00:00He isn't just a face on our dollar notes.
00:03He actually was an excellent representative
00:05who exemplified the positive values of our young nation.
00:10He was, in many ways, the solution to Singapore's most pressing problem,
00:16a challenge which could have unraveled us from the very beginning.
00:30In a time when Singapore was gripped by fear and uncertainty,
00:40one man stood for unity and showed us what it meant to be Singaporean.
00:46Yusof Ishaq wasn't just Singapore's first president.
00:49He embodied the values and hopes of a young nation finding its place in the world.
00:55So he was a strong believer in multiracialism and equality.
01:00So he would speak about it and he would advocate for it.
01:04He went out amongst the people to calm them,
01:09to tell them to set aside their differences
01:12and to work together to build up this new state and nation.
01:16Born in a small village in Perak,
01:19Yusof Ishaq moved to Singapore with his family in 1923 when he was 13
01:23after his father was posted there for work.
01:27He grew up in Singapore and he had very many of the same beliefs,
01:32values and cultural characteristics of someone who grew up in Singapore.
01:37He believed in a multiracial society of equality, of justice, of progress.
01:45At Raffles Institution, Yusof Ishaq was an outstanding student.
01:49He was good in his studies, he was good in his sports,
01:53from swimming to water polo to hockey and other sports.
01:58He was even to the head prefect at Raffles Institution,
02:01showing leadership qualities even as a young man.
02:05However, just by a few points, he missed out on getting the Queen's Scholarship.
02:10He actually thought of going to England to study law,
02:14but his father could not afford it.
02:17And really, the only place he could have to further his education
02:21was the police academy.
02:23So he went to the police academy.
02:25But things didn't go as planned for him in the academy in Kuala Lumpur.
02:30You see, he had grown up in Singapore.
02:33He was not used to this traditional Malay habit
02:36where if you are a Malay royal, you are above the law.
02:40And so when he saw a Malay royal in the police academy
02:45ill-treating someone who was a commoner, he spoke up.
02:50And because he spoke up to defend the commoner, he was expelled.
02:55And perhaps as a young man, he would remember
02:58that this is what happens when you have the traditional feudal system.
03:05It's a completely unjust system in so many ways.
03:09And he was determined to fight against it.
03:13Driven by conviction and a sense of justice,
03:16he returned to Singapore and joined Warta Melayu in 1932,
03:21a leading Malay-language newspaper
03:22known for its Muslim-oriented perspectives.
03:25He wanted to be a journalist because he wanted to be a voice for the people.
03:32And then he saw for himself the poverty of the people,
03:36the working classes, working in the plantations
03:39for really hardly any money, just enough for food.
03:45Their children were barefoot and had no schooling.
03:48He saw that.
03:50He wrote about it.
03:52And he was especially upset by the position of the Malays.
03:57The Malays were left out of the modern economy,
04:00held back by colonial policies that aimed to preserve traditional structures.
04:05When the British controlled the area,
04:08they were very concerned to protect the Malays.
04:11And so they protected the position of the sultan.
04:16And they wanted to preserve as much as possible
04:19what they saw as the Malay way of life.
04:23At the same time,
04:24they were bringing in the Chinese and the Indians
04:26and the Eurasians and every other race in the world
04:30to build this trading hub and to build a modern economy.
04:36And what that did was that the Malays did not participate
04:39in the development of modern Malaya in Singapore.
04:44They were kept very separated.
04:47And this was to very much create a society
04:51in which the Malays became more and more left behind.
04:56His time at the Arab-owned Water Melayu
04:58made him realise the need for a more locally-focused Malay publication.
05:03He felt the paper did not fully reflect the concerns
05:06and aspirations of the local Malay community.
05:09So he left and...
05:11He started Utusan Melayu with a few close friends.
05:15The first edition came out in May 1939.
05:19He wanted it to be a newspaper for the Malay community
05:21and owned by the Malay community.
05:23So when he started the Utusan Melayu,
05:26it was to campaign that every Malay would be part of the modern economy,
05:32every Malay child would be educated.
