SINGAPORE
SURGES AHEAD
N.Nandhi Varman
Role of
Tamils in history of Singapore
“The second
successful six year term of unanimous choice for President Sellappan Ramanathan
of Singapore is a silent revolution. It denotes recognition could be earned by
constitutional means by peace loving Tamils anywhere in the world” said
Director of Pondicherry Institute of Linguistics and Culture Dr.Marudhanayagam.
Pondicherry has many a contact with Singapore. The handloom weavers of
Muthialpet for long had been exporting to Singapore. Pe.Tha.Rasan of
Tirumalairayanpattinam of Karaikal region went to Singapore made a fortune and
participated in that country’s politics. He wrote a monumental book Singaporin
Varalatril Vazhukinra Thamizhargal. Pondicherry Chief Minister N.Rangasamy had
lauded this book as “a fruit of many years toil and hard research “
Chinese named Singapore as Pu-luo-chung, which
meant "island at the end of a peninsula" in third century. Javanese
language book Nagarakretagama' of 1365 calls as Temasek, or Sea town.
Vietnamese source for that name is there. But from 14th century Singapuram
which means Lion City is commonly used indicating the predominance of Tamil
settlers.
On 29 January 1819 Sir Stamford Raffles,
Lieutenant-Governor of Bencoolen landed in the island to establish a trading
station at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula after having surveyed other
nearby islands. Along with him came Narayana Pillai and Pe.Tha.Rasan records
the contribution of Narayana Pillai in building of Singapore. Singapore proved
to be a prized settlement.
The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 made
Singapore a major port of call for ships navigating between Europe and East
Asia. Rubber planting, especially after the 1870s made Singapore the main
exporter for rubber in the world. At the end of the 19th century Singapore
experienced unprecedented prosperity with eightfold trade expansion between
1873 and 1913. This prosperity attracted immigrants from countries around. The population
grew to 80,792 by 1860 with Chinese 61.9 per cent the Malays and Indians 13.5
and 16.05 per cent respectively; and others, including the Europeans, 8.5 per
cent.
Dravidian
Movements impact on Singapore
In that
island nation the unity of the multi ethnic society did not come over night. It
had been a long and strenuous period with visionaries shaping the destiny of
that nation. Its Union with Malaya, subsequent independent nationhood, all was
passing phases. In that phase the political movements of Tamil Nadu played an
important role. Periyar visited Malaya in 1929 to inaugurate Malaya Tamil
Congress. In later years after he parted company with Congress, Singapore
Dravida Kazhagam and subsequently Singapore Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam came up
as independent outfits. They were not extensions of the Tamil Nadu based
political outfits. They were independent parties dedicated to the country and
they never had extra territorial ambitions. Leaders like Anna advised Tamils to
be loyal to the country of settlement. This mature guidance led to amalgamation
of Tamils in that country’s national mainstream. Pe.Tha.Rasan was the General
Secretary of Singapore Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. In his time even in Ceylon
there was a separate Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam unit with A.S Manavaithambi as
General Secretary, so was the case of Malaysia Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. They
waning of the influence of Indian nationalists, communists and Dravidian
movement in the South East Asian countries where Tamils went as settlers
created a vacuum which was occupied by militancy in Srilanka, but in Malaya and
Singapore though these parties lost relevance, the ground they prepared helped
Tamils gaining national identity, Tamil language getting official language
status, and now Tamil heading a multi ethnic country like Singapore.
As settlers from Europe amalgamated into American
society Tamils and Indians became Singaporeans and Malaysians. Peace prevails
in a multi linguistic and ethnic country unlike other places of turmoil.
Immediately after independence doubts over its very survival were raised in
international media. The pressing issues were unemployment, housing, education,
lack of natural resources and lack of land.
Singapore lacked national unity among most of the
population, with people still attached to their countries of origin. Chinese
identifying as being from China, Indians from India and so on rather that were
being citizens of Singapore. Singapore dealt with each of these problems
separately.
Its leaders
decided that the population would need to be fluent in English and English was
made the medium of education for all schools. Education, at least for primary
schooling was made compulsory. The education system was designed to be rigorous
and intensive, with emphasis on immediately practical, rather than
intellectual, applications, such as on the technical sciences as opposed to
political discussion or philosophy. A large portion, around one-fifth of
Singapore's budget was devoted to education to facilitate a large and competent
work force upon graduation.
Language Policy Evolution in Tamil Nadu and
Singapore
It is pertinent to note that DMK founder
C.N.Annadurai’s visit to Singapore and Malaysia in 1965 was an eye opener to
the leader who later introduced the two language formula without diluting the
importance of English. His visit and meeting with Lee Kuan Yew played an
influential role in his later day policy perceptions on language as Tamil Nadu
Chief Minister.
The leadership of Lee Kuan Yew achieved a miracle.
After dominating political scene for longest period in office now Lee is
looking back at his past policies in a mode of introspection.
In spite of all that Lee still has soft corner for
his mother tongue. Lee expressed concern about the declining proficiency of
Mandarin among younger Singaporeans. In one of his parliamentary speeches, he
said: "Singaporeans must learn to juggle English and Mandarin".
Subsequently, he launched a television program in January 2005, in an attempt
to attract young viewers to learn Mandarin. In June 2005, Lee published a book,
Keeping My Mandarin Alive, documenting his decades of effort to master
Mandarin, a language which he said he had to re-learn due to disuse. The racial
unity was fostered well during Lee Kuan Yew’s regime.
TAMIL PRESIDENT OF SINGAPORE
S.R.Nathan
Now an ethnic Tamil had been chosen for a second
term. Mr. Sellapan Rama Nathan received a walkover on nomination Day i.e. 18
August 1999 for his first Presidential election. The Presidential Elections
Committee said in the second Presidential election in August 18 2005 that Mr.
Nathan has all the credentials for the office. “Not only is Mr. Nathan well
regarded and respected for his public service, he is also a man of integrity,
good character and reputation”.
The Tamil becoming unopposed again as President of
Singapore has generated lot of interest in Pondicherry and The students of Dr.Ambedkar Law college
launched a signature campaign in various colleges to urge Pondicherry
University to confer Honorary doctorate on S.R.Nathan citing the precedent of
Maldives President getting doctorate from Pondicherry University at an earlier
period. The author of the book that records all the services of Tamils in
nation building of Singapore Pe.Tha.Rasan after 45 years in Singapore is back
to Karaikal and presides over Kamban Kazhagam of Karaikal. It is irony of fate.
Courtesy: New Indian Express 17.09.2005
