S’pore needs ‘gotong royong’ spirit to do well: PM Lee

SINGAPORE — The strong community spirit present in kampungs should be maintained today in order for Singapore to do well, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong yesterday at a book launch held specially for former residents of Kampong Radin Mas.

The birthplace of many Malay-Muslim institutions, Mr Lee said Radin Mas also produced leaders who made important contributions in politics, as well as in arts and culture.

“How did Radin Mas produce so many talented people? Some people said it’s because of the ‘air pancur’, the spring water, which flowed from Mount Faber to the kampung. Others said maybe it was the ice ball kacang or the kuti kuti and the kana,” he said.

“But everybody agrees that the ‘gotong royong’ spirit had a lot to do with it, where people help one another, where everybody knew everyone else and each spurred the others to go on and do their best.”

He added: “Even today, when we are in Housing and Development Board flats — much bigger towns, not a few hundred people, but hundred thousand people perhaps —it’s still necessary for us to maintain that strong community spirit for us to do well.”

Kampong Radin Mas is believed to be among the oldest villages in Singapore. The book launched yesterday, called A Village Remembered: Kampong Radin Mas 1800s To 1973, documents life in the Radin Mas village before it was demolished in 1973 to make way for a satellite town.

The launch was also attended by Minister for Communications and Information and Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs Yaacob Ibrahim and former Minister of Social Affairs Othman Wok. SARA GROSSE