05:35And he wrote very powerfully that said,
05:37parents, let your children go to a modern school.
05:41Send them to an English school.
05:43Because at that time, English was the language of commerce
05:46and it was important that the Malay children could speak English.
05:54The Japanese occupation halted Utusan Melayu's operations,
05:58but not Yusuf Ishak's conviction.
06:01Barely a week after the war ended,
06:03he brought the paper back to life,
06:05restoring a voice that once again spoke for his community.
06:09So it actually revealed how passionate he was
06:13to be the voice for the community.
06:15More and more people started to appreciate Utusan Melayu
06:18because they found it relevant.
06:20News articles were of high quality.
06:23It dealt with issues that they felt mattered to them.
06:28And so more and more readers started to buy the papers.
06:33Utusan Melayu became so successful that in 1957,
06:37Yusuf Ishak moved its headquarters to Kuala Lumpur,
06:40the heart of Malaya,
06:42a decision that would soon prove costly for him.
06:45He had new investors who bought the shares of the company.
06:52And some of them were actually political leaders in Malaya.
06:56However, as a result of this development,
06:59there were also differences.
07:01There were differences in views
07:03between him and new shareholders.
07:07and it got very difficult at one point in time.
07:11They wanted him to sack his close partner,
07:15Samad Ismail,
07:16and he was very reluctant to do that.
07:18And subsequently,
07:19the tension reached a very high stage,
07:21so much so that he resigned in 1959.
07:25That was a very sad day for him
07:27and for the Malay community
07:29in that they lost their champion.
07:32They lost the person who would speak up for the common man.
07:37But he was soon to get a phone call to come to Singapore,
07:41and that journey was to change his life.
07:44That same year,
07:46Singapore achieved internal self-governance for the first time.
07:50With the PAP forming the new government,
07:52the state now needed a young Diputuan Negara
07:55as its constitutional head.
07:57At that time,
07:58there was a lot of interest in the Malay royal families
08:02to become the young Diputuan Negara of Singapore.
08:06But our government did not want
08:08the system of traditional Malay royalty
08:12installed in Singapore at all.
08:15I went to see the Prime Minister.
08:18He asked me what Jey Uso was doing,
08:20so I told him he was unemployed at the moment.
08:22And he asked me this question.
08:24He was an honest man, wasn't he?
08:26I said, yes,
08:27because if he were any other person
08:29in charge of this kind of company,
08:30he could make tons of money.
08:31But he never took a cent.
08:33And I also told the Prime Minister
08:34that when he was travelling,
08:36on official business for the people,
08:37he travelled in the train,
08:39second class,
08:39never took a plane
08:40between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.
08:43Seeing in him the ideals
08:45of the new nation,
08:46Lee Kuan Yew turned to Yusuf Ishak,
08:48a common man who rose on his own merit,
08:51to head the Public Service Commission
08:53and serve as Singapore's head of state.
08:56I think our Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew,
08:59trusted him
09:00because through his writing,
09:03he knew that Yusuf Ishak
09:04was very much Singaporean
09:08in his values and his belief
09:11of a multiracial society,
09:13of equality,
09:15of justice,
09:17of progress.
09:18Everything that Lee Kuan Yew himself
09:20believed in and fought for,
09:22he knew that Yusuf Ishak
09:24would fight for the same things.
09:26Though he wasn't a political leader,
09:28he had leadership qualities.
09:29By then, also well-respected
09:31as a leader in the community.
09:33He was also seen to be somebody
09:35who cared deeply for the people
09:37and he had a good feel
09:39of what's happening on the ground.
09:41So in that sense,
09:41he was in a good position
09:42to be a leader
09:45of the state of Singapore.
09:48After giving it serious thought,
09:50Yusuf Ishak agreed
09:51to take on the monumental responsibility
09:54as Singapore's head of state.
09:56As head of state,
09:57he'll be able to reach out
09:58to many more people in Singapore
10:00and make a positive difference.
