SINGAPORE - 2 "Fathers" BUT 1 Country or, is it 2 Countries BUT 1 "Father"?

POLITICS - Column: " from THE fringes "

by Amirul HM

Kuala Lumpur & Singapore City, MALAYSIA (before 1965 Separation)

Tuesday, 8th September 2015 

a Country with 2 "Fathers"

or,

Is it 1 "Father" but 2 Countries?

( Mr. Yusok Ishak, The First President of Singapore? or is it Yusof Ishak!? )

The future of Singapore, at least for the next couple of years will be decided this Friday.

Singaporeans will be going to the polls this week despite Malaysians having a stronger case of voting in a general elections "now" on this side of the Johore causeway. Having just celebrated their 50th year of independence the ruling PAP should pull it through but it'll be no cruise from what I gather.

History is written by the victors and nowadays the capitalists. Hence, many will dispute this version of history I am about to write. After all, its written by a writer who had only "learned" official history till form 3 and even then will now and again challenge the official version being regurgitated by the writer's history teacher i.e. Teacher Kassim. So much so that at one time he was challenged by the teacher along these lines - "...if you think you know better than me, why don't you teach history to the class!?". 
To which the challenge was accepted albeit hesitantly at first and ended up with the writer earning the nickname and being called "Cikgu"(meaning teacher in the Malay language) for the rest of his stay in junior college.

( The Tunku, Father of  Malaya 1957, Malaysia 1963 and Singapore 1965 )

Many Malaysians can easily identify with Tunku Abdul Rahman being the Father of Independence. The mistake many Malaysians make is identifying the Tunku as the Father of Independence for Malaysia whereas by right he is the "Bapa Kemerdekaan MALAYA 1957" or  Father of Independence for MALAYA in 1957. By the same virtue, he is the Father of Malaysia in 1965.

By the same token, even if asked to take an oath many on both sides of the causeway will be loathed to admit that the Tunku is also the Father of Independence for Singapore in 1965. Many, many, many Singaporeans and Malaysians will argue against this depending on which version of history they are "comfortable" with but the fact of the matter is HE(The Tunku) IS the Father of Independence for both countries Malaya(now Malaysia) and Singapore. I suppose, the official version for goodwill purposes will always be The Tunku is the Father of Independence for Malaya(Malaysia) and K.Y.Lee or LKY, the Father for Singapore.

This is where it gets interesting and would be dealt with in Part 2 of this article.
Briefly, in terms of territory I am wary and worried whenever Malaysia have a PM from the north. Reason being 2 out of 3 PMs from the northern states "lost" precious soil to Singapore.
(more story and/or history to follow).

( Flag of Singapore )

Having watched Singapore grow over the years, initially through the eyes of a youngster watching his cousins play football on the once numerous fields available in Woodlands, then mainly through regular visits to relatives from the time the Malaysian Ringgit and Singapore Dollar was at parity till now I've taken an interest in what's happening across the causeway. Regular updates from not just relatives but also a few Singaporean neighbours, friends working in the Republic and even a TV co-presenter ensured I was updated on a regular basis.In fact, I was supposed to head down south for the SEA Games and ASEAN Age Group Chess Championship in June but a brief stay in the hospital negated that. Hence, a trip is long overdue.

From what I gather though all seemed peaceful on the surface there are many simmering issues. The substantial working population of foreigners is an eternal flashpoint. So too are issues like public transportation, the disconnect between elitists highly paid lawmakers and blue-collared Singaporeans and also arising issues from national service to name a few. Money or the lack of it seemed to be a recurring theme. As an example when I pose the question - "Why is it despite Singapore being touted as a high income nation in the world, the Bangladeshis working in Malaysia earns more than Singapore's national service conscripts?" and this too with an exchange rate of RM3 = SGD1. To which half past six answers are normally given


In the final game plan for a better quality of life, I would like to convey to my relatives, friends and Singaporeans in general - "Singaporeans, Moving Forward - May you vote for the Best Leaders amongst you and All the Best for the upcoming General Elections."