Work-in-progress. Carry on the task of nation-building: LEE KUAN YEW, 2011
At the launch of his book, Hard Truths To Keep Singapore Going, in January 2011, Mr Lee Kuan Yew said:
"We are a nation in the making. Will we make it? Am I certain we will get there? No, I cannot say that. Something can go wrong somewhere and we'll fall apart.
"It is the business of your generation, and the generation that succeeds you to understand the vulnerability, the fragility of our society and keep it in cohesion, keep it united and keep it as it is today, tolerant of each other, accommodating each other."
At the launch of his book, Hard Truths To Keep Singapore Going, in January 2011, Mr Lee Kuan Yew said:
"We are a nation in the making. Will we make it? Am I certain we will get there? No, I cannot say that. Something can go wrong somewhere and we'll fall apart.
"It is the business of your generation, and the generation that succeeds you to understand the vulnerability, the fragility of our society and keep it in cohesion, keep it united and keep it as it is today, tolerant of each other, accommodating each other."
Speaking off the cuff, Mr Lee urged the younger generation not to assume that Singapore's nationhood or success was a given.
"If you believe it's a reality, then I think you're making a mistake. It's an aspiration. It's something that we must make into a reality probably in another 20, 30, 40, or 50 years."
Starting out with 'multiple peoples, no common language, no common culture' Singapore has succeeded in making its citizens feel there is a place here for them.
But having a place for all races here is not the same as becoming a nation. Mr Lee defined becoming a nation as one where people made sacrifices, or died for one another.
He cited China and Japan as examples of bona fide nations.
"You have a nation like China or Japan, China can be ravaged, demolished but the people come together again and rebuild. I'm not sure if Singapore were damaged, ravaged and demolished, they could ever come together again.
"I do not deceive myself for one moment that our differences of race, culture or religion will disappear.
"So this precious, accidental, improbable, unlikely nation that we have created should be nurtured, carefully strengthened and built upon," Mr Lee said.
Two years earlier in 1999, in an interview with ST, Mr Lee also spoke on the need to ensure the rotation of the Presidency.
He said:
“[The] convention of rotating the Presidency among the races was important to remind Singaporeans that their country was multi-racial. I think it's time to remind Singaporeans that we are a multiracial community. It's a symbolic expression of our national identity.”
The task of nation-building is our responsibility. Build, not destroy.
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