Little Red Dot, The: Reflections By Singapore's Diplomats - Volume Ii : Reflections by Singapore's Diplomats 9789814271875, 9789814271868

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Published by World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd. 5 Toh Tuck Link, Singapore 596224 USA office: 27 Warren Street, Suite 401-402, Hackensack, NJ 07601 UK office: 57 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9HE

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

THE LITTLE RED DOT — Volume II Reflections by Singapore’s Diplomats Copyright © 2009 by World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd. All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without written permission from the Publisher.

For photocopying of material in this volume, please pay a copying fee through the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. In this case permission to photocopy is not required from the publisher.

ISBN-13 978-981-4271-86-8 (pbk) ISBN-10 981-4271-86-1 (pbk)

Printed in Singapore.

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About Institute of Policy Studies

The Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) was established in 1988 as a think-tank dedicated to fostering good governance in Singapore through strategic policy research and discussion. An autonomous research centre in the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, IPS focuses on domestic developments in Singapore and on external relations. It employs a multi-disciplinary approach in its analysis with an emphasis on long-term strategic thinking.

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Foreword

To survive and prosper, Singapore as a small country must be exceptional. To achieve this, we need not only men and women who are exceptional but who are also fully committed to the Singapore cause. The Foreign Ministry has been able to attract such men and women into its ranks. This collection of essays from a third generation of ambassadors bears testimony to this. Their reflections, thoughtful, insightful and often times heartwarming, are infused with a palpable sense of mission and shared purpose in the service of Singapore. That sense of mission manifests itself in their clearsighted appreciation, passionate promotion and steadfast defence of our national interest. Pursuing the national interest is the raison d’etre of every country’s foreign policy and Singapore is no different. Undergirding this is an acute awareness that no strategic or competitive advantage that we enjoy is a permanent advantage. Even as we sign the latest international agreement that expands our external political and economic space, our diplomats are looking at what more needs to be done. We are perpetual worriers. We take nothing for granted. We are too small to change the world but we can change to stay relevant to the world. This constant restlessness sets Singapore apart from vii

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many countries. It makes us imagine and invent our future beyond the limits of our physical size. Our diplomats embody this spirit. I believe above all it is this spirit that makes the “Little Red Dot” and its people exceptional.

Raymond Lim Second Minister for Foreign Affairs, Singapore 2009

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Contents

Foreword by Raymond Lim, Second Minister for Foreign Affairs, Singapore

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Acknowledgements

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List of Abbreviations

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Introduction

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The Third Generation Diplomats 1 Life’s Lessons by Lawrence Anderson 2 Observing Others to Know Oneself by Anil Kumar Nayar 3 From Tanglin to Baghdad by Albert Chua 4 Earthquake, SARS, Tsunami and Cyclone: Lessons from Crisis Management by Robert Chua 5 A Pleasure and A Privilege by Chua Thai Keong 6 Of BMWs, Guerrillas and the Highway of Death: Snippets of a Diplomat’s Life by Simon Tensing De Cruz 7 Learning with Master Chefs: Cooking a Treaty by Burhan Gafoor

3 11 17 21 27 33 43

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8 From Indonesia to Brunei to Saudi Arabia by Hirubalan V. P. 9 Mission: Singaporeans Abroad by Jeyaraj Benjamin William 10 Exercise Our Brain, Open Our Heart by Joseph K. H. Koh 11 Philippines: Perception and Reality by Lim Kheng Hua 12 Mind Your Business by Lim Thuan Kuan 13 September 11: Ground Zero in Washington D.C. by Stanley Loh 14 Intellectual Property and Public Health: Negotiating at the World Trade Organization by Vanu Gopala Menon 15 A Small State’s Diplomacy — Some Reflections by Seetoh Hoy Cheng 16 Singapore’s Diplomatic Assets by A. Selverajah 17 From Lan Xang to Lac Leman by Karen Tan 18 Lessons from Multilateral Diplomacy by Tan Yee Woan 19 Learning, Teamwork and Management for Success by Tan York Chor 20 A Day in the Life of a Symphony by Michael Tay 21 Would I Choose MFA Again? by Wong Kwok Pun 22 Annex I: Milestones of Singapore’s External Relations from June 2005–December 2008 23 Annex II: List of Countries with which Singapore has Diplomatic Relations 24 Index

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Acknowledgements

The Little Red Dot, a collection of essays by the first and second generation of Singapore’s diplomats, has been very well received. Published in 2005, it has been reprinted three times in 2005, 2006 and 2008. The editors have felt the need to include the voices of the third generation in a new volume. We are very pleased that our objective has been achieved. We would like to thank Second Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Raymond Lim for his foreword to this new volume of essays, and our colleagues at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, particularly, Mr. Peter Ho, Mr. Bilahari Kausikan, Mr. Lee Chiong Giam, Mr. Ho Cheok Sun and their colleagues, and Ms. Lily Ng for their generous support for this book. Ms. Lim Bee Leng has meticulously expanded the list of the milestones of Singapore’s external relations. We would like to thank our contributors for sharing their stories, reflections and the lessons learnt. We hope that the stories of this younger generation of diplomats will bring different insights to our readers. Our gratitude also goes to our colleagues at the Institute of Policy Studies, including Mr. Ong Keng Yong, Mr. Arun Mahizhnan, Ms. Irene Lim, and, our intern, Ms. Sinni Lim for their help in the preparation of this book.

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We wish to thank our publishers, Prof. K K Phua, Mr. Max Phua and our editors, Ms. Yvonne Tan and Ms. Lim Shujuan of World Scientific Publishing for doing a great job. Tommy Koh Chang Li Lin September 2008

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List of Abbreviations AMED AMM APEC ARF ASEAN ASEM ATM

Asia-Middle East Dialogue ASEAN Ministerial Meeting Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation ASEAN Regional Forum Association of Southeast Asian Nations Asia-Europe Meeting Automated Teller Machine

BGC BITP BMW

Bonifacio Global City Bangalore International Tech Park Bavarian Motor Works

CDA CEO CIAC CPA CSR

Charge d’Affairs Chief Executive Officer Clark International Airport Corp Coalition Provisional Authority Corporate Social Responsibility

DBS

Development Bank of Singapore

EALAF EAS EDB EDSA EU

East Asia-Latin America Forum East Asia Summit Economic Development Board Epifanio de los Santos Avenue European Union

FEALAC FOS FSO FTA FUNCINPEC

Forum of East Asia-Latin America Cooperation Friends of Singapore Foreign Service Officer Free Trade Agreement National United Front for an Independent, Neutral, Peaceful and Cooperative Cambodia

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G77 GATT GILAS GK GSP

Group of 77 General Agreement of Tariffs and Trade Gearing up Internet Literacy and Access for Students Gawad Kalinga Generalized System of Preferences

HQ

Headquarters

IAEA ICAO ICRC ICT IE IMF IMM INTAN IP IPOS ISEAS IT

International Atomic Energy Agency International Civil Aviation Organization International Committee of the Red Cross Information and Communications Technology International Enterprise (Singapore) International Monetary Fund Informal Ministerial Meeting Institut Tadbiran Awam Negara Intellectual Property Intellectual Property Office of Singapore Institute of Southeast Asian Studies Information Technology

KPNLF

Khmer People’s National Liberation Front

LEAP

Leaders and Educators in Asia Programme

MFA MHA MINDEF MNC MTI

Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ministry of Home Affairs Ministry of Defence Multinational Corporation Ministry of Trade and Industry

NAM NAMFREL NAT NEDA NGO

Non-Aligned Movement National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections Needs Assessment Team National Economic Development Authority Non-Governmental Organisation

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List of Abbreviations

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NIE NOK NUS

National Institute of Education Next Of Kin National University of Singapore

PF PM PPA PSC

Prison Fellowship Prime Minister Policy, Planning and Analysis Public Service Commission

R&D R&E RAM RSIS

Research and Development Regional and Economic Reform the Armed Forces Movement S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies

SAF SAR SARS SCDF SCP SGH SIA SME SMS

Singapore Armed Forces Search and Rescue Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Singapore Civil Defence Force Singapore Cooperation Programme Singapore General Hospital Singapore Airlines Small and Medium Enterprises Short Message Service

TRIPS TPN

Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Third Person Note

UN UNDP UNESCAP

United Nations United Nations Development Programme United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization United Nations General Assembly United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees United Nations Iraq-Kuwait Observer Mission

UNESCO UNGA UNHCR UNIKOM

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USA (US) USTR

United States of America United States Trade Representative

WIPO WTO

World Intellectual Property Organization World Trade Organization

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Introduction

The Little Red Dot has been very successful. Published in 2005, it has been reprinted in 2005, 2006 and 2008. Encouraged by its success, we have decided to update volume one and to publish a new volume two, consisting of 21 essays by our third generation of ambassadors and high commissioners. The essays in volume two contain stories which have never been told before. Some of them are inspiring. Others show the resilience and inventiveness of our young diplomats. All the essays contain important lessons learnt. With the help of MFA’s Librarian, Ms. Lim Bee Leng, we have updated the milestones which serve as a useful record of the history of Singapore’s external relations We hope that volume two will be as successful as volume one. Tommy Koh Chang Li Lin

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The Third Generation Diplomats

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Life’s Lessons Mr. Lawrence ANDERSON was appointed Director of the Europe Directorate in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in May 2007. He joined the Foreign Service in 1984. His first overseas posting was First Secretary to the Singapore Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York in 1988 and the Singapore Embassy in Washington, D.C., 1988–1991. He was Counsellor and Deputy Chief of Mission at the Singapore Embassy in Bangkok between 1996 and 1999. In MFA HQ, he held various posts which included Deputy Director in the Policy Planning & Analysis Directorate I (1994– 1996) and Deputy Director in the ASEAN Directorate (1999–2002). He was Director of the Technical Cooperation Directorate from 2002–2004. Mr. Anderson was appointed Ambassador to the Kingdom of Cambodia from 29 March 2004 to 18 April 2007. In 1993, he was awarded the Raffles Scholarship and obtained a Master of Arts in Area Studies (Southeast Asia) from the School of Oriental and African Studies, United Kingdom.

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he world has changed a lot since I joined the Foreign Ministry, not just politically, but also in terms of values and ideals. I joined MFA in 1984, straight from the university, which means 24 years at a job. Nowadays, that is called inertia, though in pre-dot-com days, loyalty was regarded as a virtue. Back then, I was looking to build a career doing something meaningful which I believed in personally and felt I had found it in diplomacy and foreign affairs. This, thankfully, has not changed. Both in good times and in those not so happy ones, the varied experiences of working in MFA HQ and postings abroad to New York, Washington, Bangkok and Phnom Penh have been equally enriching and eye-opening. In this essay, let me share some personal vignettes from the early days, which have served invaluably as life’s lessons throughout my career.

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Before the Little Red Dot there was Lake Toba In 1988, as a fresh-faced young diplomat on his first posting to our U.N. Mission in New York, I remember attending my very first ASEAN-New York Committee meeting. As with ASEAN gatherings, the mood was warm and convivial. A senior Indonesian colleague who had made me feel most welcome during the morning coffee preliminaries, quietly drew me aside to an adjoining room. As we stood barely two feet apart, the grey-beard said solemnly: “Pak Lawrence, Singapore is a great island. But do you know Indonesia has several thousand islands? In one of them, Sumatra, there are many many volcanoes. In one of the volcanoes, there is a big lake, Danau Toba. In that lake, there are several islands, each one, larger than Singapore!” Bapak’s point put to a young Singaporean diplomat was abundantly clear. As he stood there smiling, I replied, seriously: “Precisely, Pak; which is why I can’t understand why Indonesians go on and on about our defence forces. We are so small you can easily fit all of us into one of your volcanoes!” Bapak frowned, quizzically. Then, he clapped me warmly on the back with a loud guffaw: “Yes, Pak, precisely! Singapore is our best friend, still…” Grey-beard left it at that and we rejoined the others. He never mentioned it again. Size does matter, of course. During my assignment to Washington, D.C. in 1988–91, I often had to explain to my American friends, the constraints facing Singapore due to our status as a small island state. Like most people, Americans use themselves and their country as their basic reference point for norms, behaviour and achievements. They are favorably impressed with what we have accomplished, but more so when they realise what Singapore is, relative to the U.S.

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“As you know,” I would begin, earnestly, “the U.S. is made up of 50 states ranging from Alaska, the largest, to tiny Rhode Island. Well, Singapore is one-fifth the size of Rhode Island.” This simple fact always makes them sit up and smile!

