Singapore’s National Development Minister Desmond Lee commented on the recently installed statues of Sir Stamford Raffles and Dr. Nathaniel Wallich in Fort Canning Park on Tuesday ( Jul 2 ) that it takes a” clear eyed-view” of its colonial past and does not glorify or celebrate it.
Given the “more new changes” toward decolonization and the “re-examining of imperial histories,” NMP nominee Usha Chandradas had a question about the foundation of the monuments ‘ placement.
The monuments prompted online discussion and censure, with some questioning the assembly.
Mr. Lee stated in his published political response that Singapore has charted its own course since decolonizing in 1963 and gaining its independence two years later.
He said that by decolonisation,  , Ms , Chandradas was likely referring to “more new techniques in some places to remove all and anything that may be a warning of a imperial history”.
” Re- evaluation of imperial histories, on the other hand, involves looking again at record through a current lens”, he added.
It “takes various types and locations,” he said. It sometimes involves a reimagining of situations or how they are perceived. In some cases, it has resulted in a later-day criticism of everything deemed to be colonialism-related.
Singapore acknowledges that a period of its history has left legacy that the nation is “build, adapt, and transform,” but does not glorify or celebrate it.
This includes Singapore’s operational, administrative and political structure, with its legislature based on the Westminster model.
He argued that the popularity and presentation of the regulations should be viewed in this light and that it acknowledges the efforts of Raffles and Wallich to Singapore’s horticultural heritage.
” The prior must not be a worry for us.” We should be able to rely on it with confidence, considering everything we have accomplished as a people and as a country since our democracy, and confident in the information that we will continue to shape our own course and shape our future.