In 1965, Singapore separated from Malaysia, shattering the hope of a shared postcolonial future. The new country needed as many friends as it could get. The man who led the effort to secure Singapore’s place on the global stage was S. Rajaratnam, our first Foreign Minister. Today, we speak to Irene Ng, author of The Lion’s Roar, which is the second of a two-part biography on Rajaratnam. While he is best known for drafting the National Pledge, Rajaratnam also helped establish Singapore’s foreign policy principles and tackled some of the country’s major challenges during the early years.

In this episode, we discuss the execution of Indonesian marines for the MacDonald House bombings, the settling of Japan’s blood debt for wartime atrocities, the crisis after the Vietnamese occupation of Cambodia, Rajaratnam’s views on multiracialism and national identity, and the PAP Old Guard’s collective efforts to build Singapore.