The Lion’s Roar

“Irene Ng’s biography of S. Rajaratnam is a monumental and painstaking record of the life, beliefs and moral courage of a core member of Singapore’s founding generation of leaders. Rajaratnam’s significance is more than a matter of history. The principles he advanced as our first foreign minister to secure a small country’s interests remain central to how Singapore shapes its destiny in a tumultuous world. So too his inexhaustible optimism, even in the darkest of times, as this compelling narrative brings to life. Yet Rajaratnam’s deepest imprint was in his vision of a multiracial Singapore, encapsulated in the national pledge for which he was principal author. It was his most powerful conviction: that we can and must be one united people, regardless of race, language or religion. The diversity of our cultures gives Singapore strength. But Rajaratnam’s conviction that Singaporeans could create a national identity that transcends and takes priority over other affinities remains what we must live up to. The Lion’s Roar should be read by new generations, today and tomorrow.”