The late Mr S. Rajaratnam was a Founding Father of Singapore. His contributions laid the foundations not only in the principles of our foreign policy which guide our relations with others but also in our philosophy as a multi-racial society, guiding how we live with one another as Singaporeans of different races.

As Singapore's first Foreign Affairs Minister, he showed us how size need not impede us from making significant contributions in the regional and world stage. He showed us how to punch above our weight and secure respect for our country; at the same time, he showed us how to build bridges and make friends in the world. He underlined how necessary it was for us to be engaged and be plugged into the global economy to prosper and to develop; at the same time, he knew how critical it was that we should never lose our sense of who we are as a young, Singaporean nation. Perhaps the best testimony of this is the National Pledge which he crafted, bearing the national ideals and values that have anchored us through the flux of change and history.

These lessons which he taught us remain even more relevant today. In an intensely competitive globalised world, we need to maintain and be sustained by the core values of who we are as a nation. Our people must share a sense of common destiny even as we engage and participate in the global market-place of ideas, innovations and economic opportunities.

In fact, in the current security climate where extremist terrorism continues to threaten the world, holding on to the values in our National Pledge has become even more critical. In multi-racial, multi-religious Singapore, remaining committed to Mr S. Rajaratnam's vision of being "one united people regardless of race, language or religion" is the only way we can ensure that terrorist violence in the name of religion will not unravel our social fabric of cohesion and communal harmony.

I cannot think of a more apt person to honour by naming our School of International Studies after, other than the late Mr S. Rajaratnam. He was a man of vision, of deep conviction and moral courage. He was a person who believed in positive possibilities even in the midst of dark adversity. Fundamentally, he believed in the capacity for people to learn and therefore the capacity to change, to make things better than we find them -to take charge of our own destiny and build a better world. In short, Mr S. Rajaratnam was a great political leader who has made a lasting contribution to Singapore. And today, we are all the beneficiaries of his legacy.

I wish the School success and that it will embody the values and ideals of Mr S. Rajaratnam -to excel as a centre of scholarship, promoting learning and the sharing of knowledge in order to deepen our understanding of the complex world of states and human affairs.

Mr Wong Kan Seng
Adviser
RSIS Fund Raising Committee
Mr Wong Kan Seng is the Deputy Prime
Minister of Singapore and the Minister for
Home Affairs. Mr Wong was the Second
Minister for Foreign Affairs in 1987, and
appointed the Minister for Foreign Affairs in 1988

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