LEE KUAN YEW'S SPEECHES AND THE DISCOURSE OF NATION-BUILDING AND LANGUAGE IN POST-INDEPENDENCE SINGAPORE

Abstract

On August 9, 1965, Singapore as an independent nation was born. Her independent status was thrust upon her following her separation from the Federation of Malaysia after a two-year span as a member of the Malaysian political entity. No doubt separation accorded to Singapore the rights and privileges of being an independent nation; at the same time, it also confronted her with the problems that accompanied that status. Although the problems that faced post-independence Singapore were varied and confronted different levels of society, there was a pertinent concern that occupied the People's Action Party (PAP) Government of the island and its leaders even as they sought to resolve the many conflicts that lay before them - that of building a nation. The issue was an important one as the very survival of Singapore depended on whether the people themselves recognized (or would come to recognize) that they were now a nation. This academic exercise aims to examine one significant dimension of the discourse through which the nation-building efforts of the PAP Government of Singapore led by Lee Kuan Yew, the Prime Minister, were pursued during the crucial post-independence years of 1965-1971. The investigation will base itself on an analysis of this dimension as it showed itself in Lee Kuan Yew's speeches. The approach adopted in the analysis of the speech texts takes the viewpoint of discourse-as-process, which sees social and ideological meaning as attached to linguistic expressions and forms. The analysis of Lee's speeches will show that through his use and command of linguistic forms, the concept of a united nation was constructed for Singapore.