Three Wise Men I was fortunate early in my career to serve under three of our most able and distinguished diplomats: Ambassadors Kishore Mahbubani in New York, Tommy Koh and S. R. Nathan in Washington. Each was different in his personality, management style and temperament, but they were all brilliant and inspirational men. Through observation, instruction and deduction, I learnt so much about the diplomatic craft and how to deal with people. Kishore Mahbubani is an intellectual, a thinker and a strategist. He taught me about the importance of giving face and being generous to an opponent without compromising your interests. In the 1980s, one of the most critical issues for Singapore was the Cambodian problem, or to be more precise, mobilising international support against the Vietnamese occupation of Cambodia. At the U.N., it meant lobbying for as many votes as possible for the annual Resolution. In 1988, a nuanced change in the language of the Resolution critical of the Khmer Rouge was not happily received by China, hitherto one of our key supporters. Given China’s prestige and influence, few believed that ASEAN would not climb down and amend the text, but eventually with the help of our supporters, we prevailed upon our Chinese friends to come around. It was some achievement, but we did not gloat or revel in it. Kishore saw to that and more. He had masterminded the strategy that finally persuaded the Chinese to accept our formulation, but he also took pains to acknowledge, both verbally and through a written statement, China’s magnanimous action and support. Seeing how much the Chinese appreciated this gesture, I understood then, the

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importance of giving face and goodwill to your opponent, which also ensures that he does not become your enemy.

Washington Days Tommy Koh is the most humane person I know. He always has a good word for everyone and treats all people, from the receptionist to the President, with kindness and consideration. He possesses a keen mind, coupled with a generosity of spirit, tolerance and compassion, which probably explains why he is so good at diplomacy — the art of bringing warring sides together. Ambassador Koh showed me how people ought to be treated. When I used to accompany him to meetings with his important American contacts, he would often introduce me as his colleague who did all the work and who gave him all the ideas. Of course, this was blatantly false, as the American contact well knew, but it was Tommy’s warm way of signalling that if he were not around and if there was follow-up needed, the American could turn to me. This, naturally, was a great morale booster, but a great burden too, because it made me acutely conscious of the need to justify Tommy’s confidence and trust. One example illustrates his generosity. Part of our job was to persuade the U.S. administration not to withdraw support for the non-communist resistance Cambodian forces. During a particularly difficult period, it seemed that withdrawal of such support was imminent. A Congressional friend advised us that as part of our lobby efforts, it was crucial for ASEAN to persuade the major U.S. newspapers to publish the call from the countries of the region for the U.S. to stand steadfast. The task of writing the articles for publication fell to me. One article would be published under Ambassador Koh’s name, while our ASEAN colleagues agreed to have another under the Philippines Ambassador’s name as ASEAN Chairman at the time. The articles

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were good, but why would the U.S. newspapers, who were not sympathetic to the ASEAN position on Cambodia, publish them? They probably would not, if Tommy had not used his considerable persuasive powers and wide array of contacts. Within a short space of time, we had two articles published in the op-ed pages of the influential and pre-eminent American newspapers — New York Times and the Washington Post. Despite my protestations, Tommy generously told our ASEAN and U.S. friends that I deserved the credit for having written the articles and talking to the newspaper editors. The U.S. Administration duly postponed the decision on withdrawal of support, though certainly not just because of the articles. It was thanks mainly to Tommy that we achieved the desired results, but I was personally chuffed at having two articles published in the New York Times and the Washington Post, even though they were not under my name!

Mr. President My second boss in Washington was S. R. Nathan, who succeeded Tommy Koh as Ambassador in 1990. Ambassador Nathan, who subsequently became our President in 1999, was the one who really educated me about what exactly made Singapore tick. He was literally “present at the creation” of our nation, and was intimately involved in many of our domestic and foreign policy challenges. Ambassador Nathan was also a great story-teller of anecdotes; I say story-teller because although they were true events, he had the skill to weave them like an adventure thriller! Read his accounts of the Laju hijacking incident and the formation of the coalition of disparate Cambodian factions in the first volume of The Little Red Dot to see what I mean. Ambassador Nathan was the one who made me realise that I wanted to make the Foreign Service my career. It was not something he did nor did I experience an awakening of sorts at one of his

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inspired sermons. It was more of a gradual conversion, by simply listening and learning what this wise man had to say about having a sense of duty, of service to one’s country and a sense of purpose to life and by watching what he set by example. But it was not always that way. In the early days of his stewardship, I had a difficult time understanding why, during our internal staff meetings, he was always so hard on us younger officers. He often tore apart our analysis mercilessly and was always finding fault with how we put forward our views. Then, one day, he called one colleague who has since left the Ministry and I into his office and asked if we knew why he was always so tough on us. Without waiting for a reply, he explained that he wanted us to develop a proper sense of humility and respect for others. He knew that we knew our briefs, but he did not want us to be big-headed about it because it would lead us to show off rather than focus on what was important. “Look, one day, you fellows will be asked to brief PM on an important matter. If you beat-around-the-bush like you normally do, it will be a disaster. I am training you to be precise; to focus on the essentials and to put forward your views clearly and concisely!” After that, the admonitions did not seem hurtful, while they, in turn, were much less frequent. We had learnt our lesson and were on our way to becoming proper Singapore FSOs. There were many more lessons before I finally left Washington in the summer of 1991, but by then, the respect and affection for Ambassador Nathan was absolute.

Last Thoughts This year, I will have been in the service for a quarter century, a lifetime. Yet, it seems like only yesterday on that early Monday morning on 28 May 1984 that I bounded up City Hall, two steps at a time, eager to start my first day. Frankly, I never expected to stay

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this long, but have done so with few, if any, regrets. It is with quiet pride that I watch my country grow and prosper and to feel that in our own small way, my colleagues and I have done our part. In 2007, when the great debate over the Ministers’ salaries was raging, I was in my final months as the Singapore Ambassador to Cambodia. Over lunch in Phnom Penh, one of my Cambodian contacts told me earnestly that he did not see what all the fuss was about. “If you can guarantee us the same levels of integrity, efficiency and success Singapore has achieved, we would be happy to pay our Ministers twice as much as you are now squabbling over!”

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Observing Others to Know Oneself Mr. ANIL KUMAR Nayar was appointed as Singapore’s Ambassador to Belgium with concurrent accreditation to the European Communities, the Netherlands and Luxembourg in November 2006. Having joined the Foreign Service in 1993, he has served in various capacities covering North America and Southeast Asia. From 1995 to 2000, he was posted to the Singapore Embassy in Jakarta as First Secretary. His last appointment before taking up the post in Brussels was as Director (Southeast Asia). He was awarded the Public Administration Award (Silver) in 2005.

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aving spent a greater part of my MFA career dealing with Southeast Asia, it was with a mix of excitement and some nervousness that I took up my present assignment in Brussels, covering Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and the European Union (EU). As I waded into uncharted waters, I had braced myself for a steep learning curve, especially in terms of how Singapore and Europe factor in one another’s policy calculations even as they continue to change and evolve. In this regard, trying to develop a good grasp of the complex workings of the EU and the Belgian political and administrative framework helped to put me in the appropriate frame of mind to tackle work and life in Europe.

Different Impressions In the course of my assignment in Brussels, I have come into contact with a broad and often conflicting range of impressions and assessments about the EU and its prospects. I have read, been told and seen first-hand why Europe has come to be regarded by its own citizenry and others as the cradle of Western civilisation and culture, while continuing to provide its inhabitants with a high quality of 11

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life in terms of employment, education, healthcare and overall wellbeing. Likewise, many Europeans themselves are concerned that unable to cope with the effects of globalisation, the EU could end up as an inward-looking entity, creaking and straining under the weight of unfavourable demographic trends and unsustainable socioeconomic policies. Some European friends — with an eye on other dynamic parts of the international system — are worried that their own region could be drifting into irrelevance.

Common Challenges As far as stereotypes, impressions and even hard-nosed assessments go, it would be possible to find ‘proof’ that lends credence to such depictions. But rather than shake one’s head and tut-tut over the challenges facing Europe, it is perhaps more useful to recognise that that they can no longer be dismissed merely as ‘Europe’s problems’. Similar challenges are beginning to be felt elsewhere, especially in the increasingly prosperous and stable parts of Asia. Therefore, a more purposeful and timely exercise would be to identify what lessons we can draw from Europe’s experience, both in terms of the challenges that await us down the road and the possible tools to manage their effects. The learning points and examples that Europe offer are not just based on its challenges or problems. The EU has been one of the most successful projects in regional integration, especially in terms of its scorecard on political stability and economic growth. While ideas and policies that work in the EU context cannot be transplanted or replicated wholesale elsewhere, there are many positive lessons to be drawn from the EU’s experience in building intra-regional cooperation and cohesion. They offer good insights for ASEAN’s own way forward.

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Keeping Southeast Asia on the European Radar In the course of my work in Brussels, I am constantly intrigued by how Asia, ASEAN and Singapore are perceived in Europe, at various levels and segments of society. Obviously, given their growing political and economic weight on a global scale, China and India garner the lion’s share of European interest in Asia. That is not to say that ASEAN has been side-lined or ‘forgotten’, but it does mean that ASEAN will have its work cut out in terms of inscribing itself on European minds. Obviously, this would mean drawing attention and interest for the right reasons. In daily interactions with Europeans, my impression is that Singapore is generally regarded in positive terms. This does not, however, preclude the need for frequent candid but measured ‘discussions’ on why not being a mirror image of European society does not mean that something is amiss with Singapore. Among those who perceive Singapore in positive terms, two oft-quoted examples that symbolise Singapore’s competitiveness, efficiency and professionalism are Changi Airport and Singapore Airlines. I have also lost count of the number of Europeans who have told me how much they are looking forward to the Formula One race held in Singapore in late 2008, asserting that given Singapore’s track record, it can only be a big success.

Sustaining Singapore’s Success Like any true-blue Singaporean, I am filled with a warm glow when showered with such accolades about Singapore but in the cold light of day, the cumulative effect of such praise can be very sobering. What it drives home is a stark reminder that having linked our continued relevance and survival on ‘delivering the goods’ on the targets that we set for ourselves, going forward will be far more demanding and rigorous. Having worked tirelessly to develop a

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blue-chip status, it will be far more challenging to build on this success and raise standards even higher. This difficult but unavoidable task lies before Singapore even as others with more resources and other advantages have the scope to emulate and perhaps even improve on what Singapore is doing. Therefore, when some Europeans express amazement at Singapore’s constant efforts at reinventing itself, my response can only be that this is a prerequisite for Singapore’s survival, not a fad or luxury that we can take our time with. One of the biggest benefits of an MFA career is the opportunity to learn more about other cultures and their way of life. In my experience, greater value from this opportunity arises from being able to compare first-hand the trends and developments where one is posted to, with what is happening in Singapore. It has become almost an ‘instinct’ of sorts, and not just on the work-front, to reflect on specific events or trends in Europe with related aspects of Singapore. I find myself constantly thinking about how a similar issue or situation would be perceived and/or handled in Singapore, and how our citizens would react in such circumstances. To really benefit from such comparisons, it is imperative to follow the goings-on in Singapore very closely. Fortunately, technological advances have ensured that it has become increasingly easier to do so from abroad, not just on important policy issues, but even to the extent of being able to delve into blogs and chat sites where Singaporeans discuss and debate passionately where the best bak kut teh or wanton mee can be found.

Constructive Critics One observation I have in reading the comments and views of Singaporeans — carried by the media or reflected on blogs and chat sites — is that many of our citizens have finely honed their ability to question, compare and criticise. In itself, this is a predictable outcome arising from Singapore’s development, and it is crucial in

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terms of helping Singapore improve itself in the long-run. What I hope is that in expressing their views on what needs to be improved, Singaporeans will eventually move towards the situation in many parts of the EU, where citizens play an active and constructive role in identifying problems and putting forward considered ideas on possible solutions. In many cases, they do so not out of personal monetary gains but motivated by the genuine desire to tackle what they perceive to be a problem in their society. Without any interest to go beyond criticism into viable solutions, we risk reinforcing the wisdom of ancient Greece, that “criticism comes easier than craftsmanship”1. It is therefore crucial for Singapore’s long-term future that we develop a strong culture of citizen activism, not just in terms of questions and criticism, but also viable solutions. My career in MFA has taught me that very often, I have been fortunate enough to learn more about my own country — its past, present, future, strengths and limitations — by observing others and their experiences.

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Zeuxis (~400 BC), from Pliny the Elder, Natural History.

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From Tanglin to Baghdad Mr. Albert CHUA is Singapore’s High Commissioner to Australia. He joined the Foreign Service in 1992 and has served as Deputy Trade Representative in Taipei, Director of Northeast Asia Directorate, International Economics Directorate and Southeast Asia Directorate, and Deputy Secretary (Policy). From 2004 to 2007, he served as Principal Private Secretary to then Prime Minister and, later, Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong.

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oon after the U.S. won the war in Iraq in 2003, the Singapore Cabinet decided to dispatch a Needs Assessment Team (NAT) to register our political support and understand how best we could contribute to post-war reconstruction. As Deputy Secretary (Policy), I was to lead the “NAT”. There were seven of us — three from MINDEF, two police officers, Raziff Aljunied and myself.

