CONVERSATION BY TAN KEE WEE
The essence of the Singapore Identity Newly promoted Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, Ms Indranee Rajah discusses the Singapore Identity and her new ministerial responsibilities
e sometimes ask when we will achieve a Singaporean Identity but I think we already have one. Although it is still evolving, the fundamental elements are there, says Ms Indranee Rajah. “We don’t realise that many of the things that we do are not only uniquely Singaporean, but also quite exceptional. We assume that everybody else does it like this. But they don’t. So we are unique. We Ƥ Ǥ we must always keep it that way,” she said in an interview with Petir. Ms Indranee, who spoke about the Singapore Identity during the debate
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on the President’s Address in May 2018, elaborated on it during the interview. She was promoted to full minister in the ƫ ǡ making her the third woman minister in the cabinet. She is also the Second Minister for Education and Finance. She observed: “There are a number of things that I see as very Singaporean characteristics, which contribute to the Singapore Identity.”
When we “chiong” together One of them is “unity or how everybody chiong (rush in Hokkien) together whenever a problem happens.”
That’s when Singaporeans unite to resolve the problem, she pointed out. While we may treat it as a given and are almost nonchalant about it, foreigners have noticed this element of unity in the Singapore Identity. When Ms Indranee meets her foreign counterparts, they sometimes express amazement at the speed at which we are able to resolve issues through collaboration. In their countries, they told her, it’s ƥ ơ departments or sections of the population to work together. “But to us, that is expected, right? If something is to be done, we will ask
