Lee Kuan Yew’s red box inspires children to dream big for Singapore

SINGAPORE — One wrote that she wanted to help Singapore be free of the Zika virus. Another wrote that he wanted to become a bus driver so that he may take people home on time.

These were just two examples of what the six-year-olds at St James’ Church Kindergarten penned when asked what they would put in their own red boxes, having been captured by the concept of “the red box” — a wine-coloured boxy briefcase that used to belong to the late former Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Kuan Yew and that contained his documents, thoughts and vision for the country.

On the 93rd birthday of the late Mr Lee on Friday (Sept 16), the pre-school launched its inaugural Red Box Day as part of a “Start Small, Dream Big” initiative by the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA), aimed at helping children build social awareness by getting involved in community service projects.

To inspire the young ones further, the agency will distribute 20,000 red boxes to children in 300 participating schools this year on Children’s Day (Oct 7), to “thank the children for participating”, the agency’s deputy director Lim Ee Tuo said.

The red box belonging to Mr Lee first made news last March when then-Education Minister Heng Swee Keat revealed it on his Facebook page, and detailed the integral role it played in Mr Lee’s daily working life.

For the children, they will get their own 30cm-wide, 8cm-deep briefcases, each to hold a sticker set of illustrations from an activity book What’s Inside The Red Box commissioned by Mapletree, a “gracious journal”, a foldable Singa the Courtesy Lion model, a storybook on being compassionate towards the needy, and more.

Children’s Day coincides with the end of ECDA’s six-month-long Start Small, Dream Big initiative, which is on its second-year run. Last year, half the number of schools took part in the initiative.

Ms Ruchika Saluja, 35, said that her son pestered her for his very own red box after learning about it at St James’ Church Kindergarten this year, because he wanted to put his “very important” ideas in there.

The story of the red box has resonated so well with the students there that two educators, Ms Cara Lee and Ms Ling Bee Lian, developed an educator’s guide as a tool for teachers islandwide to encourage children to share their big dreams for the nation.

Social and Family Development Minister Tan Chuan-Jin, who was guest of honour at the event on Friday, said that the red box helps children to grasp the concept of hopes, dreams and hard work. “What we have (in Singapore) today is very much a result of all those efforts over the years — all the different slips of paper that had been cumulatively added on every single day into the red box.”