On the Road It was barely a month after the U.S. victory. Nobody had predicted the swiftness. Nobody knew what was going on in Iraq. We did not even know how to get into Baghdad and who to see. Our initial plan was to fly to Kuwait, talk to U.S. forces there and try to make our way into Baghdad. But on the day of departure, Kuwait imposed a ban on travellers from Singapore because we were a SARS-affected (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) country. Hence we flew to London to wait out the quarantine period. When our Permanent Representative in New York heard from his Jordanian counterpart that there was a secure land route from Amman to Baghdad, we decided to try it. Once in Amman we missed the opportunity to join a diplomatic convoy because our flak jackets and helmets were delayed in shipment 17

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from London. We were two weeks into our journey and getting nowhere. Then, we had a lucky break. We managed to hitch a ride with a Jordanian army convoy. We rented two 4×4 utility vehicles, with one Jordanian and one Iraqi driver. The journey from Amman to Baghdad is 500 km. We started at 3 am and reached the border at 7 am. Hundreds of vehicles were waiting to cross. Many were filled with goods destined for Baghdad. The border crossing took two hours and by 10 am, we were finally on the road to Baghdad! The journey was incident free but we saw many knocked out Iraqi tanks and army trucks. We arrived in Baghdad at 5 pm and checked into our hotel, which was guarded by the U.S. troops. We could see Ferdowsi Square, where U.S. troops had helped ordinary Iraqis pull down a giant statue of Saddam Hussein on 9th April 2003 — an image which defined the war.

Meeting the Coalition Provisional Authority at Saddam’s Palace The next day, we met key members of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) housed in one of Saddam’s palaces. Our Iraqi driver was tense as he drove into the compound, saying to us, “during Saddam’s time, kill for coming in”. There was fear in his voice. We were the second foreign team to be received by the CPA. I called on Paul Bremer, who had arrived in Baghdad two days before to take up his appointment as the Administrator. We discussed Singapore’s contributions to post-war reconstruction. It was clear that the SAF medical team was not needed. Law and order was the most pressing need. Our offer of a police team to train Iraqi policemen was warmly welcomed. CPA officials were curious about what was happening in Baghdad city as they could not travel freely and were cut off from ordinary Iraqis. They did not know what was happening outside the gates of Saddam’s palace. Some admitted that nobody had expected the war to be over so quickly. They had made

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From Tanglin to Baghdad

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elaborate plans to win the war but nobody had sat down to make plans to win the peace. Baghdad was hardly damaged. Our four days there were relatively peaceful. During the day, we did not wear our flak jackets and helmets as we drove around. Ordinary Iraqis went about their business. The bazaar was busy and the stalls were full. There was optimism in the air. Iraqis were grateful to the Americans for Saddam’s removal but wondered when U.S. troops would leave. At night, we could hear sounds of sporadic gun fights. Nobody went out after darkness fell.

An Unexpected Encounter in Basra From Baghdad we made a side trip to the Southern port of Um Qasar, entering overland through Kuwait. Under British command, Basra was quieter and less tense than Baghdad. After receiving a briefing from the British Colonel, we toured Um Qasar port. As we were preparing to leave, an unmarked Iraqi car sped towards us. Our Kuwaiti driver was very excited and shouted something we did not understand. It was a tense moment. The Iraqi car stopped and out came running an old Iraqi woman, with two men and a child. It was eventually explained to us that the old Iraqi woman was the mother-in-law of our Kuwaiti driver. They had not seen each other for 25 years! He had called her as he was driving us from Kuwait to Basra. It was an emotional reunion. Before leaving, the old Iraqi woman gave us sweets for good luck!

Some Reflections We achieved our objective of sending a strong political signal of Singapore’s support for the U.S. We decided not to send the SAF medical team but instead, despatched a 30-men police team which helped train about 4,000 Iraqi policemen, one of whom eventually

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rose to become the Interior Minister. Looking back, I was conscious of being responsible for six others (one of whom became a father only two weeks before our departure). I never worried about my safety. I had a good team which was critical to the mission’s success. Luck also played an important part. The rest of the time, we just improvised as we went along.

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6/9/2009 9:08:04 AM

Earthquake, SARS, Tsunami and Cyclone: Lessons from Crisis Management Mr. Robert CHUA Hian Kong joined the Foreign Service in 1979 and has served in political and functional directorates and postings in Washington, Tokyo, Manila, Ho Chi Minh City and San Francisco. He was awarded the Fulbright Scholarship in 1984 and the Singapore Government’s Public Administration Medal (Silver) in 2004. He is currently serving as Singapore’s Ambassador to the Union of Myanmar.

I

have been blessed in my MFA career to have served diverse postings in Singapore and overseas which somehow regularly focused on crisis management. Wth the trend in global climate change and return of disease epidemics as seen in SARS and Avian Influenza, as well as terrorism, diplomats have to develop experience in crisis management. I share with the next generation of MFA’s diplomats some of my experiences as lessons learnt in crisis management. Besides honing our skills in political work, we should be prepared to carry out one of MFA’s primary duties — providing consular assistance to our citizens when they get into difficulties overseas.

Kobe Earthquake The Kobe earthquake happened on January 1995, during my Tokyo posting, and I was involved in the consular work of looking after affected Singaporeans. The Saturday morning after the earthquake, a Singaporean, Madam K called me at my home as I was having breakfast. A journalist friend gave her my contact number. She was distraught as her house was damaged by the earthquake, the bookshelf almost hit her and her daughter, and her husband who reported for 21

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work could not be located (he was subsequently safe). Via telephone communication, I counselled and guided Madam K and her daughter to temporary refuge at the next city, Hiroshima where my Japanese and foreign friends looked after her. The Singapore Embassy also helped other affected Singaporeans (none perished in the earthquake) who phoned for help, to travel to Hiroshima city where they took the Singapore Airlines flight back to Singapore. Several months later, before my Tokyo posting ended, I visited Hiroshima and was happy to meet Madam K and her family. This crisis management was a lesson in improvisation given the distance from Tokyo to Kobe and inaccessibility to Kobe after the earthquake.

SARS outbreak The SARS outbreak was the most severe test of crisis management for the Singapore Government and people. It was a prolonged period of three months of close inter-ministry meetings to coordinate our national response. The first meeting was urgently convened at the Ministry of Health when MFA staff were in the midst of their annual dinner and dance at a downtown hotel. MFA was responsible for keeping our citizens overseas informed via our Embassies and Consulates and advising them accordingly of the health safety procedures in travelling home. MFA’s Duty Office was working 24/7 during this difficult period. Our Embassies and Consulates were also in the frontline of dispelling false information and misunderstanding of the SARS situation in Singapore after the World Health Organization placed Singapore on its SARS-affected country list. This SARS outbreak badly affected tourist arrivals and business meetings in Singapore. I remembered seeing Changi Airport with low passenger traffic. As Director/Consular, supported by my able Deputy Directors Foo Chin Kwok and Richard Grosse and a dedicated consular team, I was also involved in organising briefings for the foreign Ambassadors based in Singapore by then Health

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Minister Mr. Lim Hng Kiang so that they could know and report first-hand what the Singapore Government was doing in its ringfence strategy to contain SARS. I learnt from this crisis management how the SARS virus took on a diplomatic dimension and how critical it was for all Government ministries to coordinate and work together to overcome the crisis. Ensuring a constantly updated information flow between MFA’s overseas missions and the various ministries was another important learning point.

Tsunami Relief and Reconstruction The 26 December 2004 tsunami was another challenge for MFA as it involved sending emergency relief supplies to the affected countries and tracing missing Singaporeans in the affected countries. Consular teams were sent to Thailand, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and India to work with the local authorities in the search. I was involved in MFA’s Disaster Reconstruction Working Group which coordinated an interministry effort with the Singapore Red Cross Society and Singapore Institute of Architects which went to Sri Lanka and the Maldives to plan Singapore’s reconstruction projects to help the tsunami victims. This was the first inter-ministry effort overseas in postcrisis management following up on Singapore’s commitment to help the affected countries. This ‘Singapore Inc’ approach is a milestone in Singapore’s diplomacy. Going to the ground was an eye-opener on the devastation caused by the tsunami and the reconstruction challenges. Our inter-ministry team decided on community-based projects which would help the affected people prepare for future disasters, such as construction of a primary school in the Maldives which serves as a community storm shelter. We also put in a southern atoll a desalination plant to widen the water supply for the people. We started from scratch, visiting the Maldives for site survey and project planning with the Maldivian Government; and learning to adapt to cross-cultural differences and ‘island hop’ as Maldives has

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1,192 islands and atolls. We met new friends from different levels of Maldivian society. A trauma counselling training course was also conducted for Maldivian nurses in Singapore.

Cyclone Emergency Relief: Team Singapore My Myanmar posting has been eventful. I remember the unprecedented category 3 Cyclone Nargis which hit Myanmar from 2 to 3 May 2008. Nargis was recorded as the worst natural disaster in Myanmar’s history, the eighth deadliest cyclone in history and the most devastating cyclone to strike Asia since 1991. It was a terrifying eight-hour experience as the Cyclone hit Yangon, much stronger than the typhoons I experienced in my Tokyo and Manila postings. As a neighbour, Singapore responded promptly with the despatch of humanitarian supplies which my dedicated and versatile homebased locally-recruited staff and I coordinated with the Myanmar Government. A Singapore Medical Team was also sent to Twan Te township, an hour’s drive from Yangon city. Due to the difficult local conditions and logistical challenges, I suggested to the Singapore Health Ministry staff to partner volunteers from Singapore Red Cross Society and Mercy Relief who were also in Yangon, under a ‘Team Singapore’ approach for synergy. It worked out very well as all the team members had different talents and experiences and they gelled together as a professional team within the first three days. The Singapore Embassy supported Team Singapore with daily visits and helped to replenish their medical and food supplies. Team Singapore did well in their humanitarian mission and treated about 5,000 patients, from the young to the elderly. They also visited an orphanage to help the children who were traumatised by the deaths of three of their friends during the Cyclone. I am convinced that the ‘Team Singapore’ approach is the way to respond effectively as a small country with limited manpower in disaster management overseas.

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Joining Hands, Making Friends Since the Singapore Cooperation Programme (SCP), also known as Singapore’s Overseas Development Aid programme, was started in 1992, to support the human resource development of developing countries, Singapore has joined hands and made friends with over 56,000 civil servants from 168 developing countries. This has fostered a wide network of friends that has been very helpful for my overseas postings. My two postings in MFA’s Technical Cooperation Directorate have been memorable and satisfying, working with an enthusiastic, innovative and dedicated team. We interacted with many foreign leaders and civil servants who came to Singapore for training courses and study visits. I was warmly welcomed when I visited their countries. A heartwarming experience was my visit to Laos in June 2004 to review the progress of the Laos Singapore Training Centre which runs monthly training courses for Laos’ civil servants. During the tea reception for SCP alumni, I was glad to meet up again with Ms. Khanthala Kevongphanh, Laos’ first female air traffic controller who had attended SCP courses in 1996 and 1998. She told me that she was promoted as the Head air traffic controller at Vientiane’s Wattay Airport. When I told her that I took the plane from Bangkok, she smiled and said that she had guided the plane for its safe landing!

All-round Training My diverse postings in political (Southeast Asia and international organisations directorates) and functional directorates (public affairs, consular and technical cooperation) have given me all-round training in analytical and operational work. They blended together as a template for crisis management, and were particularly helpful for overseas posting work. Young FSOs who are rotated in various Directorates could see these assignments as confidence-building skill sets for the varied duties they will be expected to assume in

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an overseas mission. In this globalised borderless world driven by the internet and mobile phone, and expectations of speedy response, the diplomatic service must adapt and prepare its next generation of FSOs to cope with the new challenges. There is now a sizeable population of overseas Singaporeans and many more are travelling each year for business, study and leisure. In crisis management, our FSOs will be looking after the safety of overseas Singaporeans. Be prepared, be calm, be nimble and be determined.

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A Pleasure and A Privilege Having been a science student at Raffles Institution, Mr. CHUA Thai Keong wanted to study medicine at the university, but the entrance quota resulted in him reading law on a Local Merit Scholarship. He completed the Master in International Affairs at Columbia University on an MFA Scholarship and the B.Sc. (Economics) from the University of London at his leisure. Thai Keong attended, inter alia, the Senior Policy Seminar at the East-West Center in Hawaii in 2000, the Third International Next Generation Leaders’ Forum in 1996 organised by the Institute for Global Economics and the Korea Foundation, the 49th session of the United Nations General Assembly in 1994, the International Fellows Programme at Columbia in 1991, the Japan-ASEAN Friendship Programme for the 21st Century in 1988, the Australian Foreign Service Course in 1988, and the Diplomatic Course for ASEAN Diplomats at INTAN, Malaysia in 1986. He served his national service as a Platoon Commander in an Engineers Battalion and a Guards Battalion. Besides English, he has a working knowledge of Chinese, Malay, Thai, Japanese and Korean.

