The Accidental Diplomat

The following sections are included:

• Dedication
• FOREWORD
• Message
• Acknowledgements
• CONTENTS
• INTRODUCTION

I LEFT SINGAPORE for Cameron Highlands in early March 1942 after seeing my English father before he went into internment during the Japanese Occupation. I returned to Cameron Highlands to be with my Indian mother and younger brother Leonard. My sister Margaret had left earlier for India. My father owned a small estate of about 60 acres (24 ha), a quiet retreat about a mile (1.6 km) from the main road and bounded by the mountain stream, Sungei Habu, which he had kept clean of weeds and whose banks he had reinforced by rock walls at the bends, made of stones taken out of the stream. All day and night, the sound of the stream fell on one's ears, a pleasant lullaby along with the jungle noises of the night. My father, who found social intercourse invariably difficult, found peace in the tranquil atmosphere of the green forested hills of Cameron Highlands…

MOST OF THE STUDENTS from Malaya and Singapore who went to the United Kingdom for higher studies after the war were mature, being in their twenties. The Japanese Occupation from February 1942 to August 1945 had robbed us of about four years and it took the British Military Administration (BMA) which succeeded the Japanese about two years to get things organised, so it was not till the second half of 1947 that those of us on scholarships could sail from Singapore to Britain…

SOMETIME IN SEPTEMBER 1952 my wife and I embarked on the S.S. Carthage, on our way home. It was a relaxing, enjoyable voyage as the sea remained calm. We made several friends on board ship including a Ceylonese who was a lecturer in English literature at the University of Malaya in Singapore. The only shock I had was a letter of rejection from the British director of education in Malaya, which I received in Cairo. I had not even applied for a job! It was the British way of punishing me for my political activities in England. I had organised and urged the Malayan students to work for independence and edited the Suara Merdeka. Whereas British tradition had tolerated this in England, it was a different story in the colonies…

MY PUBLIC SERVICE activities may have brought me to the attention of the minister for foreign affairs, Mr S. Rajaratnam, whom I did not know personally. Early in February of 1966 I was suddenly summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to be asked to represent Singapore at an Asian Cultural Conference in New Delhi within a week or so. I was also to present a paper to the conference on the cultural situation in Singapore and the problems we faced. At the conference which was attended by learned representatives from many countries, I was happy to meet R.K. Narayan, the well-known Indian novelist. He made a scathing speech on the final day of the conference suggesting that whatever cultural gains had been made at the conference, the English language had emerged bruised and battered by the participants and by the Indian professors in particular. Other eminent authors present as observers were Mulk Raj Anand and Syed Hussein Alatas who was later to become a professor at the University of Singapore. Most memorable was the tea party given by the scholarly vice-president of India, Zakir Husain, in his garden of roses. He was one of the best known rose-growers in India and a respected man of learning as well…

PRIME MINISTER LEE Kuan Yew, Foreign Minister S. Rajaratnam and Finance Minister Dr Goh Keng Swee briefed me on what was required of me as high commissioner to Malaysia. They were all worried about the effects of the Malaysian race riots on Singapore. It is no surprise that disasters of this nature in Malaysia are likely to have repercussions in Singapore. It is essential to have first-hand information quickly to take countermeasures. What we feared most after 13 May 1969 was the possibility of a great flood of panic-stricken Chinese rushing to Singapore. We had also to be on guard against racial outbreaks on the island. In fact, one such attack by the Chinese on Malays in Singapore had been swiftly dealt with. There were strong rumours that the communists would exploit the racial riots to the utmost to create chaos…

SOMETIME IN 1976 the permanent secretary for foreign affairs, Mr Chia Cheong Fook, impressed upon me that Singapore needed an experienced diplomat to head our embassy in Manila. Our ambassador to the Philippines, an ex-deputy commissioner of police, had already completed a six-year term. Mr Chia believed that as ASEAN was moving ahead, Singapore needed to be effectively represented in all ASEAN capitals. Mr Chia, a friendly and warm personality, was very persuasive but when I discovered that I would be paid less than the joint income of my wife and myself, I declined the offer. I had already served Singapore in India and Malaysia on low pay for four years, supplementing my income by renting out my house. The officials in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs inevitably put the blame for their stinginess on the Ministry of Finance. I called on George Bogaars, the permanent secretary for finance, and discovered that the question of my pay had never been referred to him! When I revealed this to Mr Chia he mumbled his apologies. Soon I was offered more reasonable terms. He suggested that I follow our prime minister who, accompanied by ministers Hon Sui Sen, S. Rajaratnam and Lim Kim San, was scheduled to visit the Republic of the Philippines from 16 to 20 January 1977. If I liked Manila, he suggested, I should accept the appointment…

I HAD BEEN succeeded by Dr Chiang Hai Ding when I left Malaysia in 1971. He stayed only two years before moving on elsewhere. His successor, Mr Wee Kim Wee, a well-known journalist, took Dr Chiang's place and stayed on for seven years. I was asked to succeed him as he was appointed ambassador to Japan. Our foreign minister, Mr S. Rajaratnam, asked me to return to Kuala Lumpur as high commissioner for three years from 1980. I accepted as I would have to retire from the University the same year, having attained the age of 60. I had many friends in Malaysia and some of the students whom I had taught at the University of Malaya in Singapore before the establishment of a separate university in Kuala Lumpur had reached high positions in the civil service. As Malays have a high respect for their gurus, I was sure they would be helpful in my work. This was important as relations between Singapore and Malaysia were often prickly…

WHEN MY SECOND term as high commissioner to Malaysia ended in April 1988, I was offered the position of an ambassador-at-large with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I was also invited by the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies to be a Senior Research Fellow. I declined both offers. In 1989, I was appointed pro-chancellor at the National University of Singapore (NUS) and held it for 10 years. I was required to preside over some of the multiple commencement ceremonies held annually for graduands of NUS…