1st Senior Minister of Singapore

In office

2 January 1985 – 3 September 1988

Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew

Preceded by Office established

Succeeded by Lee Kuan Yew (1990)

2nd Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore

In office

1 June 1980 – 1 January 1985

Serving with Goh Keng Swee (1973–1980)

Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew

Preceded by Toh Chin Chye (1968)

Succeeded by Goh Chok Tong

Ong Teng Cheong

Minister for Labour

In office

16 April 1968 – 4 July 1971

Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew

Preceded by Jek Yeun Thong

Succeeded by Ong Pang Boon

Minister for Foreign Affairs

In office

9 August 1965 – 1 June 1980

Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew

Preceded by Office established

Succeeded by S. Dhanabalan

Minister for Culture

In office

5 June 1959 – 12 August 1965

Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew

Preceded by Office established

Succeeded by Othman Wok

Member of the Malaysian Parliament

for Singapore

In office

2 November 1963[1] – 9 August 1965

Preceded by Position established

Succeeded by Position abolished

Member of the Singapore Parliament

for Kampong Glam

In office

30 May 1959 – 17 August 1988

Preceded by Constituency established

Succeeded by Loh Meng See (PAP)

Personal details

Born Sinnathamby Rajaratnam

25 February 1915

Jaffna, British Ceylon

Died 22 February 2006 (aged 90)

Singapore

Cause of death Heart failure

Nationality Singaporean

Political party People's Action Party

Spouse Piroska Feher

​

​(m. 1943; died 1989)​

Alma mater King's College London

Occupation

Politicianjournalist

Bust of S. Rajaratnam at the ASEAN Garden with the excerpt from his statement at the inauguration of ASEAN.

Sinnathamby Rajaratnam DUT (Tamil: சின்னத்தம்பி ராஜரத்னம்; 25 February 1915 – 22 February 2006), better known as S. Rajaratnam, was a Singaporean statesman, journalist and diplomat who served as the first Minister for Foreign Affairs between 1965 and 1980, and 2nd Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore between 1980 and 1985.[2][3][4]

Rajaratnam is widely recognised as one of the founding fathers of modern Singapore. He was also one of the founders of the People's Action Party (PAP), which has governed the country continuously since independence.[4]

Rajaratnam was one of the pioneering leaders who led the self-governance of Singapore from the British Empire in 1959 and the independence of Singapore from Malaysia in 1965.

Rajaratnam was one of the five "founding fathers" of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 1967.

The S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at the Nanyang Technological University and the S. Rajaratnam block of Raffles Institution are named after him.

Early life and education

The second child of Sabapathy Pillai Sinnathamby and his wife N. Annamah, both of Jaffna Tamil descent, Rajaratnam was born in Vaddukoddai, Jaffna, Sri Lanka. His father had wanted him to be born there for auspicious reasons after the premature death of his older brother. He was then brought back to Malaya and raised in Seremban and Selangor. His younger brother, S. Seevaratnam, was born in Seremban and was a founding member of the Democratic Action Party (DAP).

Rajaratnam attended St. Paul's Institution, Victoria Institution in Kuala Lumpur, and Raffles Institution in Singapore before going on to King's College London in 1937 to pursue a law degree. However, he was unable to receive funding from his family to continue his studies due to World War II; instead, he turned to journalism to earn a living.

Writing career

In London, Rajaratnam also wrote a series of short stories which The Spectator's J.B. Trend reviewed positively. Rajaratnam also gained the attention of George Orwell, who then worked in the Indian Section of the BBC's Eastern Service based in London and recruited Rajaratnam to contribute scripts for the network. Rajaratnam's short stories and radio plays were later published by Epigram Books in The Short Stories & Radio Plays of S. Rajaratnam (2011).[5]

Mr Rajaratnam’s belief in racial harmony stemmed from his childhood experiences. As a child , he studied played with friends of different races. When race riots broke out 1964 , he was very sad. Mr Rajaratnam had envisioned Singapore as a vibrant society where people of different races could live together harmoniously

better known as S. Rajaratnam, was a Singaporean statesman, journalist and diplomat who served as the first Minister for Foreign Affairs between 1965 and 1980, and 2nd Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore between 1980 and 1985.

Rajaratnam had served in the Cabinet as Minister for Culture in 1959, Minister for Foreign Affairs between 1965 and 1980, Minister for Labour between 1968 and 1971, Deputy Prime Minister between 1980 and 1985, and Senior Minister between 1985 and 1988. Rajaratnam is remembered for authoring the Singapore National Pledge in 1966.

Prime Minister of Singapore Visits UN Headquarters on 1967-10-21: Seen here, from left: Inche Rahim Ishak (Abdul Rahim Ishak), Minister of State for Education of Singapore; Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew; Secretary-General U Thant; S. Rajaratnam, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Singapore; and Ambassador Wong Lin Ken, Permanent Representative of Singapore to the United Nations.^[9]

Rajaratnam was Singapore's first Foreign Minister, following its abrupt independence in 1965. During his tenure as Minister for Foreign Affairs, Rajaratnam helped Singapore gain entry into the United Nations and later the Non-Aligned Movement in 1970. He built up the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and helped to establish diplomatic relations with other countries and secure international recognition of Singapore's sovereignty. He carried out the foreign policy of international self-assertion to establish Singapore's independence during the period when the country faced significant challenges including the Konfrontasi conflict in the 1960s and the withdrawal of British troops in the early 1970s.^[10] Rajaratnam was one of the five "founding fathers" of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 1967. In this diplomatic arena together with the United Nations, he helped to draw international attention to the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia in 1978.^[10]Rajaratnam opposed the inclusion of Sri Lanka for ASEAN membership in 1967 based on the country's domestic situation which was unstable and not good for a new organisation.

Rajaratnam also disagreed with Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew on the policy of giving incentives to women who are college graduates to have more children, as he felt that the policy was unfair. Despite their differences in opinion on certain issues, Rajaratnam was loyal to Lee and remained as a member of the "core team" of Lee's government which included Goh Keng Swee, Hon Sui Sen and Lim Kim San, and they dominated Singapore's political scene from 1959 to the mid-1980s.

The couple moved to Malaya at the conclusion of the Second World War but Rajaratnam's parents disapproved of their new daughter-in-law, even telling her that they would not accept "half-caste" descendants.^[16] They did not have any children and remained married until her death in 1989 from pulmonary pneumoniaat the age of 76.^[17]