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ight after graduation and national service, I joined the Foreign Service. A short attachment at Freshfields, a British law firm, during my student days was exciting, but not enough for me to make law my life career. Despite doing some homework on the business of diplomacy, I did not fully grasp what I was getting into. I remember being fascinated with faraway places, and intrigued by questions of war and peace. I was inspired by the speeches of our founding fathers and first generation of diplomats. At that point in time, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew had not written his memoirs yet. In those days, our training was not as organised. We mainly learnt on the job. Some of us were sent overseas for courses and conferences. I found myself in Malaysia, Australia, Japan, Korea and the U.S. But none of them, including the many excellent in-house courses in MFA today, could teach resourcefulness and the 27

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ability to get things done in an alien environment with incomplete information.

Thailand After more than four years on the desk, I received my first posting as First Secretary in Bangkok. The Human Resources Department did not ask if I wanted to go, for the question would have been absurd. After all, we join the Foreign Service to see the world. I have fond memories of Bangkok. It was my first posting. I was young and enthusiastic. I was in a small embassy, and, where I got to see almost every aspect of the operations. I had the use of an official residence, an official car and an entertainment budget. I had a job that even other embassies talked about. I quickly learnt to speak, read and write Thai. The language was tonal like Chinese. It has an alphabet with pronounciation rules more consistent and precise than English. The Thai script was created by King Ramkhamhaeng of Sukhothai in the 13th century. Reading Thai was like reading Chinese in ‘Han Yu Pin Yin’, with all the words joined together. It was obviously a great advantage to know the language of the host country. I did not have to depend on the English papers like the Bangkok Post or Nation. I met more people than the average diplomat, including Thais who spoke English but felt that my knowledge of their language was also a sign of sincerity and friendliness. Thai politics during my posting was not dramatic. There were no coups. It was the heyday of the Democrats led by Chuan Leekpai. Coalition government was the norm. The economy was doing well. There were no signs of the financial crisis that was to come in 1997. If anything, Thailand had a problem of success — traffic jam. There were too many cars, not enough roads and no subway. The traffic jam in Bangkok was legendary. I was once stuck for five hours. To get to functions punctually, we had little choice but to hop onto taxi bikes that wove in and out of the (stationary) traffic.

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Promoting bilateral relations was one of my primary tasks. One big challenge was to handle the threats and demonstrations over the case of five Thai nationals who were given the death penalty for killing a fellow Thai worker in Singapore. The Embassy also held a watching brief on United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) matters, and during my tour, we succeeded in getting our chief statistical officer elected to a UNESCAP post. There were other important regional meetings held in Bangok, like that of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). It was also during my stint in Bangkok that I was sent to the 49th UN General Assembly. I was in the Third Committee which had to deal with the resolution on capital punishment. My legal training provided an edge in the drafting exercise which was crucial to our cause. I travelled the country with friends, visiting temples, markets and restaurants. At Khao Phra Viharn which was actually a temple complex in Cambodia built by the Angkor kings, I marveled at not only its artistic and engineering achievements, but also the civilised way in which the dispute for its possession between Thailand and Cambodia was resolved before the International Court of Justice in 1962. As my Ambassador was also accredited to Cambodia and Myanmar, I had the opportunity to visit those countries as well. Many foreign dignitaries visited Bangkok during my posting. I had the opportunity to meet then Czech President and writer Vaclav Havel. Diplomats also had the opportunity to meet the Queen, Crown Prince and Princesses. One regret was that I did not get to meet former Prime Minister M. R. Kukrit Pramoj, but I read his historical novel, the Si Phaedin or the Four Reigns. I met other unusual politicians, including a prolific writer who produced novels like The Pirates of Tarutao. When my posting was over, I was sad to leave Thailand, the ‘Land of Smiles’. They are the most gracious people and they have incredible patience. They have a saying, “Mai pen rai” which means “In the waters, there are fishes; in the fields, there is rice.”

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Japan After another tough but rewarding stint in the Headquarters, I was on my way to Tokyo. Japan was nearing the end of a “lost decade”. Since the stock market crash in 1991, the country was adrift, with neither political stability nor decisive economic direction. The truth was however more complex than this popular journalistic view. As a Japanese friend explained to me, a sharp write-down American style to deal with the massive financial losses was not possible as they amounted to at least one third of the country’s Gross Domestic Product. So, in lieu of prolonged depression, Japanese officials opted to spread the pain over many years. Indeed, the zero interest rate policy was a loan against the future. Three Prime Ministers were appointed in four years, not to mention the changes in Foreign Ministers and Finance Ministers. It was less fun as Deputy Chief of Mission. Stuck between the Ambassador and the other staff, life became more complicated and less exciting. It was nevertheless an important job that provides training for the future. In Tokyo, I had the opportunity to observe how our leaders including my Ambassador worked with the Japanese to launch and conclude the bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA). It was a historic moment, for the Japanese had to change their multilateral trade-only policy to sign their first FTA ever. Not all Japanese are unrepentant about the war, many are. As the first Asian country to join the developed world, Japan was the inspiration for most Asians. The Japanese are very polite and never presumptuous. If they have to say “no”, they will find a nice way of doing so. Everything was so organised that it was a great pleasure to work and live in Japan. They have a saying amongst themselves that “the nail that sticks up will be hammered down”. While the Japanese benchmark has lost some shine due to the “lost decade”, its social strength and technological prowess should never be underestimated.

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Japan was my “second home”. It was an important part of my life. I met my wife in Tokyo and my first child was born at Aiiku Hospital and went to a Japanese kindergarten at the age of six months. We have many friends who continue to keep in touch. I had the opportunity to learn Japanese, which ironically also helped me in my Chinese. But for Reischauer, the American authority on Japan, it was unfortunate that the Japanese had adopted Chinese characters instead of the Latin script, which meant that the same Chinese ideogram is used to represent different Japanese words and pronounced in various unpredictable ways.

Korea After another “hardship” posting in Headquarters, I was on my way to the Republic of Korea as Ambassador, with concurrent accreditation to Mongolia. Known as the hermit kingdom, or the “shrimp between whales”, South Korea has built itself into Asia’s third largest economy from the ashes of a fatricidal war, with little resources but with considerable support from the U.S. I am surprised that young Koreans are still hungry for success. They have not become complacent despite their many achievements. It is a confident people who have successfully staged the World Cup ( jointly with Japan in 2002) and the Olympics before that, and won the right to host the World Athletics Championship in 2011, World Expo in 2012 and Asian Games in 2014. Like the Thai alphabet, the Korean script was developed, in the 15th century by King Sejong the Great. The Hangul, the Korean alphabet has just 24 characters. As they are made up of three basic strokes, they occupy less space on the keyboard, and thus ideal for use on handphones to send Short Message Service (SMS). Many Korean words sound like southern Chinese dialects. So most Singaporeans would feel at home here once they get past the Hangul.

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Living abroad makes us appreciate Singapore more. Without the comparative perspective, we may take Singapore for granted. There is however an opportunity cost in being away from Singapore: family and friends. Our spouses and children pay the biggest price, for being unable to pursue their own career and grow up in a familiar environment. Like they say, “A rolling stone gathers no moss.” But we have to try, even as we experience different worlds. I am no longer young, but I am still enthusiastic with this peregrinating lifestyle. While it is not exactly a dream job, for even the Foreign Service cannot be free from the shackles of the bureaucracy, to represent Singapore is a great privilege. I am not talking of the lifestyle. I am referring to the respect accorded to Singapore, an island state of just three million natives, which might have never existed or survived. Compared to Thailand, Japan or Korea, nation states with long, proud histories, distinctive civilisation and outstanding achievements, Singapore is a new kid on the block. That their best and brightest should take us more seriously than what our basic statistics would suggest is unusual and should not be taken for granted. Given our recent successes, there is a danger of Singaporeans, including our diplomats, becoming less hardworking and humble as compared to the past.

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6/9/2009 9:19:43 AM

Of BMWs, Guerrillas and the Highway of Death: Snippets of a Diplomat’s Life Mr. Simon Tensing DE CRUZ joined the Singapore Foreign Service in 1979 and is currently Singapore’s Ambassador to the Russian Federation and Ukraine. He was Director, Special Duties (Regional Policy) in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and High Commissioner to Papua New Guinea (resident in Singapore) from November 2006 until May 2008. His previous ambassadorial posts were to the Philippines between 1996 to 1999, and Ambassador to the Union of Myanmar from 2000 to 2004. He served as the First Secretary in the Singapore Embassy in Bangkok (1983–87), the Charge d’Affaires in the Singapore Embassy in Riyadh (1991–92) and the Deputy Chief of Mission in the Singapore Embassy in Jakarta (1992–95). From 1995 to 1996, he was the Director of the Information, Management and Research Directorate.

T

ruth be told, I had always wanted to become a fighter pilot but I stumbled at the first hurdle — the eyesight test. To indulge in a bit of hyperbole, my dreams were crushed. Not for long though. While holidaying abroad during the long university vacations, I duly discovered wanderlust. I knew that I had found my calling — seeing the world at someone else’s expense! As I loved the idea of living abroad for extended periods to really get to know other cultures and countries, it did not take me long to figure out that the Foreign Service fit the bill. It also dovetailed nicely with the political science degree I was studying for.

Getting into Diplomacy I went through three interviews at the Foreign Ministry, then housed in the Corinthian colonnaded City Hall, the last being with then permanent secretary, S. R. Nathan who is now, our President. 33

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When I think back on that pivotal interview, I realise that I came very close to fluffing it. Initially, the interview went well, no surprising questions and no curved balls. As I was getting comfortable in a rather stiff office chair just across from his imposing desk, the curved ball duly arrived. I was unprepared. Mr. Nathan did not look up from my application folder he was perusing when he casually asked, “What’s the most recent book you’ve read on regional issues?” This stumped me. I had not read any books since my graduation a few months before, being too busy with holidaying, much less one on regional issues. I was scrambling furiously although I tried not to show my distress. As my mind raced, I, very luckily, remembered seeing just a few days before the interview a new book called The Politics of Federalism, about politics in Malaysia. It had been prominently displayed in the window of MPH, along Stamford Road. Rather than admit I had been remiss in keeping up with current affairs, I blurted out the title of that book and kept my fingers firmly crossed. By this time, Mr. Nathan was peering intently at me over his black-rimmed reading glasses. Without missing a beat he followed up with, “Does that book have any relevance to Singapore?” I thought to myself: this is not good. I could only manage a feeble reply, but one in which I tried to inject some conviction. I said, “Any book on Malaysian politics has relevance to us.” He continued to peer at me and I tried my best not to break eye contact and give the game away. The moment seemed to last an eternity. He had obviously seen through my stratagem but being the kind man that he is, and not wanting to embarrass me further, he then went on to other matters, much to my relief. A few anxious weeks later I was offered the job and reported to work on Boxing Day, 1979. Now, after nearly 30 years with MFA, to say it has been a wonderful and unique experience would be an understatement. I have travelled all over the globe, gone on

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five good long-term postings (Thailand, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Philippines, and Myanmar) and twice attended the three-month long U.N. General Assembly sessions in New York, in 1983 and 1987. While there have been many memorable events and incidents in my career thus far, I would like to recount just a few from the early years when I was most impressionable.

Beaming in Bangkok “One night in Bangkok makes a hard man humble,” goes a pop song in the 1980s. After slogging it out in City Hall for close to four years, I was shipped off to Thailand in 1983 as the First Secretary in our embassy in Bangkok, where I spent close to 1,825 nights, or nearly five years. Whether I went in a hard man and came out very, very humble I leave to others to judge! Being a young, single and adventurous FSO on his first posting to Thailand, I worked hard and played hard. One “plaything” I’d always wanted but could never afford in Singapore, was a sporty BMW which after a couple of months in Bangkok I purchased tax-free and took to the streets, backed up by my Thai-acquired driver’s license. (As I’d failed my driving test in Singapore, I thought the Thais would be less exacting in conducting their driving test and so it proved.) My excitement was short-lived. On my way back from the BMW agent after collecting the car, and being unaccustomed to its powerful acceleration, I rear-ended the vehicle in front of me — and this of course just had to happen at the junction right across from the Embassy, with our security guards looking on bemusedly. To say I was embarrassed would be putting it mildly. I sheepishly drove the car back to the BMW workshop a couple of hours later and reflected upon my first important lesson about being a diplomat abroad: you are there in the field to do serious work and not to get giddy on the high life.

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Watching Indochina As fun as driving a BMW was, it is the motorbike which brings back the most exciting memories about my time in Thailand. My posting came at a time when Thailand was the “frontline state” in ASEAN’s political and diplomatic battle with Vietnam over its invasion of Cambodia in December 1978 to overthrow the ruling Khmer Rouge. Singapore and Thailand, and the other ASEAN members then, cooperated very closely to pressure Vietnam both internationally — at arenas such as the U.N. and on the ground — to get Vietnam to reverse its oft-stated “irreversible” occupation of Kampuchea (as Cambodia was known then). Pressuring Vietnam on the ground translated into supporting, in various ways, several non-communist anti-Vietnamese Khmer guerrilla groups such as the Khmer People’s National Liberation Front (KPNLF) and Sihanouk’s National United Front for an Independent, Neutral, Peaceful, and Cooperative Cambodia (FUNCINPEC), that were operating along the Thai-Cambodian border. The KPNLF, lead by Sonn Sann, a thin, frail and soft-spoken man who seemed to be the antithesis of a guerrilla leader, was adjudged to be the most credible of the noncommunist resistance groups.

