The day MM Lee censored himself (1971)

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The day MM Lee censored himself
By TODAY | Posted: 06 September 2008 0734 hrs

SINGAPORE: Few, if any, would dispute that the most dramatic of the 43 annual National Day Rally speeches was the one in 1971. It was the first one telecast live. Even more extraordinarily, it went on air without prior notice.

The previous five rallies were closed-door sessions. Then, Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew wanted to talk candidly to political, business and grassroot leaders without having to pull his punches. Many of the things he needed to tell his people were highly-sensitive matters in those troubled times.

Our neighbours, particularly Malaysia — from which Singapore was expelled in 1965 — could have been upset with varying degrees of justification.

Mr Lee did not want to exercise self-censorship at National Day Rallies.

Because of the presence of some content that was potentially offensive or explosive, Singapore media could not report what was said until days later, when edited versions of transcripts were issued for publication.

Why, then, the apparently sudden decision by Mr Lee to go live at the National Day Rally on Aug 15, 1971? Even his closest Cabinet colleagues did not know of the totally unexpected departure from established practice.

How the producer lived to tell the tale

Mr Ananda Perera, 69, a retired senior executive of the then-Singapore Broadcasting Corporation, tells an enthralling inside story about that night:

After I read Peter Lim's deja vu recall of 'the night it first went live ...' (Weekend TODAY, Aug 23-24), I felt I should share my experience.

I was the producer of the live telecast of that historic National Day Rally speech. The usual 'drill' for such occasions was as follows:

PM is met on arrival at the car porch of the National Theatre (now demolished, at the foot of Fort Canning Hill). The producer follows PM to the make-up room for any last-minute instructions.

On that historic evening, I was asked by PM Lee Kuan Yew what was on local channels from 7.30 pm onwards. I told him. Then he asked me an unexpected question: What is on RTM channels? (RTM was Radio and Television Malaysia.)

Fortunately, having worked with him on many such productions, I was prepared. I told him what was on RTM 1 and 2. Then he reached into his pocket and took out a cutting of the TV programme listings for the day to counter-check!

This is how prepared you must be when you deal with Mr Lee Kuan Yew. He asked me whether we can go live. I said yes.

He instructed me to make multi-lingual announcements on both radio and TV by fading all programmes on air to blank. He also told me to ensure that we make Malay, Tamil, Mandarin and English announcements to ensure that the audience at the National Theatre was kept informed.

We did so.

I immediately rushed to the OB (outside broadcast) van in the car park to call my director, the late Mrs Wong-Lee Siok Tin. This is what I told her: "Please don’t ask any questions. PM has instructed that we fade all radio and TV programmes on air (and make) the announcement that we are going to live telecast/broadcast PM’s National Day Rally speech at the National Theatre."

There was a gasp at the other end of the line. I told Mrs Wong to just go ahead as I had a number of things to do, given that we hardly had 10 minutes to airtime!

Just 10 minutes into the live broadcast, Cabinet Secretary, Wong Chooi Sen tapped on our OB van door to ask me: "Hey, Ananda, Dr Goh Keng Swee (then the Defence Minister) wants to know whether you are absolutely certain that PM instructed you to broadcast live!"

Though I died a thousand deaths at that moment, I shouted a firm YES and told him not to disturb me.

After the broadcast I rushed back to meet PM at the make-up room. He asked me whether the broadcast went live without technical hitches. I said it went flawlessly. He said 'good' and I lived to tell the tale!

Why did he have the sensation of dying a thousand deaths?

"We had only four cameras set up; that's really not enough," Mr Perera recalls. "And we had no script!" The veteran TV executive explains one of live telecasts' trade secrets. With a script, the TV producer seated at his console will know what the speaker is about to say and whether there will be a comment on or acknowledgement of someone's presence in the audience.

The producer can then decide whether and when to pan one or more of the cameras to bring the person on screen.

Without a script, the producer has to rely on flair, experience and instinctive judgment to direct the camera crew and decide what to show on screen at any and every moment of the telecast.

"Supposing I have on screen a close-up of a Cabinet minister or some other VVIP and the PM says at that exact moment something disparaging or highly critical ...!" Mr Perera does not finish that sentence. With the shock and awe in his voice, there is no need to.

Why PM Lee did it in 1971

Weekend Xtra asked Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew why he decided to go live with the 1971 National Day Rally speech.

"I had been thinking of reaching beyond the grassroots leaders when candidly discussing the problems of the time,” Mr Lee says. “Since I could leave out the ultra-sensitive parts to avoid annoying our neighbours, I decided to go live."

Why was the live telecast put out in such an urgent fashion that even Dr Goh reportedly did not know in advance?

"I decided it late, but had been mulling it over for some time."

Were you still weighing the pros and cons as you were being driven to the National Theatre?

