Speech by Alan Chan, Chief Executive Officer, Singapore Press Holdings at the
SPH Memorial Ceremony for Founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew on Thursday
26 March 2015 at the SPH News Centre Auditorium
Chairman, Directors and my dear colleagues,
We are gathered here today to commemorate and pay our deepest respect to Mr Lee
Kuan Yew, the founding Prime Minister of Singapore. He played an important part of my
life, from my education, my upbringing as well as my professional career. I owe a lot to
Mr Lee.
When I sent news of Mr Lee's demise to my RI and French Scholarship mate, the Head
of Air Liquide North Asia & SE Asia Operations, his reply from Shanghai was " I am very
sad. We all were his children". My classmate has been working overseas since 1984. It
is remarkable that after 30 years abroad, he still holds Mr Lee in such high regards.
We both entered Primary One in January 1960, six months after Mr Lee's election as
the first Prime Minister of self-governing Singapore.
In 1960, Mr Lee made it mandatory for students like us to study a second official
language ie Chinese, Malay or Tamil. While this may now seem routine to younger
Singaporeans, this was not the case in those days. My elder siblings studied French
and Latin for their Second Language and it was optional. I was in the first batch of both
PSLE and ‘O’ level students who had to take mandatory second language examinations.
Mr Lee laid the foundation of the Second Language policy in Singapore.
As we strove for independence, Mr Lee needed a Rugged Society to build the nation.
We were encouraged to participate in sports and uniformed groups to build up our
character. Kennedy’s famous line of “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what
you can do for your country” was a clarion call for Singaporeans. This became a
principle of Government.
I was in the second batch of students who were conscripted into National Service
immediately after our HSC in late 1971. At that time, Singapore was so poor that it could
only afford to feed the combat troops in the SAF. Those of us in the logistics bases had
to pay for our own meals.
It was also the period when the British Military pulled out of Singapore and civilian
workers in Naval Base and the Army and Airforce Depots lost their jobs. Many were
taken in as Corporals and Sergeants in the SAF units. As a 19-year old conscript, I
worked alongside 50-year old uncles in the SAF.
An image that remains etched in my mind was lunch at the Choa Chu Kang makeshift
stalls outside General Equipment Base. With our NS allowance, my JC pal and I could
share a rice meal with vegetables, meat and fish. But, we saw two old uncle Corporals
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eating a lunch of only rice and curry sauce. When we asked, one of them replied: “Son,
with $220 salary, I have to raise my family with three school-going children. Every cent
counts.”
When I now see our well fed, well housed and well travelled Singaporeans, I am most
grateful for what Mr Lee and his first generation leaders have done for us. We have
come a long way.
I managed to win two Government Scholarships to pursue my undergraduate and
postgraduate studies. That was the only ticket to an overseas education at that time.
Singapore was dependent on scholarships donated by the Colombo Plan and foreign
countries. The students had to fight for the few scholarships available, eg only two slots
for Economics and four for Electronics. It is so different today. As long as a student is
suitable, PSC will now give a scholarship. There is no quota.
In 1994, I was selected to be Mr Lee's Principal Private Secretary. I went about meeting
my seniors to better understand the job. I asked one of them how I could take my
annual vacation. I was immediately chided with this remark, "Alan, when you are
assisting a man who lives and breathes Singapore, how can you ever think of holidays?
You should work alongside Mr Lee for the good of Singapore". I never felt so small as I
did that day. Indeed, here was the man who worked every waking hour for Singapore,
thinking constantly how to improve our conditions of living.
The three years I was with him were the best learning experience in my life. At times, I
was overwhelmed by the countless requests for meetings from both local and foreign
dignitaries. To these requests, he would always ask one question," Will this meeting
help Singapore? If not, drop it". I was quite taken by this cover page from Sin Chew
Daily, Malaysia's no.1 newspaper. The headlines say, "All his life, he embraced
Singapore". This really encapsulates the spirit of Mr Lee Kuan Yew. Best of all, it is a
Malaysian newspaper which said it.
My coming to SPH has something to do with Mr Lee. In 1994, Mr Lee invited Mr Lim
Kim San who had just lost his wife, to join him on his trip to China. I had the opportunity
to spend 17 days with Mr Lim discussing all kinds of issues. Eight years later, in 2002,
when Mr Lim needed to find someone to replace Tjong Yik Min, he asked Mr Lee if I
could be made available from the civil service and that's how I ended up here. Even
after I joined SPH, Mr Lee would call me up regularly and enquire on the well being of
the "SPH porcelain vase", and whether we are reaching out to the young and to
Chinese, Malay and Tamil readers.
Mr Lee, you have taught me the love for Singapore, the spirit of Nation Building and the
importance of a Second Language to root ourselves to our culture and to secure our
place in this region. My sincere wish is that these teachings will pass on to our younger
generation to continue striving for a better Singapore. We must continually embrace
Singapore.
May I invite all of you to stand for the National Anthem.
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