S Rajaratnam on Singapore: From Ideas to Reality - Softcover

Kwa, Chong Guan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 981270454X ISBN 13: 9789812704542

Publisher: Co-Published with World Scientific, 2006

Synopsis

This book, a compilation of key speeches and articles by the late Mr S Rajaratnam, is a tribute to one of the founding fathers of Singapore. As the country's first foreign minister, he was pivotal in conceptualising and implementing its foreign policy. Present at the birth of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), he was also instrumental in ensuring a constructive role for Singapore in regional cooperation. A staunch supporter of a multicultural society, Mr Rajaratnam envisioned the country as a cosmopolitan "global city".The volume is divided into four thematic sections: foreign policy, ASEAN regionalism, multiculturalism, and Singapore's history -- broadly encompassing Mr Rajaratnam's most important contributions to the making of modern Singapore. Also included are original research essays that reassess Mr Rajaratnam's contributions, written by senior staff of the new S Rajaratnam School of International Studies.

About this title

About the Author

Kwa Chong Guan is Head of External Programs, Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, Nanyang Technological University. He is also an Adjunct Associate Professor at the Department of History, National University of Singapore. He was previously Head of the SAFTI Military Institute's Department of Strategic Studies and concurrently, Adjunct Associate Professor in the Division of History of the National Institute of Education's School of Arts. Before joining the SAFTI Military Institute, Mr Kwa served in various capacities in the National Heritage Board, the National Museum and the Oral History Center. Mr Kwa started his working career in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs before being posted to the Ministry of Defence. He was commissioned into the Singapore Armed Forces in 1969 and had served in a variety of reservist command and staff appointments up to Division level.

Review

"The book paints a deep impression of Mr Rajaratnam as a thinker, ideologue and man of great vigour and passion who cared deeply for Singapore." -- S Chandra Das

"Mr Rajaratnam made invaluable contributions to what I would call the Singapore school of diplomacy. He was a realist but he was not a fatalist. He did not believe that small states were powerless. This book very aptly captures his idea about how Singapore should conduct itself diplomatically." -- Professor Tommy Koh

"This compilation of Mr Rajaratnam's speeches and writings gives the reader an insight into the foundation of Singapore's foreign policy and into the mind that wrote the Pledge our children recite in school every day." -- George Yeo

.,." paints a deep impression of Mr Rajaratnam as a thinker, ideologue and man of great vigour and passion ..."

Edition details

• Publisher: Co-Published with World Scientific
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 981270454X
• ISBN 13: 9789812704542
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 304