My late father Geoffrey Abisheganaden was interviewed in the book, Men in White, in it, he stated that the greatest achievement that Singapore had achieved was racial harmony. People of diffrent races, intermingling, and living side by side one another without fear and with friendship and camaderie built up through the shared struggles of a young nation. Singapore's first prime minister as an independent nation, Mr. Lee Kuan Yew and his able team of ministers have done a truly remarkable job transforming a once dirty backwater seaport into a shining metropolis with a high per capita GDP and many billions of foreign reserves.
It was not too long ago that the UK and the USA were the 2 leading powerhouses of industry and all things popular from popular culture to fashion. In the last 3 years, there have been 2 major financial crises (1 is occuring at this present moment),US is technically bankrupt with 14 trillion of foriegn debt and UK not far off, with many endemic social problem, not least is the recent riots which highlight the longstanding hopelessness of the underclass - which are mainly from certain races who have been marginalised - and tearing apart of the social fabric of a country whose standard of living was the envy maybe just 40 years ago. Now US and UK's living standards for the masses or general population is frankly 3rd world and the worst is expected to follow with massive government budget cuts, and dim job prospects for the youth livin there.
It is with pride that as Singapore celebrates her 46th year of independence, I am especially proud of our Singapore and our country has a bright forseeable future thanks to the early founding fathers and the tough decisions made during those difficult emerging years.
Thank you Mr. Lee and members of his cabinet.
Majulah Singapura !!
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