“GAIN experience abroad, but come back to Singapore and be part of the adventure that is Asia’s growth. In making the call to 400 Singaporeans studying overseas, Manpower Minister Ng Eng Hen told them that an exciting decade lay ahead for the country and region.”
I totally agree with Dr. Ng’s stance on this issue.
I apologize for not posting for some time, mainly because there’s a great firewall in China that is hard to penetrate. I tried to access my blog everyday and surprisingly, managed to get on it today finally. I might not be able to post until August unless another lucky incidence like this occurs again.
It reminded me of an old article I wrote which I would like to re-publish here.
History is not just one linear truth
Enrich our understanding of S’pore’s past by bringing in alternative, diverse accounts THE recent death of Mr S Rajaratnam sparked a profound debate in the press: Why are there Singaporeans who don’t know that Mr Rajaratnam wrote our Pledge and that he laid important foundations for Singapore’s multi-racialism?
Should history be written to honour more of our founding fathers?.
More importantly, how should we teach Singapore’s post-independence history?
The purpose of history textbooks in Singapore, just as in many other countries, remains debatable. While many still believe that Singapore’s history is merely a jumble of facts to be regurgitated for test purposes, others believe history should be a forum for patriotism and nation-building.
But our history textbooks should also inspire lively discussion about the societal, cultural and political debates of those times.
Categories: History