The KPNLF Part of my brief as First Secretary (Political) was to assess the KPNLF’s effectiveness as a resistance force. I did this partly by meeting up with KPNLF contacts whenever they visited Bangkok and they gave me a rundown of their resistance operations and status. However to get a first hand assessment of the KPNLF’s viability, my bosses in the foreign ministry in Singapore decided that we should visit their camps along the Thai-Cambodian border. Thus together with then director of the Southeast Asia division in the ministry, Kemal Siddique, and a Thai military liaison officer, a colonel, we

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made our way to the bustling Thai border town of Aranyaprathet, where we met up with several KPNLF soldiers and officers. Then we travelled by jeep along dusty and bumpy dirt tracks to some of the KPNLF-run camps. At one of the camps we met General Dien Del, the amiable and loquacious commanding officer of KPNLF forces on the ground. He briefed us on recent activities and some of the resistance’s operational plans. He also showed us, with obvious pride, his well-tendered rose garden in front of his simple shack which passed as his quarters. While the camps seemed well-run and organised, we thought it would be more insightful if we could see some of their “forward bases” inside Cambodian territory, where they planned and launched attacks against the Vietnamese forces. As our visit took place during a “quiet” period when clashes with the Vietnamese were sparse, the KPNLF agreed to take us to a couple of these bases.

Into the Jungle Much to our surprise, we did not pile into the jeep but had to ride pillion on four motorbikes, each with a KPNLF guerrilla at the fore, and all decked out in combat gear: semi-automatic machine guns were slung across their bodies, together with ammunition belts, side arms, and the ubiquitous bandana tied around their foreheads. (Siddique was in his element, decked out in blue jeans and MacArthur-like sunglasses.) This was apparently the fastest and easiest way to get to the forward bases. We made a racket as the motorbikes, travelling in single file, meandered through narrow paths through the jungle as we ventured deeper into Cambodian territory. The 30-minute ride was both exhilarating and dangerous as we were going at quite a fast speed. The thought did cross my mind that there might be Vietnamese patrols although the KPNLF guerrillas had assured us that they controlled this area. We only had time to visit one forward base, a wooden command structure built in a clearing, surrounded

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by barbed wire, fox holes and other defences. According to our guerrilla escorts, a Vietnamese outpost was not too far away from where we were. We returned to Bangkok with mixed feelings about the prospects of the KPNLF holding out for much longer against superior Vietnamese strength. They were not of course expected to roll back the Vietnamese army in Cambodia as they were very small in number and not very well armed. The KPNLF’s objective, as was FUNCINPEC’s, was to be another pressure point on the Vietnamese who already had their hands full dealing with the much more formidable Khmer Rouge forces which had taken to the hills. Siddique and I also wondered about Dien Del’s rose garden and if he was entirely focused on the job at hand. Well, a few months after our border adventure, the Vietnamese overran the KPNLF’s forward bases and KPNLF camps at the border, including those we had visited. The rose garden did not survive the onslaught.

Riyadh Interlude After a sojourn in MFA HQ lasting four years, I was then asked in 1991 to “warm the seat” in Riyadh as Charge d’Affairs (CDA) as the actual CDA-designate could not take up the post at that time. I was apprehensive, knowing that Saudi Arabia boasts perhaps the most conservative and restrictive society on the planet, but was assured by the ministry that it would only be for “a couple of months.” Yeah, right. I ended up staying for nearly a year. But it was an amazing year packed with incidents, both comical and dramatic. Endless shimmering desert, searing day heat, sudden dust storms, hailstones the size of golf balls and parties behind high walls and closed doors were part and parcel of diplomatic and expatriate life in Riyadh. One cool evening, for example, guests including myself were queuing in the courtyard waiting to be received by the U.S. Ambassador at the door for a reception when without so much as a

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warning breeze, a dust storm suddenly whipped by, sending us all scurrying into the house, diplomatic niceties promptly forgotten. The men got off relatively unscathed but for many of the women, their carefully coiffured hair, make-up and evening outfits looked as if they had just come through a sandblaster which, in fact, they had. They had my sympathies, of course, knowing just how much time it had taken them to dress up, but it was all very amusing.

Desert Delights Despite the operational difficulties and myriad social restrictions, I learned in Saudi Arabia that difficult situations are often pathways to simple and surprising joys that one would not normally associate with having fun. For me, these were my frequent desert forays and the evening calls of the muezzin to the faithful to pray. During the day the desert is a cauldron to be avoided but early in the mornings and evenings, it transforms itself, like a chameleon, into something entirely different. It is cool, and light winds usually blow the sands making them move like little waves and in the distance, you almost expect the dunes to crest and crash like sea waves do. The rays of the rising or setting sun gives the desert an almost surreal pastel glow that results in a wonderfully calming tranquillity that I always hoped would last forever. The camels are most at home in this terrain and from a distance they seem to glide over the shifting sands as gracefully as swans. At dusk or dawn they sometimes look like ghostly apparitions. I would go to the desert a couple of times a month and have a party or picnic with my friends, far from the prying eyes of the sandal-clad and bearded muttawa, or religious police. I still miss the desert. It should come as no surprise that there are mosques everywhere in Riyadh, almost at every street corner. In Singapore, I used to live near a mosque but I went about my daily routine largely oblivious to the muezzin’s calls to prayer. After the first few days in Riyadh,

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I realised that being oblivious to them was not an option. Initially I must admit to being a bit peeved by these frequent megaphoned calls to prayer, especially early in the mornings, but then, after a couple of months, I actually began to look forward to the evening prayer calls. A single call would ring out from a minaret, almost like a conductor readying the orchestra to play, and then all the other “players” in the neighbourhood and beyond would suddenly join in as the “baton” swung away. It was almost mystical, the sun setting over the hundreds of minarets as the prayer calls rang out. Many a time my friends and I would sit out in the garden in the cool evening, have a meal and just enjoy this Islamic “opera.”

Highway of Death But it is for more martial reasons that my time in “The Kingdom” will never be forgotten. My posting to Saudi Arabia came just after Operation Desert Storm a.k.a. The First Gulf War. Singapore had contributed a small contingent of six Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) officers to UNIKOM, the United Nations Iraq-Kuwait Observer Mission, stationed at the Iraq-Kuwait border in April 1991 following the forced withdrawal of Iraqi forces from Kuwait. Our Chief of Defence Force, then Lt-Gen Winston Choo, visited Saudi Arabia when I was there, partly because he wanted to visit our servicemen in UNIKOM. Thus apart from his engagements in Riyadh, the Saudis also helped to facilitate Winston Choo’s visit to UNIKOM. An executive Saudi jet took the delegation to Kuwait City where we got on a UN helicopter for the short journey to the Iraq-Kuwait border where our servicemen were stationed. We flew over the city before heading out to the desert and the damage the Iraqis had inflicted was clearly evident. But it was nothing compared to the death and destruction along the “Highway of Death,” a road running between Kuwait and Basra in Iraq. Officially known as Highway 80, it was here that in

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February 1991, desperately retreating Iraqi units, many in stolen civilian vehicles, were utterly destroyed by U.S. aircraft. We flew low over some parts of the highway where remains of the carnage — bombed and burnt out cars, military trucks, buses and other unrecognisable vehicles — were strewn along the highway and in the desert where some had tried in vain to flee. I had never before been personally confronted with the destruction of war until that moment. It was a chilling and apt reminder to me of the words that British socialist Tony Benn made at the end of the conflict: “All war represents the failure of diplomacy.” Diplomacy is indeed a serious business. However at times it can be an exciting business as well, especially if you have a gung-ho and adventurous spirit!

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Learning with Master Chefs: Cooking a Treaty Mr. Burhan GAFOOR was appointed as Ambassador to France in November 2007. Prior to that, he was Ambassador to the World Trade Organization and to the U.N. in Geneva, from 2004 to 2007. Mr. Gafoor joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1988 after graduating from the National University of Singapore with an honours degree in Political Science. In 1997, he obtained a masters degree in public administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He also received a degree from the Ecole Nationale d’Administration in France in 2002. Mr. Gafoor served as First Secretary at the Singapore Mission to the UN in New York, from 1990 to 1994. He subsequently held various positions in MFA and became Director for Europe and North America in 1999. He also served as Press Secretary to then Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong from 2002 to 2004.

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good diplomat is not unlike a good chef. Like diplomacy, cooking is an art, not an exact science. Like chefs, a good diplomat knows when to increase the heat, when to take something off the fire and when to grease the pan, so that the soufflé will not collapse. A great chef is made in the kitchen, not in the cooking academy. Similarly, a diplomat learns the nuances of the craft by working with and learning from experienced operators. I was fortunate to have worked for and learned from the pioneers in the Singapore Foreign Service. When I joined the Ministry in the late 1980s, many first generation diplomats, like Mr. S. R. Nathan, were still active, as Ambassadors and senior Ministry officials. I worked for several of them, as a desk officer and later as a junior diplomat. I travelled with some of them as a “bag carrier” on official visits. I watched them in action, defending our position, negotiating an agreement or simply making friends for Singapore. Each had 43

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a different style, but they were all focused on a clear objective: defending and promoting our national interests.

Lessons from the Masters Like an apprentice in the kitchen, I learned by watching the master chefs. The lessons I learned can be distilled into three key phrases: be focused, be firm and be friendly. A diplomat must be focused on the objectives of his mission and set clear priorities for his actions. In the absence of a clear focus, there is the risk of just drifting along. From the veterans, I learned that diplomacy is ultimately about being firm and showing resolve, when the situation demands it. As a diplomat, one has to draw the line and make others understand your resolve. At the same time, a good diplomat must make friends for Singapore. Being firm does not mean being unfriendly or arrogant. It is important to be humble, sincere and have a good sense of humour.

Nurturing Your Contacts From our veteran Ambassadors, I learned the importance of cultivating a broad range of contacts. In a place like the U.N. or the WTO, every country counts and having friends in the developing world is crucial for Singapore. From my first posting at the U.N. in New York, where I had a veteran Ambassador as my boss, I learned the basics of lobbying, which is a subtle process of applying persuasion and pressure. I learned also that diplomats from the developing world, in particular those from Africa, can be steadfast friends. They are prepared to support you even when they do not have instructions from their capital. But it is important to treat them with respect and win their trust. These practical lessons in diplomacy are invaluable because they are not taught at any University or Foreign Service Academy.

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This experience was to serve me well when I was myself appointed Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the U.N. in Geneva and to the World Trade Organization in 2004. It was then that I valued the lessons learned over the years from the many master chefs in our foreign service.

The Singapore Treaty One of my satisfactions as a diplomat has to do with the “Singapore Treaty”, which is the only international treaty named after Singapore. Unlike a declaration or a communiqué, which may have no legal effect, a treaty is a formal agreement under international law and it has to be adopted in a special diplomatic conference. It is not often that governments convene a diplomatic conference because it can take years or decades to negotiate a treaty. As President of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Diplomatic Conference, I played a small part in bringing about the adoption of the “Singapore Treaty” for the adoption of the “Revised Trademark Law Treaty”, which was convened in Singapore in March 2006.

WIPO in Singapore As in any diplomatic initiative, a positive outcome was not guaranteed. There were two key challenges that I faced. My first challenge, as our Ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva, was to persuade members of WIPO to allow Singapore to host the Diplomatic Conference in Singapore. The Singapore Ministry of Law and the IP Office of Singapore (IPOS) were keen to host the conference not only because it will help to establish Singapore as a hub for IP issues but also because they wanted to share their experience on IP issues with other countries. The stakes for Singapore were not just diplomatic but also economic. However, a decision had already been taken by the WIPO General Assembly in 2004 that the Diplomatic Conference will be

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held in Geneva. If Singapore wanted to host the conference, it had to overturn the earlier decision by calling for the adoption of another decision of the General Assembly. This was a tall order as it is not often that the General Assembly overturns its own decision.

Strategic Persuasion I heard of our decision to make a bid to host the Diplomatic Conference through a simple e-mail. I was tasked to lobby all WIPO members to overturn the earlier decision so that the Diplomatic Conference can be held in Singapore. I sat down with my team in Geneva to draw out a lobbying strategy. Our approach was to argue that a substantive WIPO Diplomatic Conference has never been held in Asia or in any developing country. Furthermore, previous WIPO diplomatic conferences have always been held in European capitals, like Rome, Madrid, Berne and of course Geneva, which is the seat of WIPO. We argued that there is no reason why this conference should be held in another European country again, and deny the chance for developing countries to host such conferences. This turned out to be a powerful argument and we soon had all the developing countries rallying behind Singapore, even though some had to be persuaded at the highest levels of government. There were opposition from some European countries, and this required sustained lobbying and coaxing on my part. It was during this time that I spent a lot of time lunching and dining with other Ambassadors, to persuade them to support our position. This could explain why many hardworking diplomats tend to be over-weight. Having successfully persuaded WIPO members to hold the Diplomatic Conference in Singapore, my next challenge began. It was a challenge I had not volunteered for. I received a phone call from the Second Permanent Secretary who told me I had to come back to Singapore to preside over the three-week Diplomatic Conference. I had little time to prepare.

