Chapter 20 Chapter 20 Taking the First Step

We pinned our hopes on a technical mission sent by the United Nations Technical Assistance Council.This technical delegation came to Singapore in October to inspect the proposed Jurong Industrial Zone, and then provide advice on which industries are suitable for development in this industrial zone.We were lucky to have the assistance of Dr. Winsmin... He stayed in Singapore for about three months and made great contributions to the future development of Singapore. After the last British Governor leaves, we must appoint a Head of State.We chose Yusof, the managing director of Utusan Malay, as Good's successor, who was the first local to be the head of a self-governing state.In order to let the Federation know that Singaporeans are willing to accept a Malay as a leader, we have chosen an outstanding Malay.I knew Yusof was a good man, with simple habits and decent manners.His wife was younger than he was, full of life, affable and sociable. He was sworn in at Government House on December 3, just as cabinet members had been six months earlier.The cabinet was sworn in with little planning, but this time there was time to draw up a list of important social leaders, business leaders and members of the consular corps, ranked by courtesy, and seat them appropriately.Also, we had our inauguration at eight in the morning, before the sun was up.Because what followed was an hour and 15 minutes of parade across the steps of Government House, the new flag was displayed, and a choir sang the new national anthem.Legislators and ministers were on stage to watch the ceremony, surrounded by crowds.As 20,000 men, women and children carried flags and walked in front of the new head of state, various colorful balloons were launched into the sky.

The design of the national flag took a lot of effort, because the feelings of all ethnic groups must be respected.People who speak Chinese or dialects want red; Malays want red and white, which are their traditional colors that symbolize courage and purity.But the Indonesian flag already uses red and white, as does Poland.The Chinese were influenced by the five yellow stars on the Chinese flag of the Communist Party, so they wanted to add a star; the Malays wanted a new moon.As a result, we settled on a crescent moon with five white stars instead of the one star in the Islamic tradition.The five stars represent the country's five ideals, namely democracy, peace, progress, justice and equality.The national flag was designed to harmonize the symbols and ideals of the different races.

We also agreed on the design of the national emblem.On the national emblem there is a shield composed of a crescent moon and five stars, supported by a lion and a tiger on both sides, and there is a ribbon below, which reads the Malay text "Majulah Singap--ura", which means "Go ahead, Singapore!" The process of selecting an anthem is relatively easy.The tune must have the style of the region, and the lyrics should be in Mandarin.It just so happened that there was a Malay composer Zhu Sai from Sumatra in his early years. A piece of music he composed was selected by a special committee headed by Du Jincai.It has a beautiful melody and a relatively slow rhythm. The title and theme of the song are "Go on, Singapore!" ("Majulah Singapura").

Although we have fumbled in our first six months in office, we have laid the groundwork for many of the Government's key policies, including taking the first steps towards delivering on the housing programme.This plan later completely changed the face of Singapore. In February 1960, we dissolved the Singapore Improvement Trust and split its functions between the HDB and the Planning Board, with the former becoming a department under the Ministry of National Development and the latter under the purview of the Prime Minister.Then we appointed Lim Kim San as the chairman of the Housing Development Board.This appointment has a lot to do with it.Lim Jinshan and Goh Keng Swee were classmates at Anglo-Chinese School and Raffles Institution.Originally a businessman, he was a pragmatic and creative man.He designed a Sago processing machine for his Sago factory.Besides being a director of a major local bank, he also ran his father-in-law's pawn shop and his father's petrol station.His abilities are manifold.In order to provide new housing for the people, Goh Keng Swee needs to ensure that every penny allocated by the government to HDB is spent properly, and it is Lim Kim San's job to ensure that HDB does this.

