Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface
- Introduction by Wang Gungwu
- Chapter One Beginnings: From Temasek to Singapore
- Chapter Two Race, History and Nationalism
- Chapter Three Contestants and Contesting Visions
- Chapter Four The Accidental Chief Minister
- Chapter Five The Terminal Chief Minister
- Chapter Six The Embattled Prime Minister
- Chapter Seven Merger: Contesting Ownership and Principles
- Chapter Eight Terms of Disendearment
- Chapter Nine Dare to be Equal
- Chapter Ten The Way to Survive
- Chapter Eleven National Service: The Price of Independence
- Chapter Twelve Politics of Education
- Chapter Thirteen Home Ownership, National Stability and the New Middle Classes
- Chapter Fourteen University and Nation
- Chapter Fifteen Toh's Nation-Building Thrust
- Chapter Sixteen Nantah: Between Community and Nation
- Chapter Seventeen Self-Renewal: Talents for a Tough Act
- Chapter Eighteen The Consensual Prime Minister
- Chapter Nineteen Confucianism, Christianity, Chineseness
- Chapter Twenty Singapore Dreams, Singapore Dilemmas
- Chapter Twenty-One The Hyphenated Singaporean
- Chapter Twenty-Two The Unexpected Nation
- Bibliographical Note
- Index
- The Author
Chapter Fifteen - Toh's Nation-Building Thrust
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 October 2015
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface
- Introduction by Wang Gungwu
- Chapter One Beginnings: From Temasek to Singapore
- Chapter Two Race, History and Nationalism
- Chapter Three Contestants and Contesting Visions
- Chapter Four The Accidental Chief Minister
- Chapter Five The Terminal Chief Minister
- Chapter Six The Embattled Prime Minister
- Chapter Seven Merger: Contesting Ownership and Principles
- Chapter Eight Terms of Disendearment
- Chapter Nine Dare to be Equal
- Chapter Ten The Way to Survive
- Chapter Eleven National Service: The Price of Independence
- Chapter Twelve Politics of Education
- Chapter Thirteen Home Ownership, National Stability and the New Middle Classes
- Chapter Fourteen University and Nation
- Chapter Fifteen Toh's Nation-Building Thrust
- Chapter Sixteen Nantah: Between Community and Nation
- Chapter Seventeen Self-Renewal: Talents for a Tough Act
- Chapter Eighteen The Consensual Prime Minister
- Chapter Nineteen Confucianism, Christianity, Chineseness
- Chapter Twenty Singapore Dreams, Singapore Dilemmas
- Chapter Twenty-One The Hyphenated Singaporean
- Chapter Twenty-Two The Unexpected Nation
- Bibliographical Note
- Index
- The Author
Summary
When asked what he thought was his greatest contribution to Singapore, Dr Toh replied: “Nation-building without a doubt. We were not a nation at all.”
Born in 1921 in Malaya, as it was then called, he attended Englishmedium schools in Taiping and Ipoh, and came to Singapore for further study at Raffles College, which he completed, after wartime interruption, with a diploma in science, ranked first class. He was employed as a demonstrator in the chemistry department of Raffles College in 1947, and in the philosophy department in the following year. In 1949, he went, on a Singapore Colonial Development Scholarship, to pursue a doctorate in physiology in London. There, he became an active member of the political discussion group, the Malayan Forum. Back in Singapore, as a lecturer in the medical school, his political activism continued unabated, and he pushed “the basement group” that met in Lee Kuan Yew's house to start the PAP. He was chosen as the party's chairman.
He was thorough as a leader, and was at his best in a crisis, when his fighting spirit heartened his colleagues — a valuable asset in a party which was seldom without a fight on its hands. He felt strongly about social justice, and hence also about the inequalities of the colonial system which led him to seek independence. He believed democratic socialism had the answer, and not communism, and so with conviction and pugnacity, he faced communist front leaders and operatives in one of the toughest constituencies and he won. Starting out as a Malayan nationalist, like his colleagues, he worked for a multiracial Malaya, with Singapore in it, but when the merger collapsed, he turned single-mindedly to building the Singapore nation.
Dr Toh began his job as vice-chancellor on 16 April 1968.
Creating “A Sense of Singapore”
Singapore was an independent nation. Dr Toh believed this should energize the university, give it wings and a purpose. The purpose was twofold. Firstly, it was to train the manpower needed to ensure the success of the industrialization programme on which national survival depended. This caused Dr Toh to focus on developing the engineering, architecture, and business administration faculties, and to scrutinize every research proposal for its practical application.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- SingaporeThe Unexpected Nation, pp. 387 - 416Publisher: ISEAS–Yusof Ishak InstitutePrint publication year: 2008