Tharman Shanmugaratnam of sri lankan origin becomes President-elect of Singapore

20 September 2023 04:32 am Views - 760

• As a community it gives immense reason for pride. Suffice to say, it can be a reality here too. We need to be asking why not yet
• The President-elect kept hammering home an all of Singapore message of inclusivity, confidence in the system and his career spoke of merit and aptitude

 

The election through a citizens vote of President-elect Tharman Shanmugaratnam has evoked interest in Singapore, India, Sri Lanka, Tamils and in particular citizens in Jaffna given his Ceylonese antecedents. The view of this writer is roots and genes matter. Roots because forefathers and mothers being the pioneers, crossed land and seas and developed themselves and families thereon, who in turn perhaps and not necessarily always entered public service.This is very true of migration movements to federated Malaya towards the end the 18th century and the commencement of the 19th.  

First Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew in his Forward in the book “A hundred years of Ceylonese in Malaysia and Singapore (1867 - 1967)” by S. Durai Raja Singam, says “in the early days of Malaysia’s and Singapore’s history, the civil service and the professions were manned by a good number of Ceylonese.

The point is that the Ceylonese are holding their own in open competition with communities far larger than them. They have asked for no special favour or consideration as a minority. What they have asked for - and quite rightly - is that they should be judged on their merits and that they be allowed to compete with all other citizens fairly and without discrimination. This, as far as the Singapore government is concerned, is what is best for all of us. I believe that the future belongs to that society which acknowledges and rewards ability, drive and high performance without regard to race, language or religion.  

Our Ceylonese citizens, like the other citizens of migrant stock, have made a distinctive contribution towards the enrichment and growth of Singapore, as they have towards the modernisation of Malaysia and Singapore during the past hundred years. Their forefathers emigrated and sweated and toiled to build a new world out of virgin jungle and swamp so that their descendants could live in dignity and equality: not on sufferance but as of right, because they sweated and toiled to build their new homeland”.  

The election to office of the President elect of Singapore of Tharman Shanmugaratnam is a perfect example of what has been stated. A product of the system reaching high office, albeit by a popular vote.  
His father was very well known in the medical sphere. Both his arms of family, be it his father’s or mother’s were from families settled, educated and developed in Malaya and Singapore with antecedents from Jaffna. Roots thus plays a role.  

Genes comes next. The spirit of service, serving the country of domicile, an ability to imbibe what’s best calls for a willingness and openness to assimilate such trends, habits and action. His maternal grandfather was a trailblazer in Malaya as a medical doctor. His father was a legend in Singapore.   
The President-elect kept hammering home an all of Singapore message of inclusivity, confidence in the system and his career spoke of merit and aptitude. 

 
The writer’ss personal view is that the President-elect and the Prime Minister are in their own way sheparding the transition to a new crop of leadership whilst bolstering public, domestic and international confidence in the brand name of Singapore. It is ironic, reading the late Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew’s words that persons of Ceylonese decent apart from punching above their weight had also become illustrious citizens. As a community it gives immense reason for pride. Suffice to say, it can be a reality here too. We need to be asking why not yet, why in any event can we not!