Lin Jinshan followed what he thought was the best way to do it.He finally built the HDB. In May 1961, a fire broke out in the Heshuishan wooden house area, and 30,000 residents were left homeless.In just 18 months, Lim Jinshan let them live in a one-room HDB flat, which has a shared kitchen and toilet.He also built a HDB flat in my constituency on Guangdong Min Road. The location is very conspicuous. My voters see it being built up layer by layer, and they are eager to move in as soon as possible.Had it not been for Lim Jinshan who basically built the HDB flats before the general election, I might have difficulty in winning re-election.

Every new government inevitably has to prove itself, to pass many new laws, to introduce many new projects. In February 1960, I announced my plan to reorganize the Port of Singapore Authority into the Port Authority of Singapore.We then brought the Women's Charter to Parliament for first reading, ushering in a new era of monogamy and equality for men and women in Singapore.Later, after the legislative process for the establishment of the tribunal was completed in Parliament, we appointed Charles Gamba, a professor of economics at the University of Malaya, as the chairman of the tribunal.He was known to sympathize with the workers, but he could not have gone so far as to kill his employer.The tribunal was established on the Australian model.

Establishment of the Corruption Investigation Bureau We launched a family planning campaign, pre-training 1,000 volunteers to spread the word to the public.Hope to reduce the population growth rate of 4% per year. One of the most important actions we have taken is to introduce a bill in the House to give us broader powers to tackle corruption.This is the first in a series of steps we are taking to strengthen the rule of law so that defiant individuals can be brought to court.It is against this backdrop that the new branch of the Corruption Investigation Bureau was established. We announced that we will give equal financial aid to the University of Malaya (based in Singapore) and Nanyang University, but we also require the two universities to have the same degree.In order to improve the future of NTU students, we have made a lot of efforts.We set about getting them into the University of Malaya so they can improve themselves.We started to offer three-stage pre-university courses in the Faculty of Arts, Faculty of Law, and Faculty of Science, allowing qualified non-English-language students to enter the University of Malta after advanced studies.

While we have made progress in many areas, there has been little progress in economic planning alone. In September, we negotiated with Malaya on the establishment of a limited common market, but the attitude of the other party was more indifferent than before.The situation is very bad.At that time, a local manufacturer planned to expand his cotton textile factory, making it a factory from providing raw materials to producing finished products, including weaving and clothing; this was already big news, because the expansion of the factory would increase the required labor force by 300 .We are in a difficult situation and desperately need new jobs.

At the time, tourism was still in its infancy in Asia.Most tourists from advanced countries go to other advanced countries for sightseeing.So we decided to launch a publicity campaign and designate 1961 as the "Visit the East Year".In order to attract tourists, we hold an air exhibition in April, followed by a TV and radio exhibition, a car exhibition, an orchid exhibition, a photography exhibition and so on. On June 3, the National Day celebration will be held.What follows is a two-week cultural festival.We use these few programs to attract foreign tourists. We pinned our hopes on a technical mission sent by the United Nations Technical Assistance Council.This technical delegation came to Singapore in October to inspect the proposed Jurong Industrial Zone, and then provide advice on which industries are suitable for development in this industrial zone.We were fortunate to have the assistance of Dr. Winsmin.He is the head of this technical group, and he is also a practical and capable businessman. He was an industrialist in the past and served as a minister in the Dutch government. He knows the economic situation of Europe and America after the Second World War.He stayed in Singapore for about three months and made great contributions to the future development of Singapore.

At that time, our economy was mainly dependent on trade, especially re-exports.An Indonesian delegation came to Singapore to discuss how to eliminate "irregular trade" between the two places and how to increase their foreign exchange earnings.They asked us to credit a considerable percentage of the goods shipped from Indonesia to Singapore into their accounts in foreign exchange, and they agreed to purchase a certain amount of goods agreed by both parties through Singapore.However, what lies ahead is an almost insoluble problem.It is extremely difficult for us to cooperate with merchants. No one will declare the value of the goods imported from or exported to Indonesia, nor will they declare the list and price of the goods actually bought and sold.The price on the invoice sent by the Indonesian distributor is also lower than the actual value of the goods, and they often use the same export license to send the second batch of goods and so on.