The relentless pressure to choose race over nation
When Singapore was a part of Malaysia from 1963 to 1965, the People's Action Party's (PAP) Malay MPs came under relentless pressure to choose race over nation, PM Lee said in his eulogy to former Cabinet minister Othman Wok.
Offer of riches to jump ship!
They were also offered land and other riches to jump ship and joined Malaysia's leading Malay party, the United Malays National Organisation (Umno).
Neither cowed nor tempted..
But the PAP MPs were not cowed or tempted and remained loyal to the cause of multi-racialism.
History could have been completely different..
Had they wavered, the PAP would have lost the moral authority to champion its ideal of a multi-racial country, and the Singapore story may have turned out very differently, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Wednesday (April 19) in his eulogy to pioneer Cabinet minister Othman Wok.
The Malay community's pivotal role in how Singapore turned out.
"If Othman and his Malay colleagues had lost heart, the PAP's claim to be a multi-racial party would have been severely damaged. Its cry of a 'Malaysian Malaysia' would have been exposed as empty.
"The Federal Government might have been emboldened to suppress the Singapore state government, and bring Singapore to heel. There might never have been an independent, multi-racial Singapore.
Othman and his Malay colleagues kept the dream of a multi-racial society alive..
"Othman and his Malay colleagues stood firm, and held a sufficient portion of the Singapore Malay ground. It is because they kept the dream of a multi-racial society alive through those terrible dark days, that we are now able to say 'We, the citizens of Singapore,pledge ourselves as one united people'," Mr Lee said.
The golden thread running through Mr Othman's commitment..
Mr Lee said one golden thread that ran through was the pioneer leader's commitment to the ideal of a multi-racial and multi-religious Singapore.
Mr Othman, who joined the PAP in 1954, became an MP in 1963 after winning at Pasir Panjang single-member constituency in the General Election that year.
Threatened, abused, denounced by UMNO
As a Malay PAP MP during the days when communalist emotions ran high, he was abused, threatened and denounced by Malaysia's Umno politicians.
"They were called "kafirs" or infidels. They received death threats. Othman recalled that some of his (election) posters were smeared with faeces," said Mr Lee.
It was also during this period that Mr Othman would witness the dangers of racial politics first hand.
In July 1964, he was leading the PAP contingent in a procession to mark Prophet Muhamad's birthday when racial riots broke out and engulfed Singapore. A cool-headed Mr Othman led his group to safety, but the incident was forever seared in his memory.
In the aftermath of the riots, he accompanied founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew on community visits to calm the ground and restore confidence and racial harmony.
Malay community in Singapore held fast to the ideals of multi-racialism during the tumultuous times..
Mr Lee added that it was not just Mr Othman and the other Malay PAP MPs who held fast to the ideals of multi-racialism during these tumultuous times, but also the Malay community in Singapore. As a result, Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister Tun Razak concluded during a visit to Singapore after the riots that Singapore Malays were different from the Malays in Peninsula Malaysia.
"In other words, it was not only Chinese Singaporeans who could not be cowed by threats of riots and mayhem. Malay Singaporeans too could not be easily seduced by appeals to race and religion," he said.
"Singaporeans were an altogether obstreperous people. Better for Singapore to leave Malaysia. That set in train events which led to August 9, 1965," said Mr Lee about Singapore's independence story.
Celebrating Mr Othman's 91st birthday
From majority race to minority community..
Mr Lee also hailed Mr Othman's involvement in signing the Separation Agreement.
“That was a crucial decision,” he explained.
“For once Singapore separated from Malaysia, Singapore Malays would overnight cease being part of the majority race and become a minority community again. If Singapore Malays had not accepted that change, we could not have built a multi-racial society.”
“But it was because Malay Singaporeans and Malay PAP leaders in 1965 embraced the nobler dream of a shared national identity, ‘regardless of race, language or religion’, that we are able today to practise in Singapore a form of non-communal politics, based on justice and equality, that is unique in our region and rare in the world.”
Mr Othman also volunteered to join the People’s Defence Force after Separation, to set an example and underline the importance of defence, said the Prime Minister.
Never in his wildest dream..
Mr Lee said: “If you asked Othman whether he had imagined playing such a significant role in our history, he would tell you, as he titled his memoirs, ‘never in his wildest dreams’.”
“Never in his wildest dreams did he think he would one day play such a pivotal role in how Singapore turned out.”
“Debts of gold we can repay, but debts of kindness will be carried to death.”
“As we look back on 92 years of Othman’s life, we should also look ahead, to the future of Singapore. That was what he and his colleagues had fought for.”
“So while it is with sorrow today that we bid farewell to one of Singapore’s greatest sons, we also give thanks for the extraordinary life of one who gave so much of himself to the country.”
“Debts of gold we can repay, but debts of kindness will be carried to death,” concluded Mr Lee, quoting a traditional Malay poem.
"On behalf of a grateful nation, thank you Othman. May you rest in peace."
