Interrogating Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s Ethos in the Malay National Day Rally Speech 2013

Abstract

Each year the prime minister of Singapore addresses the entire nation through the National Day Rally speech. This important speech offers an occasion to analyze the ethos of the prime minister. This paper will interrogate three specific strategies that he employs to get his project across to the audience: the appeal for identification, the exploitation of kairos, and the effective use of his prominent bureaucratic status and authority. These strategies help him bolster his credibility (ethos) as a public figure and thereby enact a favorable rhetorical persona.