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“Head Chef ”: At the Conference I was elected president of the conference at its opening session at the Suntec City Convention Center, on 13 March 2006. My election was smooth because it is the rule that the host government has the prerogative to chair such conferences. I approached my task with focus and determination. I had a good team of secretariat officials and my own colleagues to help me. Work on the treaty had begun four years earlier and we had a draft text of a treaty which provided a good basis for negotiations. This was helpful. As president, my task was to steer the negotiations among 146 governments and build a consensus such that there could be an adoption of a Revised Trademark Law Treaty in Singapore.

Creating the Recipe My role as president of the Conference was like the head chef of an international kitchen with 146 other chefs who each had their own idea about what to cook and how to cook it. I had to get them to agree on a common menu and a common recipe, so that we were all cooking the same thing, i.e. a Treaty. The pressure was considerable and I often spent many late evenings reflecting alone on the lessons I have learned from the veteran Ambassadors in MFA. It was not a given that the conference would conclude with the successful adoption of the Treaty. There were several moments when the process hit an impasse and came to the brink of failure. The negotiations on the treaty became a proxy for a larger political battle over the role of development in IP issues. This led to a sharp divide in approach between the developing and developed countries. The former wanted the important role of development to be enshrined as an article in the treaty itself. The developed countries did not want to see any reference to development in the legal text of an IP treaty. The compromise that I proposed was to adopt an annex to the treaty which will recognise the importance of development and

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the assistance needed by developing countries in this field. Neither side was entirely happy with this approach but that was the sign of a fair compromise. The final treaty was adopted by consensus, demonstrating that it was indeed a reasonable compromise.

Crucial Support from Friends I was very grateful to the various negotiators who played a constructive and positive role at this conference. In particular, the Chairman of the African group, the Ambassador of Nigeria, showed great leadership. The Nigerian Ambassador, like many of the key negotiators in the Conference, were good friends that I had known well in Geneva. The many Ambassadors and negotiators, personal friends of mine from Geneva, all played a crucial role in making the conference in Singapore a success. My personal relationship with them helped to smoothen the process when negotiations got rough. I had no doubt that it was the many lessons learned from the master chefs that helped me manage this assignment. When I gavelled the final text of the Treaty on a late Monday afternoon, 27 March 2006, I was relieved and very satisfied. The Director-General of WIPO remarked that it was a historic day for Singapore and WIPO. The Treaty which we adopted in Singapore built on an earlier treaty adopted in 1994 by outlining new procedures and standards for trademark protection. In recognition of the effort of the Singapore government to host the conference successfully, a group of countries tabled a proposal to call the treaty the “Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks”. This proposal was of course adopted by consensus. That is how the Singapore treaty was cooked.

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From Indonesia to Brunei to Saudi Arabia Mr. HIRUBALAN V. P. is presently Singapore’s Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with concurrent accreditation to the Kingdom of Bahrain. He also served as a Non-Resident Ambassador to the Sultanate of Oman from February 2006 to February 2008. He was transferred to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in June 1996 after 15 years of service with the Ministry of Defence. In the Ministry of Foreign Affairs he served as Director of ASEAN and later Director, Southeast Asia. He was posted to the Singapore Embassy in Jakarta in February 1998 as Minister-Counsellor and in May 2000 was appointed Deputy Chief of Mission. He was appointed High Commissioner to Brunei in January 2002 where he served until December 2005. He graduated from the University of Singapore in 1980. In 1984, he was awarded a Fulbright scholarship and proceeded to obtain his MA in International Relations from Yale University, USA, graduating in 1986. He was conferred the Public Administration Medal (Silver) in 1996.

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epresenting Singapore overseas is challenging but it is also exciting and fulfilling. Postings can be demanding depending on the country accredited to and the issues of the day. But it is certainly an honour to serve overseas. I consider diplomacy an art. Each individual has his or her own methods and approaches to achieve the required objectives, but an important lesson I picked up during my three postings is that humility, without compromising the dignity of our appointment, goes a long way in helping us in our assignments. I always go by the tenet that if you are nice to people, they will reciprocate. One important advantage we enjoy during our overseas stints is the Singapore brand name. While it is to be expected that our neighbouring countries would be aware of Singapore’s achievements and progress, it is certainly striking that even far-away countries such as Saudi Arabia, which is resource rich and can buy the best that money can, is looking to tap on our development experiences, 49

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public sector service standards and educational excellence as it moves to diversify its economy and upgrade its domestic human resource capacity. It is remarkable the level of access granted to us as representatives of Singapore. Undoubtledly, this is a reflection of Singapore’s international standing and global recognition of our achievements and progress since independence. However, it is up to the diplomat to capitalise on this advantage. Arrogance and aloofness are traits that we should avoid and certainly not the type of image that representatives of Singapore should project. I have seen Ambassadors from other countries who were ignored or given a difficult time by officials of the host country because of their high and mighty attitude. My experiences in the various countries I served were different. Each was a learning journey. As diplomats, we have to understand the intricacies and peculiar structures of each country as well as the key stakeholders and power centres. It is always tempting to confine our dealings only to officials who count, but such an approach is limiting and does not allow a better understanding of the operating environment. I always found it useful and essential to touch base with as wide a constituency as possible and to visit various parts of the country of posting to gain in-depth knowledge and familiarity.

Indonesia — Four Presidents in Four Years The almost four years in Indonesia from early 1998 to late 2001 were eventful ones. There was never a dull moment. The Presidents were Soeharto, Habibie, Abdurrahman Wahid and Megawati. They were trying years as we had to come to grips with a country that was undergoing tremendous political, economic and social changes. Expect the unexpected — this was an important lesson I drew from my tour in Indonesia. For many years before the events of 1998, the common belief was that ordinary Indonesians would never dare to confront the might and power of the Indonesian Armed Forces. Yet

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following the 12 May 1998 shooting of students from the Trisakti University, a chain of events was unleashed that resulted in large scale demonstrations and violence that forced Soeharto to step down nine days later to prevent further bloodshed. Those were dark days in Indonesia with street politics the order of the day and the war cry reformasi being the rallying point. The political turmoil and violence in Jakarta challenged the Singapore Embassy to the limits. As this was my first posting, in a sense it was a baptism of fire. There were many demands and challenges. We had to understand the political changes, the emerging new social fabric and the steps the Indonesian Government of the day was taking to restore order and stability to the country. New political forces, players and institutions had emerged. The Embassy staff literally pounded the streets of Jakarta and other parts of the country in the months that followed to get a good feel of the changes. We had to establish contact with the new forces in the country while maintaining our links with existing institutions. The turmoil and transformation of Indonesia in those years leading to regime change had significant political and security implications for Singapore. Anti-Singapore sentiments flared up occasionally. It was incumbent on us to give our leaders a good reading and analysis of developments in the country. And to achieve this we had to get good first hand accounts of the thoughts and positions of key personalities, rather than rely on second hand sources such as the media or other diplomats. There were many exciting moments but it would take too long to pen all of these in this essay. Even though I left Indonesia in September 2001, memories of those years in Indonesia still remain vivid.

Brunei Darussalam — The Abode of Peace In any country of posting, a diplomat has to adapt to his surroundings and thoroughly understand the new environment and operating

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conditions. Even in instances where we enjoy close relations with the country in question, the diplomat’s role is to ensure that the relationship not only remains sound but to enhance and strengthen it even further. Having close, friendly and substantial relations with any country is a happy situation for Singapore. For Singapore diplomats in the country, it is a welcoming and warm operating environment. However, no matter how close the relationship, we must never take the ties for granted. Maintaining diplomatic relations is a dynamic process and not a static one. Personalities change or there could be new institutions or policies that we have to take into account as we manage and nurture our links. There will always be opportunities to take the relations to a new plane. This was my key challenge during my tour in Brunei. Brunei, a country almost ten times the land size of Singapore but slightly less than one-tenth in population size, was my first posting as Head of Mission. It was a peaceful, tranquil country where conditions were the exact opposite from the situation I faced in Indonesia during my posting there and the challenges were hence different. Brunei and Singapore enjoy excellent relations. The links between the political leadership and senior officials of both countries are close. The interchangeability of the Singapore and the Brunei currencies is one reflection of this longstanding close ties. My wife and I had a wonderful and fulfilling four years in Brunei. Serving in Brunei was a fascinating experience — an oil producing country moving to diversify its economy and plug into the modern world without compromising its rich culture and traditions. As diplomats we had to understand and be sensitive to the cultural and traditional aspects of Brunei society. The Bruneians are a warm people, very friendly and gracious. We were made to feel very welcome and within a few months felt completely at home. Even before my posting to Brunei, I already had a number of Brunei friends due to previous interactions in various meetings and conferences. In a sense we grew up together in our respective civil service careers. These friendships proved invaluable when

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I arrived in Brunei. They were glad to see a friend representing Singapore while we were happy to be among familiar faces. During my first audience with the Sultan of Brunei after I presented my credentials, I was pleasantly surprised to hear him say that he knew that I had many friends in Brunei. My ability to golf was useful and before long I was accepted as a regular golf “kaki” by the golfing Bruneians. My wife also had several Brunei friends from her days in the teaching service, one of whom had been promoted to Permanent Secretary when we arrived in Brunei, while another was married to a very senior official. The friends that she made during our stay there proved priceless and other diplomats envied us for the level of guests who attended our functions. These personal ties proved crucial to my work in representing Singapore especially when I needed quick access to senior levels in Brunei. We had our share of bilateral challenges during my term in Brunei, but these were handled smoothly and quickly because of these personal links. Since Brunei had a small diplomatic community, the Ambassadors and High Commissioners serving in the country were easily recognised in public. I did not realise the significance of this until about two weeks into my posting. We were having breakfast at a popular coffee shop in Bandar Seri Begawan when people came up to greet us. We took such greetings as the natural friendly and courteous disposition of Bruneians. Later after we became a familiar sight at the “kopi tiams” and made friends with the regulars there, they told us that it was a rare sight for Ambassadors to dine at such establishments. They were impressed that we did so. We were just being normal, and yet this had the effect of endearing us to the locals and coffeeshop crowd. The royal wedding of Brunei’s Crown Prince took place during our tour, a month long event steeped in tradition and ceremonies. It was a historic event for Brunei and we were fortunate that we were able to participate in the ceremonies and festivities. Singapore was well represented at this wedding with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong and Minister Mentor Lee

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Kuan Yew as special guests. This symbolised the close links between the leadership of both countries. A high point for my wife and I was when Prime Minister and Mrs. Lee invited us to join them in a lunch he hosted for Senior Minister, Minister Mentor and their wives. Another memorable occasion was when Minister Mentor put aside a newspaper he was reading when he saw my wife and I at the guest house he was staying, and in response to a question from my wife, told us the history of Singapore’s ties with Brunei and his personal relationship with the Brunei Royal Family. Such moments are to be treasured. During my stay in Brunei, there were several high level exchange visits between the top leadership of both countries that nurtured and sustained the close bilateral and leadership links. The point is that we cannot be complacent and relaxed. Such visits serve to maintain the momentum of the strong bilateral relations.

