Doing a tribute to Mr S. Rajaramam certainly places one on thin ice as Mr Rajaratnam was such a master with words that no amount of words could sum up as a tribute to him.

In short, Mr Rajaratnam is indeed one who makes me proud to say I am Singaporean.

I served Mr Rajaratnam and his Kg Gelam CCC Tuition Scheme in the late 60sIearly 70s. Mr Raiaratnam's personality, charm and care for the needy and all were deeply felt. Combined with his toughness and deftness in regional and international arenas, defending Singapore's interests, his wholesome self was made all the more great. His journalistic skills and political mastery were inspiring. He was among the few who had asked me to join and stand as an election candidate for the ruling People's Action Party in the 70s but I had chosen to serve the nation through the media first, perhaps even influenced by him.

When Mr Rajaramam left us early this year, I felt such a heavy loss but only to be comforted by the way our Government and our Prime Minister recognised Mr Rajaratnam's contributions. They truly showed the due respect to what Mr Rajaratnam represents. The precision with which the State Funeral was conducted was something many would expect of our model Singapore but the human feeling that came through, both through PM's personal sharing of his time with" Uncle Raja" and Minister Mentor's deep emotions felt when talking about the Singapore Pledge and Raja's role, reassures Singaporeans that we have our hearts (and of course our heads) in the right place.

Thank You Mr Rajaratnam.

Mr Zainul Abidin Rasheed is the Senior
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and
Mayor of the North East Community
Development Council

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