The following is the transcript of the National Day Rally Speech of The Reform Party. It was delivered by its party’s secretary general, Mr Kenneth Jeyaretnam, at Speakers’ Corner on the 10
Fellow Singaporeans,
It is now 44 years since independence and in that time we have achieved much. We all know that Singapore as a whole is today much richer than it was in 1965. But we also know that Singapore is a far poorer nation in terms of loss of freedoms and lack of opportunities and erosion of human rights.
The Reform Party would like to begin today by focusing on the words of our Nation’s pledge. Like every Singaporean, I recited this every day in primary school, some forty years ago now, followed by the singing of the National Anthem. How far does today’s reality correspond with the words of the pledge?
We pledge to build a democratic society. And truly in these last 44 years we have built….. and built and built. And what we have gained is an infrastructure, an edifice, a corporate head quarters. We have built the house but not the home. And as for a democratic society? From where we stand today this pledge is honoured more in the breach than the observance.
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Quite right. PAP built us houses but not homes. Did Reform Party even build a sand castle?
All these very clever rhetorics do not add up to anything. Nation building must go through stages and we Singaporeans can congratulate ourselves that we have arrive at a more than satisfactory stage. Just look at Malaysia, Indonesia and Phillipines.
It is up to the newer generations to bring Singapore forward. To deride the work done by the MIW or whatever colour is absolutely wrong.
KJ or Kill Joy, afterall is the son of the most bitter opposition in Singapore. Can he be sure that he harbour none of the bitterness??
I can see the bitterness slowly leaching out.
Koyomin,
You are the classic Xenophobe nurtured and created by years of adhering to the status quo. Its just pretty sad that you hold such a view. But you are entitled to that view for we are a democracy… Everyone is entitled to their views no matter how warped they are.. Agree to disagree and move on.
This is my view that I have posted on some other forums;
I believe singaporeans in general have become too comfortable with the status quo and are afraid if it changes everything will cease to work. Xenophobia is what we are afflicted with…. After all we have only been exposed to 1 government. What will happen if the PAP falls? we won’t know. Will the country collapse when the ruling party loses power? That is what I feel, many of us are afraid of(like koyoming), and they are using it to their advantage. However, the truth is, if the current government were to lose it majority, Singapore will still continue on. Only its leaders will change, all its civil services/statutory boards and its related machinery will remain… ( I give it to the ruling party for building up a solid bureaucracy) Singapore will continue chug along with or without the PAP. So as long as there are credible enough alternatives, I say give them a chance. Bring diversity to parliament, and not the dreary white wash we see today. I believe Singaporeans are a truly resilient lot, but we are just being stifled and caged. We need a little more freedom. And for that to happen, something has to change…
As Donaldson Tan mentioned earlier,
“It is a fallacy to assume any Government can control the economy and thus a greater fallacy to attribute economic success to the Government of the Day.”
The Singapore of today was built by the old guard of yesteryear. Stalwarts such as Goh Keng Swee and Rajaratnam just to name a couple, and even the younger lky when he was still “for the people”. But now, the leaders who are all seating in parliament are all inheritors of said success of yesteryear, they wriggled into the fray through “walkovers”… pathetic excuses for politicians… And now, they are squandering and eroding the rights of its people. treating us as digits that affect the bottom line,
Another thought provoking motion I would like to throw into the wind…
The victors are the ones who write history.. we may well have been raised in a farce from the very beginning… Who are we to say that what we have learnt about Singapore’s early years to be true? Were the communists really communists? or were they just far left nationalists that the British wanted to be rid of… how convenient…
And with that I would like to conclude by saying…
We all have to have a stake in our future, A stake in Singapore. Believe in Change.
We can change…but first, we must want change, 1 vote at a time at the upcoming elections.. :-) That vote is your stake in our future.. vote wisely.
There is always hope.