Sammyboy RSS Feed
27-05-2016, 06:00 PM
An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:
http://themiddleground.sg/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/founders-memorial.jpg
by Bertha Henson
I WENT through the GIC e-book and so many old names popped up. Some still living, some dead. There was one name which struck me: Chua Kim Yeow. I know of him only because he was contending for the post of Singapore’s first elected President. In the end, it was the late Mr Ong Teng Cheong who won the vote.
As a reporter, I went to check on what he did to qualify him for the job. He was an Accountant-General for 20 years, and that seems like a long time counting beans, doesn’t it? But at the time, that was being drummed into the population: We needed someone who was good with figures to watch over the nation’s reserves.
Then I read about his involvement building up the financial system (we didn’t have much of a sector then) together with the late Dr Goh Keng Swee, the late Mr Lim Kim San, and the late Mr Hon Sui Sen. He was among the pioneers who were involved in the currency split with Malaysia. I wonder if I was “late” about him. I believe he is still alive. He is a senior adviser to Stamford Tyres. And 90 years old.
I have never spoken to Dr Goh, and I knew Mr Lim only because he was chairman of Singapore Press Holdings. Known as “golden mountain” to us naughty journalists, he was a formidable intellect who could wake up from a nap at a meeting and immediately grasp what was being discussed.
.
Getting to know our pioneers
I think to myself that I had better start reading up all the books about Singapore’s pioneers, to have a better sense of who helped build this country. But I’ve always had a problem with biographies and memoirs because the authors seem to resort to justifying or explaining their words or works. It is biased non-fiction.
It is the case for GIC’s e-book, especially its celebration of the late Dr Goh. But it has a non-fiction narrative – or historical timeline – over an issue which few know of unless they lived through those days. That is of great value – who did what, where, when, how, and why. Now whether we believe the “why” and whether the actions were right at the time and right forever are some things we can all argue about.
What tales could Mr Chua tell I wonder. GIC author Freddy Orchard did not interview him, but he did a whole host of other interviews with Messrs Yong Pung How, Michael Wong Pakshong, and Sim Kee Boon, to name a few. Would that we could have a look at the interview notes!
It’s likely that historians have already got to them – or that they have spoken to Singapore’s oral history department. We have to collect the memories quickly, before they all die out.
WHIPPERSNAPPER: Mr Yong Pung How was appointed the first Managing Director of GIC by Dr Goh Keng Swee. On his first day of work, in the yet-to-be-named company, then Managing Director of Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) Lim Kim San referred to Mr Yong as a “whippersnapper”. Nevertheless, Mr Yong soon gained the respect of Mr Lim and later took over him as Managing Director of MAS. (Image is a screenshot from the e-book Safeguarding The Future – The Story Of How Singapore Has Managed Its Reserves And The Founding Of GIC.)
A check of Singapore’s first Cabinet showed that of nine members, only one is still alive. We know the work of the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew – he left a million words for us to chew over. We know that the late Mr S Rajaratnam wrote the words of the Pledge.
Our state flag and crest were designed by a committee led by Dr Toh Chin Chye; the committee also selected our national anthem. Mr E W Barker drafted the Proclamation of Singapore – the document which announced the separation of Singapore from Malaysia, which Mr Lee read on August 9, 1965.
Who else?
It is something for the committee looking into the Founders’ Memorial to think about. All we have right now are two sites, Fort Canning and Marina Bay, as options for the establishment of this memorial – whatever shape it takes. I listened to the “highlights” videos on what participants who took part in dialogues said, and it was all very abstract – like how it should be a “living” memorial.
We have to collect the memories quickly, before they all die out.
Frankly, I think the memorial should house a library, a collection of Singapore history – from non-traditional, politically incorrect sources as well – and every telegram, minutes of meeting, document, fax, and letter that has a bearing on how today’s Singapore came about. So a museum-cum-library?
The point is: Let’s not wait too long because time isn’t on the side of our pioneers.
http://themiddleground.sg/2016/05/27...s-theyre-dead/ (http://themiddleground.sg/2016/05/27/stories-pioneers-theyre-dead/)
Click here to view the whole thread at www.sammyboy.com (http://www.singsupplies.com/showthread.php?230270-Need-To-Compile-Stories-of-Ah-Gong-and-His-Companions-Before-They-All-Die!-One-Left!&goto=newpost).
http://themiddleground.sg/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/founders-memorial.jpg
by Bertha Henson
I WENT through the GIC e-book and so many old names popped up. Some still living, some dead. There was one name which struck me: Chua Kim Yeow. I know of him only because he was contending for the post of Singapore’s first elected President. In the end, it was the late Mr Ong Teng Cheong who won the vote.