"It was not a life-and-death decision because all it meant was deleting a few subjects from my notes."

Mr Lee has packed so much into those succinct answers.

The problems of the time were many and seemingly intractable. Just six years earlier, as Mr Lee says in volume two of his memoirs From Third World To First, "we were given no choice but to leave" Malaysia.

"The years after 1965 were hectic and filled with anxiety, as we struggled to find our feet," he says in the book. "We were relieved when we found in 1971 that we had created enough jobs to avoid heavy unemployment even though the British withdrew their forces from Singapore."

But Mr Lee and his Cabinet colleagues were not yet "confident that we could make it on our own".

During the 1969 Malaysian election campaign, the governing "Alliance leaders made wild and groundless allegations that Singapore leaders had interfered in their politics", according to Mr Lee in his book.

Deadly race riots broke out in Kuala Lumpur on May 13, three days after the 1969 polls. A bit of the racial violence spilt over to Singapore, necessitating fast and firm counter-measures by government.

"The Utusan Melayu (a Malay-language newspaper based in Malaysia and which also circulated in Singapore then) became even more pro-Malay and openly hostile towards the Singapore government, belittling our efforts to help Singapore Malays," Mr Lee says in the book.

According to Mr Lee in the book, there was only one Malaysian government leader who was not prejudiced against Singapore. He was Deputy Prime Minister Tun Dr Ismail, who visited Singapore in April 1971 and "we had a good talk".

That held out hopes if not expectations of an improvement in cross-Causeway relations.

But it was early days yet when NDR came around four months later. Relations between the two countries were still tense and tender. A wrong word or phrase from either side could inflame passions of the negative kind.

Hence, Dr Goh must have been horrified when he heard from his seat at the National Theatre that the PM's speech was going on air live. For Mr Lee was and is not known as one who minces his words.

Mr Lee now reveals that he exercised self-censorship, excising from his notes — there was no prepared text — things that he needed to tell Singaporeans yet would be ultra-sensitive should our neighbours get to hear of them.

It was a momentous decision! Singapore's first Prime Minister censored himself, or edited himself, and launched one of the high points of the Singaporean political year: The annual National Day Rally live telecast.

So what did then PM Lee say in 1971?

Mr Lee Kuan Yew's off-the-cuff speech to his audience of about 3,500 people started with a brief explanation of his decision to go on air live: "We cannot go on doing the things we are doing unless not only you but a lot of other people outside know the raison d’etre, the background, the reasons, the problems..."

Then he touched on the progress Singapore had made and thought aloud about leadership transition. He elaborated on the need for long-term planning; Singapore’s security and sovereignty; US President Richard Nixon's forthcoming ceremonial visit to China and the lesson from it — expect the unexpected; the Vietnam war; the Commonwealth Five comprising Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and Singapore.

"Being a small country in a strategic position ... we should try and avoid being sacrificed as pawns," Mr Lee said.

He outlined Singapore's economic need to "go on from physical servicing to brain servicing"; the inevitability of letting in foreign workers; and "supposing the worst happens — sometimes I get glimpses of what may go wrong".

So the government prepared for worst-case scenarios. "And that's what we are trying to do and never mind what the newspapers tell you," Mr Lee said. "If they know as much as we do, they should be running Singapore, isn't it? Particularly those who (have) just come up from the university."

Mr Lee ended his speech by saying "we will see this place safe and secure ... make use of the time, be it five years, be it six, be it 10".

Does that strike you as a less-than-confident Lee Kuan Yew 37 years ago? Well, that was 1971 and those were uncertain times. Minister Mentor Lee is now much more confident about Singapore's future.

Peter H L Lim is a writer and media consultant.

Hello Kitty SG

pls summarise.

Poh Ah Pak SG

http://leewatch.info

Atobe SG

Lee Kuan Yew in 1957, or in 1971 - was no different from any of the present generation of Singaporeans who offer themselves to be in politics with the Alternative Political Parties - to serve Singaporeans, and break the monopoly of LKY's grip on local politics.

The past Singapore generations of the early 1950s, 60s and 70s - had faced the very pronounced uncertain chanllenges of that period with an inexperienced Lee Kuan Yew - under circumstances that saw more at stake then the present Singapore generation.

Yet, the past generations of Singaporeans were prepared to take a chance with an inexperienced lot of politicians led by a similarly inexperienced Lee Kuan Yew, who was seen to be less confident of himself and Singapore's future during the 1960 and 1970s.

Why does this generation of Singaporeans demand more and expect more from those Singaporeans in the Alternative Political Parties, who are similarly inexperienced today, as Lee Kuan Yew was in 1957 and 1971 ?

Are the present Singaporeans less willing to face challenges - as so astutely assessed and frequently chided by the PAP Government - even for our own futures : whether in collective politics, or personal careers ?