Of the passing of Dr Toh Chin Chai

The funeral of the late former Deputy Prime Minister Dr Toh Chin Chye was held on Tuesday at 11am at Mandai Crematorium.

Of late, the internet has been a-buzzed with stories on how Dr Toh was like. This striked a chord.

He retired from Parliament at the 1988 general election and spent his last years generally away from the public eye. In a rare public radio interview in 1997, Dr Toh passionately bemoaned the lack of idealism and creativity among the young and its implications for the future of Singapore. He said:

“I would say the generation of the ‘50s and ‘60s took the plunge into politics without ever calculating the costs of the risk and the benefits to be gained. They were driven by ideology. Today’s generation has no culture and averse to taking political risk. Really, an interest in politics is very necessary for the future.

But I cannot blame the present generations, because they see the heavy-handed response by the government to dissenting views, even though they know that these matters involve their daily lives.

So the result is that we have produced a younger generation who are meek and therefore very calculating. They are less independent-thinking and lack in initiative. It does not bode well for the emergence of future leaders in politics and business. Robots and computers can be programmed or if you like, can be trained. But the trouble, of course, is that computers lack soul and what we need in Singapore is soul. Because it is soul that makes society.”

Rest in peace, Dr Toh.