Rafe Fletcher: Singapore knows that history is essential to cementing a strong state - but Britain has forgotten

Rafe Fletcher: Singapore knows that history is essential to cementing a strong state - but Britain has forgotten

Rafe Fletcher is the founder of CWG. Singapore doesn’t dwell in colonial nostalgia. It looks back with clarity and pragmatism to explain the present. In contrast, the UK compresses its identity into a selective version of recent history, seeing empire as a scar and tolerance and diversity as all that defines us. More jingoism won’t cure Britain’s malaise – but honesty and objectivity will help. Sir Stamford Raffles’ statue stands on the north si…