As a reporter, I went to check on what he did to qualify him for the job. He was an Accountant-General for 20 years, and that seems like a long time counting beans, doesn’t it? But at the time, that was being drummed into the population: We needed someone who was good with figures to watch over the nation’s reserves.
Then I read about his involvement building up the financial system (we didn’t have much of a sector then) together with the late Dr Goh Keng Swee, the late Mr Lim Kim San, and the late Mr Hon Sui Sen. He was among the pioneers who were involved in the currency split with Malaysia. I wonder if I was “late” about him. I believe he is still alive. He is a senior adviser to Stamford Tyres. And 90 years old.
I have never spoken to Dr Goh, and I knew Mr Lim only because he was chairman of Singapore Press Holdings. Known as “golden mountain” to us naughty journalists, he was a formidable intellect who could wake up from a nap at a meeting and immediately grasp what was being discussed.
.
Getting to know our pioneers
I think to myself that I had better start reading up all the books about Singapore’s pioneers, to have a better sense of who helped build this country. But I’ve always had a problem with biographies and memoirs because the authors seem to resort to justifying or explaining their words or works. It is biased non-fiction.
It is the case for GIC’s e-book, especially its celebration of the late Dr Goh. But it has a non-fiction narrative – or historical timeline – over an issue which few know of unless they lived through those days. That is of great value – who did what, where, when, how, and why. Now whether we believe the “why” and whether the actions were right at the time and right forever are some things we can all argue about.
What tales could Mr Chua tell I wonder. GIC author Freddy Orchard did not interview him, but he did a whole host of other interviews with Messrs Yong Pung How, Michael Wong Pakshong, and Sim Kee Boon, to name a few. Would that we could have a look at the interview notes!
It’s likely that historians have already got to them – or that they have spoken to Singapore’s oral history department. We have to collect the memories quickly, before they all die out.
WHIPPERSNAPPER: Mr Yong Pung How was appointed the first Managing Director of GIC by Dr Goh Keng Swee. On his first day of work, in the yet-to-be-named company, then Managing Director of Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) Lim Kim San referred to Mr Yong as a “whippersnapper”. Nevertheless, Mr Yong soon gained the respect of Mr Lim and later took over him as Managing Director of MAS. (Image is a screenshot from the e-book Safeguarding The Future – The Story Of How Singapore Has Managed Its Reserves And The Founding Of GIC.)
A check of Singapore’s first Cabinet showed that of nine members, only one is still alive. We know the work of the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew – he left a million words for us to chew over. We know that the late Mr S Rajaratnam wrote the words of the Pledge.
Our state flag and crest were designed by a committee led by Dr Toh Chin Chye; the committee also selected our national anthem. Mr E W Barker drafted the Proclamation of Singapore – the document which announced the separation of Singapore from Malaysia, which Mr Lee read on August 9, 1965.
Who else?
It is something for the committee looking into the Founders’ Memorial to think about. All we have right now are two sites, Fort Canning and Marina Bay, as options for the establishment of this memorial – whatever shape it takes. I listened to the “highlights” videos on what participants who took part in dialogues said, and it was all very abstract – like how it should be a “living” memorial.
We have to collect the memories quickly, before they all die out.
Frankly, I think the memorial should house a library, a collection of Singapore history – from non-traditional, politically incorrect sources as well – and every telegram, minutes of meeting, document, fax, and letter that has a bearing on how today’s Singapore came about. So a museum-cum-library?
The point is: Let’s not wait too long because time isn’t on the side of our pioneers.
http://themiddleground.sg/2016/05/27...s-theyre-dead/ (http://themiddleground.sg/2016/05/27/stories-pioneers-theyre-dead/)
Click here to view the whole thread at www.sammyboy.com (http://www.singsupplies.com/showthread.php?230270-Need-To-Compile-Stories-of-Ah-Gong-and-His-Companions-Before-They-All-Die!-One-Left!&goto=newpost).