ISN Security Watch
12 Aug 2008
Norman Vasu and Joanna Phua for RSIS
Celebrating the Singapore Spirit – that’s the theme for this year’s National Day celebrations. It is a celebration of a spirit that has, following the official National Day Parade website, “stitched our social fabric in harmony, united us in adversity and propelled us towards excellence since independence”. Moreover, this spirit will permit all Singaporeans to “forge ahead” as a people and nation so as to arrive at a “better home for all” in a “global city of possibilities.” With celebrations soon to get underway, it may perhaps be an opportune time to reflect upon what permits the fostering of a Singapore Spirit.
What often comes to mind, and rightfully so, would be the troika of good governance, prudent economic policy and multicultural harmony. However, beyond this troika, what is often forgotten is the importance of language – particularly the English medium and its contribution to nation-building. After all, as expressed by then-Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew in 1969, the English language would be “useful for Singapore to use, and continue using” as “it provides continuity in the records, administration, law and the medium in which all the various racial groups compete at par with each other.”
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