The Kingdom Serving in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a completely different experience. Admittedly I was initially apprehensive when I learnt of my next assignment from Brunei to Riyadh. I was unfamiliar with the intricacies of Middle East politics and Saudi Arabia in particular, but understood the importance of the Kingdom to Singapore. As a major oil refining centre, Singapore imports large quantities of crude oil from Saudi Arabia. In fact Singapore is among the top ten trading partners of the Kingdom. Further, a significant number of Singapore Muslims visit the country annually to perform the Haj and the Umrah. From 2004, Singapore started to enhance its engagement of the Middle East to expand our economic space. The strengthening of our links with Saudi Arabia was first made by Senior Minister Goh when he visited the country in February 2005 and followed three months later by Deputy Prime Minister Professor S. Jayakumar. The political decision was taken to upgrade our representation in Saudi Arabia. Even though Singapore had an Embassy in the Kingdom for

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more than twenty years, I was Singapore’s first resident Ambassador to be posted there. (I was also accredited to the Sultanate of Oman and the Kingdom of Bahrain after I took up post in Riyadh.) As part of the preparations for my posting, I read extensively about Saudi Arabia to get an understanding of what the country and society were about. There is a valuable lesson here. What I read and heard about the country and the Saudis were somewhat different from my experiences in the country after I took up the post. There were adjustments to be made to adapt to the unique working and social conditions. The changes were particularly striking for the ladies. For instance, they had to don a black robe called the “abaya” when they were out of the house, and adjust to the operating hours as all shops and restaurants closed for about 30 minutes during the five prayer sessions each day. Cinemas and theatres have yet to make their appearance although an extensive range of television programmes is available through satellite dishes and cable channels. As ladies are not allowed to drive, we had to ensure adequate transport arrangements. Since the Kingdom had faced some violent attacks by extremists, security in the country is particularly tight. Concrete blocks and armoured cars, together with armed security personnel are common sights. Although it was reassuring to our safety, we had to cope with the inconveniences of such measures. Almost all Embassies and Residences of the Ambassadors are located in the Diplomatic Quarter (a diplomatic enclave of sorts) which is fully protected with a perimeter of sand bernes and concertina wires with tight security checkpoints. Once my wife and I settled in the country, we came to realise that the conditions were not as daunting and insurmountable as portrayed in the literature. These are conditions unique to the country and it is really a question of adjusting and adapting oneself to the operating environment. My posting came at a time when the Saudi leadership was looking to strengthen its relations with the growing economic powers of the East. Singapore featured high in this focus. The visit of the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia to Singapore in April 2006 was

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part of the Kingdom’s effort to reach out to the East. The operating environment when I arrived in Riyadh was therefore conducive, but we had to learn how to work with the Saudis. There were initial difficulties. For instance, following 9/11, visa requirements were imposed on Saudis wanting to travel to Singapore. As a result the numbers of Saudis visiting Singapore plummeted from a high of almost 26,000 in the late 1990s to about 3,000 in 2004. The Saudis were unhappy with the imposition of visa requirements and regarded it as an unfriendly act. Almost all Saudi Ministers and officials I met after I took up post made it a point to register their unhappiness over this policy. After a review, we made modifications to our visa policy which was announced by Prime Minister Lee during a speech to Saudi businessmen when he visited Riyadh in November 2006. The changes were well received. Our visa policy is less of an issue now and the number of Saudis visiting Singapore has increased. By and large, we have been successful in our political engagement of Saudi Arabia. But we are still in the learning curve of how to manage and enhance the relations. In a sense, the country is a mystery that we are slowly unravelling. Compared to Singapore, Saudi Arabia is a big country, a regional power flush with oil wealth, but one where culture and religious traditions remain strong and pervasive. It sees itself as a leader of the Islamic world. Under the circumstances, it is a certainly a compliment to Singapore that the Saudis believe that Singapore’s approaches to development, housing, public service, and education to name a few, are worth studying. In fact, even some international consultancy firms have asked the Saudis to look at Singapore’s experiences to better understand development policies and infrastructure planning. Opportunities for our companies are slowly opening up. A senior Saudi Royal once told me that they were fascinated over how Singapore, with no natural resources to speak off, could achieve such success within a generation, and confided that King Abdullah admires our achievements. There have been a fair number of exchanges of ministerial visits. The number of requests from Saudi officials to make study trips to specific

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Singapore agencies has also been growing. Since my posting to Riyadh, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew has made three visits and met King Abdullah twice. I was privileged to sit in on both meetings and noted the high comfort level between the two leaders. My wife and I used to take long drives each weekend out of Riyadh to get a good feel of the country. We saw this as an opportunity to understand life in the Kingdom outside the capital. It was an adventure for us visiting the small towns and villages that peppered the area about 50 km radius from Riyadh, and a completely different experience driving through long stretches of desert, enjoying the beauty of sand dunes, oases and the like. On our own it is unlikely that we would have travelled to the Kingdom, a country where modernity, desert culture and Islamic lifestyle exist side by side.

Concluding Thoughts The hallmark of a diplomat is the ability to adjust and adapt. While the fundamental mission remains the same, each operating environment is different. Each society has its own peculiarities, unique culture and social mores. We have to understand this and the faster we do so, the quicker we will be able to adjust and work effectively and efficiently in the country of posting. At times the going can be tough and the challenges daunting, especially on issues involving matters of state and bilateral relations. But we must soldier on, take such challenges in our stride and work to resolve them. Failure is not an option for us.

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Mission: Singaporeans Abroad Mr. JEYARAJ BENJAMIN William is currently Ambassador to the Lao People’s Democratic Republic. Mr. William joined the Foreign Service in October 1981 and was attached to the Regional and Economics Department of the Ministry. He served as Country Officer for Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific from 1986 to 1988. He then served as First Secretary in the Singapore High Commission in Bandar Seri Begawan from 1988 to 1990 and later as First Secretary in the Singapore Embassy in Manila from 1990 to 1993. In the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. William held the post of Assistant Director and subsequently Senior Assistant Director in the Management and Personnel Directorate from 1993 to 1995. He served as its Deputy Director from 1994 to 1995. Between 1995 and 1997, he served as Deputy Director in the ASEAN Directorate. He was subsequently appointed as Deputy Chief of Mission in the Singapore Embassy in Washington where he served from 1997 to 2000. On his return to Ministry HQ, he was appointed Senior Deputy Director at the Policy, Planning and Analysis Directorate II covering North America and Europe, from 2000 to 2002. Mr. William was Director-General for ASEAN Singapore from December 2002 to January 2004 and concurrently Director of Consular Directorate from 1 to 27 December 2002. He was appointed Director of Consular Directorate from February 2004 to August 2007. Mr. William graduated with a Bachelor of Social Science (Economics) (Hons) Class II Upper in 1986 from the National University of Singapore.

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n search of a lifelong and fulfilling career I joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1981. I have been happy to be a member of the effective and dedicated MFA team, which over the years is ably led by successive generations of Foreign Ministers and Permanent Secretaries since Singapore achieved independence in 1965. Over the past 27 years I have had opportunities to serve in Singapore Missions in Bandar Seri Begawan, Manila, Washington and now in Vientiane. In the MFA Headquarters, I have served

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in the Policy Planning and Analysis, ASEAN, Management and Personnel, and Consular Directorates. Every Directorate and every person are important, and we work as a team in the formulation and implementation of our foreign policies. I will however, focus on the consular work of the MFA as I am sure other colleagues will write about the different but equally important roles of the directorates of MFA.

More Singaporeans Abroad More and more Singaporeans are travelling overseas for business, employment, study and leisure. The latest estimate is over four million Singaporeans and Permanent Residents travel overseas each year. The large and growing number of Singaporeans and Permanent Residents overseas means that the challenge for MFA is to be able to respond quickly and effectively when Singaporeans around the world encounter problems or are caught in man-made or natural disasters, even where we do not have an Overseas Mission. Increasingly, Singaporeans and Permanent residents, and even foreigners, judge MFA by the quality and speed of our service to them in a crisis or their personal problems. MFA’s consular work also include, working with other agencies to mobilise appropriate assistance to countries in the region affected by calamities.

Range of Services The provision of consular services ranges from rather routine matters like the replacement of lost passports, rendering aid to victims of crime and bereaved relatives, to managing a crisis situation like an earthquake. To the person with the problem, no matter how big or small, his problem deserves top priority.

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MFA’s Motto Whether it is helping someone in a crisis or a person with a personal problem, the working motto of our consular officers is to be patient, polite, helpful and modest at all time. When a Singaporean or Permanent Resident approaches us for help, when he leaves he must feel that his problem has been resolved or at least smaller and on the way to being resolved. If he/she goes away feeling that the problem is still big or even bigger, we would have failed in our task. This is always a challenge, given the myriad circumstances that we have to face abroad. I have picked a few examples below to illustrate this.

Baguio Earthquake Every now and then, we are faced with a major overseas crisis where we are challenged not only by the needs of the Singaporeans there, but also by the requests for assistance from the affected foreign country and by the environment and the elements. When I served in Manila from 1990 to 1993, I faced two such crises, both natural calamities. The first was the massive Baguio earthquake of 1990. From its epicentre in Baguio, the earthquake shook many parts of Luzon Island, including Manila. The damage was devastating especially in the resort town of Baguio where many people lost their lives and an even larger number were injured. Being a popular holiday destination among Singaporeans and others, we were inundated with calls from concerned Singaporeans. There was no major Singaporean casualty, although several Singaporeans suffered injuries. Nevertheless, the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) and the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) despatched a Medical Team and Rescue and Recovery Team respectively to Baguio. I accompanied the team into Baguio which had been devastated, and

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for the next two weeks, the teams spent long hours, not only assisting in the rescue operations, but also tending to the medical needs of Singaporeans, Filipinos and other foreigners trapped in Baguio. We were proud to be Singaporeans as our SAF and SCDF teams stayed on even after many other international teams had left the site. The teams would later be recognised by then President Corazon Aquino in the Malacanang Palace.

Pinatubo Eruption Hardly a year later, the Philippines was faced with the Pinatubo eruption. It was the most violent volcanic eruption this century. Once again the Embassy was called upon to respond to Singaporeans trapped in this disaster, and coordinate the assistance efforts of our agencies, including the first overseas deployment of then newly established Singapore International Foundation. Baguio and Pinatubo were reality checks on how quickly life can change and made me realise how lucky we were as Singaporeans to be spared such calamities of nature; something I was reminded of many times during my postings abroad and my stint in the Consular Directorate. Singapore’s prompt response to such crisis situations, and for me to have played a small part in that response, also made me proud.

Boxing Day Tsunami In the coming years I would help to deal with many crisis situations from Mission and HQ, but nothing would prepare me for the devastation that followed the massive earthquake that struck Aceh on 26 December 2004 and the accompanying Indian Ocean tsunami. When news of the tsunami first broke in the morning of 26 December 2004, I was deeply involved in the activation of MFA’s 24-hour Crisis Management operations. Over the next few days and weeks,

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the devastating effects of the tsunami spelt out the horror of the massive scale of deaths, injuries and destruction of properties. More than 220,000 people were killed by the biggest tsunami of this century. Many more were injured and a million lost their homes and livelihood. We struggled to meet the needs of the Singaporeans caught in the devastation, stretching from Aceh to Penang, Phuket and as far as the Maldives, Chennai and Sri Lanka. Handling the situation would become a national effort not only involving MFA and our Missions in the affected countries, but many other agencies like the Ministries of Home Affairs, Defence, and Health, and the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority. Again Singapore’s timely and effective response to the needs of our neighbouring countries, including the deployment of massive SAF and SCDF resources would make any Singaporean proud, especially those involved in the effort. Even after the Search and Rescue (SAR) was called off by the local authorities, MFA officers, both on the ground and at HQ, continued to work with the families of the victims, such as making the necessary arrangements for them to return to the affected sites to perform religious rites. We also assisted in repatriating the remains of deceased Singaporeans as and when they were positively identified.

Bahrain As Singapore is not represented in every capital around the world, some crisis situations pose special challenges. I want to recount a few incidents. In 2006, a pleasure cruise boat carrying many tourists capsized off Bahrain waters. There were several Singaporeans on board and unfortunately four of them drowned. As we did not have a Mission in Bahrain, we had to mobilise our officers from Cairo Mission and Dubai Mission to respond swiftly to the family members needing support there. Together with the team of officers in HQ, we managed to provide the necessary assistance to the

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bereaved families and even managed to have the bodies repatriated to Singapore without much delay. The readiness of our Heads of Mission to deploy their staff to help out even in countries not under their jurisdiction is a commendable practice. This has helped us respond quickly to crisis situations even in places where we are not represented. Many more such examples abound.

Lebanon The second incident was the war in Lebanon in 2006. Although we did not have any Singaporean officially registered in Beirut, we found out that there were actually about 10 Singaporeans there, including a young lady fresh from college visiting friends there. They needed assistance to leave Beirut for a safer destination but we had no diplomatic presence there except for an Honorary ConsulGeneral, Mr. George Habis. Habis was unfortunately at that time stranded in Paris, unable to return to Beirut as the flights had been cancelled. Despite this, Habis was able to activate his contacts and his office in Beirut to help the Singaporeans. We also had the help of some embassies there, like the Australian, French, British, Indian, Pakistani and U.S. Together we managed to get all our citizens to safety. One group had to drive overland to Damascus before reaching safety. During the civil disturbance in East Timor in 2006, we had to rely on the good relations we had with Australia and its Mission on the ground to evacuate our citizens to Darwin.

Lady in Togo The last incident is perhaps more light-hearted. In 2005, we learned that a Singaporean lady was stranded in Togo in Africa without any money. We had to help her return to Singapore. She had left Singapore a year earlier, planning to settle down in Ghana. Things

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did not go according to plan and after some ill-advised decisions she finally ended up in Togo without any friends, money or place to stay. Hence there was no address for us to send her money. Our “closest” Missions were Pretoria and Cairo, both at least half a continent away. The challenge was to get money to her, purchase an airline ticket and get her on a flight back to Singapore. We finally came up with the idea of using the good contacts of one of our officers with the Prison Fellowship (PF) in Singapore, who in turn had good links with its counterparts around the world. The PF in Togo bought the airline ticket for the lady and put her safely on the flight to Cairo, from where she caught a connecting flight to Bangkok and eventually Singapore. This is just one story, but in consular work, MFA officers are often called upon to think out of the box and seek appropriate solutions to handle unique and difficult situations.

