The Singapore Lion: A Biography of S. Rajaratnam

by Irene Ng

"Irene Ng has written a book that gives a comprehensive portrayal of Mr Rajaratnam - one of Singapore's outstanding leaders who played a crucial part in the momentous and crisis-ridden transition to iindependence. This is a book about the man and his wisdom. One would fail to appreciate him until one reads this absorbing book and reflects on the acuity and breadth of his insights and his wisdom." - S. R. Nathan, President of Singapore "In the course of a thirty-three year career in diplomacy, I met many great leaders. Having done so, I can confidently assert that S. Rajaratnam was one of the greatest leaders I met. Sadly, few in Singapore understand how great Rajaratnam was. This well-researched comprehensive volume by Irene Ng therefore fills a real need. Both Singaporeans and non-Singaporeans will benefit a lot from reading it." - Kishore Mahbubani, Dean, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore "Rajaratnam is one of the founding fathers of modern Singapore. He was Singapore's first and longest serving foreign minister. He was a rebel and a revolutionary. He was an intellectual and a man of action. In this wonderful book, Irene Ng tells the story of this remarkable leader of Singapore. I found the book both enjoyable and insightful." - Tommy Koh, Ambassador-At-Large, Singapore

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction

626 pages, Hardcover

First published February 4, 2010

About the author

Irene Ng is a Singaporean Member of Parliament who has represented Tampines GRC since 2001. She is also a Writer-in-Residence at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS). Before joining politics in 2001, Ng was the Senior Political Correspondent of The Straits Times. Irene has won several journalism and writing awards. After joining politics, she worked as Director of Programmes and Senior Research Fellow at the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, and later, as a Director at National Trades Union Congress.

Reviews

[Hwee Goh · Rating 5 out of 5]

S Rajaratnam was perhaps your typical young person. Originally from Ceylon, grew up in Malaysia and privileged enough to be sent to King’s College, London.

Seeming to be on a “rudderless trajectory”, Raja did not finish law school and instead wanted to write. He not only became a journalist, but in the 1940s, was in the same anthology of works as Hemingway, Faulkner, Chekhov and Kafka. PLUS — he also worked with George Orwell at the BBC.

Borne of a high caste Jaffna Tamil family, Raja broke all the rules (and his mother’s heart) when he married Piroska, the Hungarian au pair he met in England.

Piroska was the love of his life, standing by him as Raja gave up his career to fight for a Singapore he believed in. Fiercely protective, Piroska “had grave reservations” about Lee Kuan Yew, the man who was hard-nosed pragmatist to Raja’s idealist. But this was to become the balance for the crucible of Singapore’s trial by fire.

Through biographer Irene Ng’s deft words, we are not only party to Raja and the PAP surviving by the skin of their teeth…we are also gradually introduced to Raja and his largesse, his love of words and a lifelong need to be surrounded by his 10,000 books.

I didn’t expect this, but I teared up by the time I reached the concluding chapter of Raja’s life.

(Review of both books in the series)

[PMP · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I got to the last word, I actually cried out, "But what happens next?!" And this is a history book so I know perfectly well what happens next.

[Asher · Rating 5 out of 5]

10/10 cuz Irene Ng is hot

[Joel Lim · Rating 5 out of 5]

❤️🇸🇬

[Raja Ratnam · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book about a man with a vision. Decades ahead of his peers. He worked for a non-communal, non-tribal new society, independent of colonialism. One people out of ethno-cultural diversity, with a strong sense of pride in their nation, was his aim. Modern Singapore owes him a great debt.

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book certainly had some interesting highlights about Singapore's transformation from Third World to First World. Given the subject matter, the going was slow as to be expected. Good for history buffs but the general public might find it a little too heavy.