10:02I believe that he saw it
10:05as his last chance
10:07to achieve the mission of his life,
10:11to uplift the Malays
10:13and make them equal in every way,
10:17to give them a chance
10:18to be equal in the economy,
10:21in education,
10:22in their place,
10:24in society,
10:25and all that he hoped
10:27that was possible in Singapore.
10:29That belief, however,
10:32would soon be tested.
10:34In 1964,
10:35racial riots broke out,
10:37revealing just how fragile
10:39Singapore's harmony still was.
10:41The year 1964
10:42was a very terrible year
10:44for Singapore,
10:45with 36 people killed
10:48because of riots
10:50between the Malays
10:51and the Chinese.
10:53After the riots,
10:54he personally visited
10:55the kampongs and the villages,
10:58walk the streets of Singapore,
11:01calming people
11:02and telling them,
11:05encouraging them,
11:06reassuring them,
11:08please,
11:09let's live together.
11:10Let's not allow
11:11our emotions
11:12to get the better of us.
11:15Let's remember
11:16that our only hope
11:19to be an independent nation
11:21and to be
11:21a sovereign people
11:23is to live together
11:26in peace and harmony.
11:28But the tensions of 1964
11:30were only the beginning.
11:32A year later,
11:33Singapore separated
11:34from Malaysia
11:35and the new nation
11:36entered its most
11:38uncertain chapter.
11:39It was a time
11:40of uncertainty.
11:42Of course,
11:42there were tensions.
11:44The Malays
11:45in Singapore
11:45were very,
11:47very afraid
11:47because they felt
11:49that in Singapore
11:50they were the minority.
11:52You can't forget
11:54that at that time
11:55there were many
11:55newly independent countries
11:57that were in civil war
12:00caused by
12:01the seeming impossibility
12:04of races
12:04to live together
12:05in harmony.
12:06Amid fear
12:07and uncertainty,
12:09it fell on Yusuf Ishak
12:10as the new president
12:11to steady the nation
12:13and assure its people
12:14that Singapore's future
12:16held a place for all.
12:18I really believe
12:19that as a modern Malay,
12:21he was the only person
12:23who could have played
12:25such an effective role
12:26to calm the Malays
12:28and to reassure them
12:29that, look,
12:30in independent Singapore,
12:32you will not be left behind.
12:35In his first speech
12:36as the head of state,
12:39he actually spoke
12:39about the importance
12:40of interracial unity
12:43and harmony
12:44so that we can work
12:45towards peace
12:46and prosperity.
12:47And he lived
12:48those words
12:49every day.
12:50I remember him
12:51being very visible,
12:53very present
12:54in public life.
12:56Every day,
12:57in every way,
12:58he would be out
12:59amongst the people
13:01and you could see him
13:03not just with
13:04the Malay community,
13:05but with every community
13:07of every occupation,
13:10of every interest.
13:12If he went to any event,
13:14he would make sure
13:15that all the races
13:16were represented.
13:17I think his example
13:19was the most powerful way
13:22to bring together
13:23the country.
13:24Each day brought
13:25new faces,
13:26new voices,
13:28and Yusuf Ishak
13:29welcomed them all
13:30with the same
13:31steady grace.
13:32General Chu
13:33would always tell me
13:34that his daily schedule
13:37was packed.
13:38Everyone wanted
13:39to see him.
13:40He would say,
13:40let's fit them in.
13:42I'll manage it.
13:43That meant also
13:45less personal time
13:46with family.
13:47And of course,
13:48he did it willingly.
13:50And it was great
13:50that he had a very
13:51supportive,
13:52caring wife
13:53in Puan Norayisha.
13:55She actually
13:56rose to the occasion.
13:58She took great care
13:59of the family
14:00and also supported him
14:02as our first lady.
14:05Even with a schedule
14:06that never seemed to end,
14:08his grace
14:09and quiet confidence
14:10left an impression
14:11that stayed
14:12with Singaporeans
14:13of all ages.
14:15I recall
14:16every time
14:17we had a school
14:19open day
14:20or a special
14:20school festival,
14:22he would come.
14:23He was a very,
14:24very handsome
14:25and very impressive man.
