Singapore's turbulent beginnings were crucial in forging our path to stability

Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong spoke of Singapore's journey and lessons in building its institutions, economy and society in a speech delivered on Nov 12 at the annual Edwin L. Godkin Lecture at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. Here is an excerpt from his speech.

Today's Singapore may give the impression that the country has always been orderly and stable. But this was far from so. Our beginnings were turbulent.

Like many other countries, we fought against our colonial masters – in our case, Britain – for the right to determine our own destiny. We eventually succeeded and achieved first self-government, which is internal, and then full independence.

Along the way, we had to choose whether to have a left-wing and pro-communist government, or a democratic and non-communist government. It was a big political battle, especially as our population was majority ethnic Chinese, with strong ethnic and family ties to communist China.

Fending off the communist threat was one of the reasons why Singapore merged into a new Federation of Malaysia. We saw that as our independent future. But in the Federation, we encountered another fundamental conflict of priorities – between multiracialism and racial equality on the one hand, and race-based politics and the dominance of one ethnic group on the other hand.

Tragically, this led to riots and bloodshed. The differences proved too stark to be reconciled and in 1965, Singapore was expelled from the Federation. So, independent Singapore was born. It was a complicated, unnatural birth, amid great political upheaval and strife.

The battles could easily have gone either way. But fortunately, in the end things turned out well for Singapore, and these circumstances established the founding ideals that continue to underpin our nationhood – to be independent and sovereign; to be non-communist and democratic; and to be multiracial and meritocratic, with equal opportunities for all regardless of race, language or religion.