MM Lee: This little red dot must be different, relevant

This little red dot must be different, relevant

But a mediocre Cabinet can affect Singapore’s image: MM

Friday • April 10, 2009

THE little red dot needs to get along with its far bigger neighbours in the region — but at the same time, it cannot afford to be like them.

This is because Singapore has “to differentiate ourselves from our neighbours in order to compete and survive”, said Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew yesterday.

Noting that Singapore cannot simply rely on the friendship of others, he said the Republic has to “continually reconstruct itself and keep its relevance to the world and to create political and economic space”.

Having been able to do so, it has been accepted as “a serious player in regional and international fora”.

“Had we disported ourselves like our better endowed neighbours, we would have failed. For Singapore, unlike others in our neighbourhood, is of no intrinsic interest to any developed country when they can invest in our larger neighbours endowed with more land, labour and natural resources,” said Mr Lee, who engaged an audience of some 550 diplomats, academics and students at the S Rajaratnam Lecture last night, at the Shangri-La hotel.

A copy of his speech was distributed in advance, and the lively hour-long dialogue saw the Minister Mentor fielding questions on — among other topics — China-US relations, how Singapore and Malaysia’s new leadership can work together, and whether the Republic should modify its foreign policy objectives for the future.

One imperative Mr Lee emphasised: Singapore needs political leaders who can hold their own on the international stage.

“Sound foreign policy requires a Prime Minister and a Foreign Minister who are able to discern future trends in the international political, security and economic environment and position ourselves bilaterally or multilaterally to grasp the opportunities ahead of the others,” he said.

Since independence in 1965, Singapore’s foreign policy has been settled “by the PM and his key ministers”.

No doubt, Foreign Ministry officers and diplomats can offer “insightful recommendations”. But “ultimately, it is the Prime Minister and other key ministers who decide on changes in policies. At face-to-face meetings over long hours, they can sense each other’s thinking and leanings before their officials are privy to them”, he said.

As such, “a mediocre PM and Cabinet will decline our standing with other countries”.

“We will lose opportunities like the lead we enjoy in Free Trade Agreements or Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements with the US, Japan, China, India, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, and our close relations with the oil states of the Gulf,” Mr Lee said.

Creating ‘economic space’

One example of foresight that he cited: How Singapore, seeing that China was rising, had gone out of its way to be helpful, such as with the Suzhou industrial park. The experience has given us “an entree into all the cities of China”. “They are sending their mayors, about 111 of them, to NTU (Nanyang Technological University), learning how to manage a city. So everybody in China at the city level knows of Singapore, and businesses from Singapore will find open doors.”

Moving ahead, Mr Lee said: “We got to create economic space for Singapore. I even went to Russia. We got some hotels, service apartments and we are selling 3-in-1 coffee mix in Russia and a few other things ... It does not create jobs here, that’s the trouble. Our GDP will grow, and we are creating jobs in China, India and Russia ... And I think that is the duty of the Government. You’ve got to anticipate the shape of things to come; when they come, you are there.”

Another concern: Singaporeans must never fool ourselves “that we are a part of the First World in South-east Asia, a Second and Third World group of countries”.

Rounding up his speech, the Minister Mentor said that as long as future generations keep in mind the Republic’s vulnerabilities, “and not delude themselves that we can behave as if our neighbours are Europeans or North Americans, and remain alert, cohesive and realistic, Singapore will survive and prosper”.

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