Former Minister’s Policy Still Stands after 60 years

Ong Pang Boon is the last surviving member of the ‘Old Guards’, the group of comrades led by Lee Kuan Yew who transformed Singapore from a backwater into a First World nation.

He held several key ministerial portfolios, including Environment, Labour, Education and Communications. His tenure as Minister of Education had the most lasting impact – still felt today, 60 years later. In the 1960s, Mr Ong served as a bridge between the non-communist, English-educated PAP leaders and the Chinese-speaking masses. He was the chief architect of Singapore’s bilingual policy and initiated the idea of the National Pledge, recited by all students.

What is less well-known is how he began his political journey. A passionate reader who couldn’t afford books, he became a librarian at the Student Union of the University of Malaya in Singapore. This role allowed him to select books he was interested in. It was through his friend at the Student Union, James Puthucheary, that Mr Ong was introduced to LKY. The rest, as they say, is history.