Lee Kuan Yew: 100%
Goh Keng Swee: 38%
S. Rajaratnam: 77%
David Marshall: 87%
Devan Nair: 33%
Toh Chin Chye: 29%
Lim Kim San: 25%
Eddie Barker: 10%
Othman Wok: 7%
Ong Pang Boon: 4%
The above are the results of a straw poll conducted by the New Paper on 100 students, aged 12 to 16, from schools across the island. The results showed that most teens are clueless about the names of key political pioneers of Singapore.
While all have heard of Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, only a quarter have heard of Lim Kim San, the National Development Minister who spearheaded the public housing programme and few recognised Mr Othman Wok, the first Social Affairs Minister, who helped to hold the country together in the aftermath of the race riots in the 1960s.
The finding confirmed a long-standing hunch of The New Paper's editorial team that important parts of the nation's history are slipping away from the young. This inspired the team to hatch a concept that would make the stories of political pioneers come alive. The result is an engaging set of stories, cartoons and photos. Designed for busy and younger readers, pocket guide "Founding Fathers" is a handy primer for anyone interested in what makes Singapore tick.
Each book in the series adopts the following format: A profile of each man & his contributions, roughly 10 things you never knew about the man and a quick primer linking the past to the present. The series can be found at all major bookstores including Borders, Harris, Kinokuniya, MPH, Popular and Times.
Joanne Ho