where his father rose from being a supervisor of rubber estates to a plantation owner. He began his early education at St Paul's Institution in Seremban. It was at this stage, he became an avid reader with the greatest influence from his uncles who bought him many books. He went on to study at Victoria Institution, Kuala Lumpur and finally Raffles Institution, Singapore. In 1937, he went to King's College, London to study law. He was too involved in politics as a member of the Marxist Left Book Club and failed to complete his studies.
He worked as a journalist to support himself when financial aid from his father was terminated during the war due to the lack of communication between London and Malaya. He married a Hungarian in 1941 and stayed in London for several years. After the war, they returned to Malaya in 1947. Rajaratnam worked as a journalist in the Malaya Tribune from 1948 to 1950 and left to join theSingapore Standard as an Associate Editor in 1950. From 1954 to 1959, he was the Editorial staff of The Straits Times in Singapore.
As a journalist, he wrote articles related to the political issues in Singapore and Malaya. His open anti-British and anti-Communist stance attracted the attention of Lee Kuan Yew, Toh Chin Chye and Goh Keng Swee, who together with Rajaratnam formed the People's Action Party in 1954.
In 1959, he resigned from The Straits Times to run for the Legislative Assembly seat of Kampong Glam. He was also the first Foreign Affairs Minister after Singapore gained independence in 1965.Rajaratnam together with the former minister Ong Pang Boon, composed the National Pledge with an emphasis on a united and multi-racial society in 1966.
He was also the former Minister for Labour and Culture, the Second Deputy Prime Minister in 1980 till he stepped down in 1985 and became a Senior Minister.
Rajaratnam died peacefully of heart failure on 22 February 2006 at his home in Chancery Lane. He was one of the pioneer leaders who helped in shaping the development of Singapore.
His contribution
He was Singapore’s first and longest serving Foreign Affair Minister and had conceptualized and implemented Singapore together with Lee Kuan Yew and Goh Keng Swee. He had also overcome the doubts at first about the legitimacy of Singapore’s birth. He had made Singapore a strong and valued member of ASEAN. He made many friends in all parts of the world for Singapore. He created a unique tradition for Singapore at the United Nation. He would always deliver a thoughtful and eloquent speech with a single focus each year which has become the hallmark of the annual address by the Singapore foreign minister to the UN General Assembly. He had also composed the National Pledge with an emphasis on a united and multi-racial society in 1966 together with the former minister Ong Pang Boon. He was one of our illustrious founding fathers and the architect if our foreign policy.
Videos:
Rajaratnam's Early Life: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMcvESy3sxE
Rajaratnam's Ideals: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMWsEJ35qL8&feature=related
Rajaratnam's Political/Final Years: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S42Ek8m4iyk
References:
http://infopedia.nl.sg/articles/SIP_644_2005-01-10.html
http://viweb.freehosting.net/SRajaratnam.htm http://blogs.nlb.gov.sg/highbrowseonline/general/mr-s-rajaratnam/
http://www.spp.nus.edu.sg/ips/docs/pub/pa_tk_Tribute%20to%20S%20Rajaratnam_220206.pdf
http://retrievia.wordpress.com/2008/05/17/page-52/
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