Singapore: Towards a National Identity

Abstract

The year 1976 was the 157th since the founding of Singapore and the 11th anniversary of its independence. It also marked the 17th year m power of the ruling People's Action Party (PAP), which assumed the reins of government after winning the May 1959 general elections. More importantly, however, 1976 was a year of many significant happenings on both the domestic and international fronts for the island Republic of Singapore. One of the most important domestic events was the revelation by the PAP Government of the underground communist movement's activities in recruiting members from all walks of life to further the goal of bringing about a united communist Malaya and Singapore. Electoral boundaries were also redrawn, leading to the creation of four new constituencies and speculation on the actual date of the forthcoming general elections. Several national campaigns were conducted during the year to modify the attitudes and behaviour of the local popu lation, the most important of which were the Use Your Hands Campaign, the National Anti-Drug Abuse Campaign (NADAC) and the first National Health Campaign on Infectious Diseases. On the international scene Singapore's partici pation in the first summit meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) m Bali in late February was followed three months later by Prune Minister Lee Kuan Yew's visit to the People's Republic of China (PRC) and to Australia in mid-October. Singapore also received world-wide attention as a result of the re signation of the PAP from the Socialist International. This background paper on Singapore is not intended to describe all the above events as such a description can already be found in the usual sources such as the daily newspapers or other local publications. Rather, this paper attempts to provide an analytical framework for understanding contemporary politics in postindependent Singapore in general and during 1976 in particular. More specifically, the PAP Government's approach to nation-building in Singapore will be described in terms of its objective and the various strategies employed by it for the attainment of a Singaporean national identity. It is presumed here that the major events of 1976 (or any other recent year) can best be understood and evaluated within such a framework.