14:28Very big and tall,
14:30especially when you
14:30were a young kid
14:32like me.
14:32And also,
14:33he had a very elegant
14:35way of presenting himself.
14:38At home,
14:39he was admired
14:40for his warmth
14:41and compassion.
14:42But on the world stage,
14:44he embodied Singapore's
14:45image with dignity,
14:47showing what our
14:48young nation stood for.
14:50And I remember
14:51seeing many photographs
14:52of him with the leaders
14:54of other countries
14:55and feeling rather proud
14:57of him that we had
14:59such a president.
15:00He was outward-looking.
15:02He was very well-spoken
15:03in so many languages.
15:05And in a way,
15:06he represented
15:07what it was
15:08to be a Singaporean.
15:11His calm,
15:13confident demeanour
15:15enabled him
15:15to engage
15:17meaningfully
15:18with the leaders
15:19of other countries,
15:20the officials
15:21of other countries.
15:22And I think
15:22that that was
15:23certainly helpful
15:25in that stage
15:26where we are
15:26a young nation
15:27trying to build
15:28relations with others.
15:30A few years
15:31into his presidency,
15:33his health
15:33began to fail him,
15:35though his resolve
15:36never did.
15:38He still carried
15:39on his presidential
15:40duties
15:40as best he could
15:42because he thought
15:43that it was
15:43really, really important.
15:46Singapore was still
15:47such a new country
15:48and people were
15:50still feeling
15:51very afraid
15:52and uncertain
15:53and unsettled.
15:54through it all,
15:56he pressed on,
15:58determined to serve
15:59to the very end.
16:01Even when Mr. Lee
16:01spoke with him
16:02and told him
16:02to take it
16:04at a slower pace,
16:05he was still keen
16:06to contribute
16:07and to be the president
16:09for our people.
16:11He would engage
16:12the people,
16:12so not many people
16:13realised that
16:14he was actually
16:15having serious
16:17health issues
16:18at that point in time.
16:18So it was only
16:20in 1970
16:21that the public
16:22realised about
16:23President Yusofi Shaq's
16:24poor health
16:25when he was hospitalised
16:27due to his heart problems.
16:28And even when
16:29he had a heart attack,
16:30he was still
16:32in good spirits.
16:34He wanted to shake hands
16:35with the doctors
16:36and nurses
16:37and thank them.
16:38But sadly,
16:40he had a subsequent
16:41heart attack
16:42and he passed away.
16:45In 1970,
16:47Singapore mourned
16:48the loss
16:48of a beloved leader
16:49who had guided
16:50the nation
16:51through its most
16:52fragile years.
16:53I remember
16:55the day
16:56he passed away.
16:59It was really
17:00such a sad day.
17:02We lost a very
17:03important man
17:05in our history
17:06and we'll always
17:07remember him.
17:08When his
17:09casket was brought
17:10to City Hall,
17:12many, many
17:13Singaporeans
17:14wanted to pay
17:15respects to him,
17:16even the
17:17young children.
17:18He may no longer
17:21be with us,
17:22but what he stood
17:23for has become
17:24part of who
17:25we are today.
17:26He fought so many
17:28of our battles
17:29to become
17:29independent
17:30and he
17:32represented so
17:33many of our
17:33struggles to
17:34become a modern
17:35nation.
17:36I hope
17:37he's remembered
17:38as somebody
17:39who is
17:40highly
17:41caring,
17:42committed
17:42and capable.
17:43As our first
17:44president,
17:45I think in many
17:46ways,
17:46he's a remarkable
17:47role model.
17:48During the most
17:49difficult time
17:50of our
17:50independence,
17:52at a time
17:53that our
17:53society
17:54appeared to
17:55be under threat,
17:57our economy
17:58was facing
18:00its darkest
18:00time.
18:02He was our
18:02leader.
18:03He was the
18:04man who
18:05appeared every
18:06day out
18:07on the street.
18:09I think we
18:10have really
18:11a lot to
18:13be thankful
18:14to him
18:15for.
18:33the
18:42time
18:46to
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