Archive for March 2009
Foreword
Without religious harmony, a multi-racial society would very quickly degenerate into chaos and ruin. This recognition of the importance of religious harmony in Singapore began more than 50 years ago, as shown here in the special stamp “Unity in Diversity”.
In this simple stamp-based book, the author mentions the places of worship of different religions in Singapore. Hopefully, it will motivate us all to learn more about religions, and about ourselves and our fellow-men.
Dr Esther Tan
Justice of the Peace
and
Associate Professor,
National Institute of Education
Singapore Heritage: Places of Worship
Our next story is “Singapore Heritage: Places of Worship”. With 20 pages to be published – one page every Monday and Thursday – this short story will take us till 28 May 2009.
Page 33
The policies and events that have transformed Singapore are credited to the strong leadership of Lee Kuan Yew, the Prime Minister of Singapore for 31 years.
One other policy that he implemented was to prepare younger people to become leaders. In 1990, at the age of 67, Lee Kuan Yew stepped down as Prime Minister and Goh Chok Tong became the new Prime Minister of Singapore.
Page 32
The previous pages highlighted many of the policies and events that have transformed Singapore. One illustration of this transformation is to compare the city skyline in the 1950s with that in the 1980s.
The Fullerton Building formed part of the skyline in the 1950s (bottom stamp) but by the 1980s it was dwarfed by many other buildings (top stamp).
Page 30
The clean and efficient image of any busy city can be easily spoilt by the smoke and noise emitted from vehicles.
To reduce the need to travel by car, the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) rail system was developed in the mid-1980s. The MRT system now links many parts of Singapore. Its trains are clean and punctual and do not emit exhaust fumes.
Page 29
Living in comfortable high-rise apartments and having access to many TV programmes, family members tended to keep to themselves rather than to interact with their neighbours. At work, the fast pace of life gave little opportunity for social interaction.
To remind everyone of us to be friendly and helpful to others, the first Courtesy Campaign was launched in June 1979.