On the Lighter Side… Other FSOs and I realise that consular work is serious business and a critical element in the life of an FSO. Serious it may be, but every now and then we come across incidents that make us chuckle. An instance is the incident I encountered when I was Director/Consular. A Singaporean came to us complaining that during one of his sexual trysts in Batam, he had been secretly captured on film by the hotel he was staying in. At a subsequent visit, when he turned on the inhouse “blue movie”, to his distress he was the star of the show. He wanted to lodge a complaint against the hotel and get us to remove the movie. Then there is the occasion where a Singaporean and his wife we had assisted to return to Singapore from the tsunami crisis in Aceh requested us to put them up in a hotel in Singapore instead of returning to their own home. Their reason was that they wanted a more conducive environment to recover from the trauma they had suffered.

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Conclusion The stories from the last 27 years are innumerable. In summary, what I have learned is that policy work and diplomatic representation are important, but often how FSOs deal with Singaporeans and others caught in a crisis is also vital to the effectiveness and the good public image of MFA.

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Exercise Our Brain, Open Our Heart Mr. Joseph K. H. KOH is currently the High Commissioner of Singapore to Brunei Darussalam. He joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1995 as Deputy Secretary (Special Duties). He was the Singapore Trade Representative in Taipei (1996–2002) and Singapore High Commissioner in Canberra (2002–2005). For his work in MFA, Mr. Koh was awarded the Public Administration Medal (Gold) in 2003 and the Public Administration Medal (Gold)(Bar) in 2006. Before joining MFA, Mr. Koh had served at the Ministry of Home Affairs (1983–1986) and the Ministry of Defence (1972–1983, 1986–1995). Mr. Koh graduated with a First Class Honours in Zoology from the University of Singapore (1972). He is now an Honorary Research Associate at the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research, National University of Singapore.

An Unexpected Call

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he scene outside our apartment window while my wife Peifen and I were having dinner on 31 October 2000 was typical of the many typhoon nights that we had got used to in our fourth year in Taipei. Against the bright city lights, we could see the downpour taking a diagonal direction, deflected by the relentless assault of the savage wind. The streets were deserted as poor visibility deterred most motorists. The howling wind outside transformed itself into a shrill whistle as it penetrated through the gaps of the sliding door. I went to bed early, wondering whether the Taipei city government would declare a “typhoon holiday” the following day. The telephone rang shortly before midnight. It was from Winnie Tan, my Assistant Trade Representative in Taipei. She informed me that according to a news flash on TV, a Singapore Airlines (SIA) aircraft had crashed at Chiang Kai-shek International Airport under bad weather. I was immediately skeptical; a flurry of interrogative 67

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questions followed. “Are you sure?!” I demanded. “Are you sure it was SIA and not another airline?” “Are you sure it wasn’t a simple case of an aircraft overshooting the runaway?” I sounded as if I had locked myself in a state of denial, but actually I was just behaving in a way consistent with my upbringing. I was trained as a scientist, finding comfort in accuracy, evidence and verification. I spent many years working as a political and security analyst, constantly trying to distinguish “noise” from “signals”, always wary of knee-jerk conclusions. I was expected to be detached and dispassionate in reporting and coping with unpleasant realities, but I was totally unprepared for the heart-wrenching experience in the fortnight that followed Winnie’s phone call. It then dawned on me that, in our job, we need not only to exercise our brain, but open our heart as well.

A Singapore Thread That Binds News of the SQ006 incident brought about an immediate gelling of the larger Singapore team in Taipei. Just as I was assembling my own officers and local staff for deployment at the mission, airport and hospitals, colleagues from the economic and other agencies began ringing me up to volunteer for duties. It was a most timely offer, as we needed all the help that we could get to gather the information that was so crucial in the initial hours of a disaster. It would not be long before MFA was flooded with calls from the Next Of Kins (NOKs) who wanted to ascertain if their family members were on board SQ006 and if they were safe. We would ease their anxieties, at least for some of them, if MFA could inform them directly and immediately that their family members had survived. Putting ourselves in the NOK’s shoes, it would have been absolutely unacceptable — and unforgivable — if we told them that “MFA does not have the information, please check with SIA yourself.”

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Timely Help From Many Quarters More offers of help came over the next 24 hours, this time from members of the Singapore community in Taipei. We took up their offer a few days after the crash. By then, all of us were totally exhausted. We asked some of the Singaporean expatriates to shoulder part of our load in hospital visits, so that we could concentrate with repeat visits of others more critically ill. The Singapore expatriates did a wonderful job. On their own accord, they even brought flowers and fruits for the patients, and delivered them in my name — and never claimed reimbursement from the Mission. Other ministries in Singapore also acted swiftly and decisively. Mr. Yeo Cheow Tong, then Minister for Communications, flew in to pay respect to the deceased, comfort the survivors and NOKs, and thank the Taiwanese authorities for rendering help. The Ministry of Defence sent a trauma counselling team and flew in an aircraft, reconfigured at short notice, to evacuate several seriously injured patients.

Medical Diplomacy The Ministry of Health despatched a team of three doctors from the Singapore General Hospital (SGH). I was initially worried about them on two scores. First, strictly speaking, they were not authorised to practise medicine in Taiwan. Second, the Taiwanese might misconstrue our intention to help as showing no faith in Taiwanese doctors. As it turned out, the Taiwanese welcomed the extra hands. The SGH trio were also astute enough to realise that they had to be helpful, unobtrusive, consultative and sensitive, respecting the prerogative of their local hosts. This opened up the space for them to work freely in the wards, reading the case files, examining the victims, and closely monitoring the progress and treatment of the Singapore patients in close partnership with their

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Taiwanese counterparts. They would have made first-class diplomats with medical degrees. I was touched by the quick help of friends in the Singapore government agencies not directly involved in managing the aftermath. In one particular heartwarming episode, the elderly parents of a victim made a last minute request as they checked in at the Taipei airport for their return flight home — they wanted to book the largest hall at the Singapore Casket, so that the many friends and colleagues of their son could say their final goodbyes. They were not optimistic that the hall would be available at such short notice. I rang up a former colleague in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). He delivered within an hour. I was able to inform the parents just before they stepped into the aerobridge that the hall had been booked and an MHA officer would receive them at Changi Airport to brief them on the arrangement. I cannot forget the smile of relief on the father’s face upon hearing this.

Emotionally Involved Faced with victims fighting for their life, and NOKs grieving for perished family members, it was difficult for all of us at the Mission to remain unmoved. We kept reminding ourselves that we had to be completely professional and not get emotionally involved. We could not. I grew up as a Catholic but became an instant expert of the Buddhist notion of reincarnation at a cremation rite for a Singaporean victim. At the funeral parlour, a Taiwanese volunteer from Tzu Chi (a Taiwanese Buddhist charity) was trying to comfort the distraught widow who was wailing uncontrollably. I was by her side completely at a loss of what to do. Tears were welling in my own eyes. But as I listened to the Tzu Chi volunteer, I realised that she was giving, in Mandarin, some rather compelling reasons why the widow should stop crying. She explained that the victim’s soul would not exit the

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body if she continued to wallow in grief. He would not want her to cling to past memories, but move on to bring up their young children, and recreate happy times with the family again. “You have to let him go”, so that he would be reincarnated and re-enter the world as a happier soul. As I listened, I also realised that the widow was English-educated. I interrupted the volunteer and asked the widow if she understood what the volunteer was saying. She said that she did, but only partially. I asked the volunteer to restart her homily, talk slowly and I would interpret for her, sentence by sentence. After a while, the wailing stopped. Maybe she had just drained out. But I would like to think that the translation had helped, for she started to nod in agreement as we went along.

Tremendous Teamwork I am proud that my staff at that time — Alice Cheng, Pang Te Cheng, Winnie Tan, Nancy Lee and Edwin Cho — had also chosen to follow their heart. They went the extra mile for the survivors and the NOKs simply because they were dealing with a fellow Singaporean, another human being, in pain. The same can be said for the reinforcement team from the Singapore HQ, comprising Tong Tek Liong, Suzanne Tiong, Lim Liang Jim and Yeo Siak Ling. During the first week, they had very little sleep, partly because there were simply too many things that they had to attend to, and partly because their own emotional up-welling had given some of them insomnia. Nevertheless, despite overwhelming fatigue, they soldiered on, pushing themselves to see off the survivors and NOKs at the airport whenever they returned home on the late night flight. Civil servants have often been unfairly labelled as over-clinical bureaucratic creatures with a penchant to pass the buck. I am proud that my staff had proven these critics wrong. They even took on seemingly impossible requests. In one instance, the husband of a severely burnt passenger had to find temporary accommodation

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within a short walking distance from the hospital. His SIA “buddy” (a trained SIA staff member assigned to each NOK group to provide emotional support and administrative assistance) could not help, as there was simply no hotel near the hospital. He confided in my officers who were at the hospital. Desperately wanting to help, my officers systematically approached virtually every Taiwanese religious volunteer they met at the wards and hospital corridors. Finally, a volunteer offered free accommodation in his own office adjacent to the hospital.

Showing That We Care I was faced with a dilemma immediately after Winnie’s phone call. On the one hand, I needed to return to the Mission to organise ourselves quickly so that we would not end up running around like headless chickens in what was bound to unfold as a chaotic situation. On the other hand, I realised that it would be necessary for the Singapore Trade Representative in Taipei to be seen on the ground, or the Singapore government would risk being misconstrued as indifferent and insensitive. I decided to return to the mission and ask Peifen to stand in for me on the ground. She started with Changkeng Hospital, which was a major hospital at Taoyuan county where the airport was located. Peifen not only comforted the Singaporeans and lent them her cell phone to call home, she also reached out to the Taiwanese victims and passengers of other nationalities. One of them, a Caucasian lady, became highly emotional. While thanking Peifen and Singapore, she condemned the resident representative of her own country for not showing any concern. I would not blame her for the outburst, for such expectations were just natural. I was glad that I made the right decision. An hour into the aftermath, I realised that it was not enough for Peifen to visit as many Singaporeans as possible. She had to communicate the government’s concern for them to the media, and

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do it soon. I called her at Changkeng and asked her to get herself invited to a media interview. I also asked her to explain factually what our Mission was trying to achieve — that we understood the anxiety of the family members in Singapore; that we were there to gather names of patients so that we could update the families of their conditions; that we wanted to find out what other assistance the Singaporean passengers would need from us etc. Peifen spoke to the media, giving some of my points, but in response to the many loaded questions from the Taiwanese journalists on the scene, she also invented her own sound-bites! She was asked who she thought was responsible for the accident. She said we should give top priority to saving lives and helping the passengers, and not speculate on the cause of the accident. To another question whether the Singapore government would tighten safety inspection on SIA aircraft after this accident, she said that she was personally proud of SIA’s safety records, and SIA had never been complacent about its safety standards just because it had an unblemished record. Soon after the crash, it also became apparent that we had to make ourselves more identifiable and visible on the ground. We then invented an unauthorised identification tag bearing the Singapore flag with the words “Singapore Trade Office” printed boldly in Chinese and English. Suspended with a bead-chain over our neck, we wore it wherever we went over the next two weeks — hospitals, mortuaries, funeral parlours and cremation halls. We wore it whenever we received NOKs and saw them off at the airport. The humble tag had made it easier for us to project our presence and the government’s concern for them.

Making A Difference These appearances were a heart-wrenching experience. Cynics who had not gone through such an experience would probably dismiss our presence on all these sad occasions as tokenism undertaken

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for “representational” purposes. But having witnessed a tragedy at close range, we felt that we needed to be there simply because we wanted to be there. We would like to think that with the help of the reinforcement team from the HQ, plus officers from non-MFA agencies and volunteers from the resident Singapore community, the mission had been able to discharge its consular obligations, and attended to the many other personal requests from the NOKs. The officers and volunteers did the substantive work that added real meaning to the care and concern that what our representational activities had sought to project. Without their substantive help, our presence on ceremonial occasions would have appeared phoney. The SQ006 incident claimed 83 lives, including 12 Singaporeans. In its own way, it was a national tragedy which touched the hearts of many in Singapore. We at the Mission had to manage its aftermath with a heavy heart. Realistically, there was nothing we could possibly do to ease the anguish felt by family members of those who had perished; neither could we alleviate the trauma suffered by the survivors. We were often choked with sorrow ourselves, but we could not possibly share their pain. We could only give them temporary relief while attending to their administrative and logistics needs. There can never be any triumphant recall of our experience in handling such a tragedy. But there was one consolation: we did receive some thank-you cards and festive greetings after the event. The one that warmed our hearts most was the one that said, “Thank you, I am proud to be a Singaporean!”

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Philippines: Perception and Reality Ms. LIM Kheng Hua joined the Foreign Service in July 1981. She is currently the Director of International Organisations at MFA. She was the Singapore Ambassador to the Philippines until 1 August 2008. Before her posting to the Philippines in March 2003, she had served as Director for Human Resource, Director for International Economics and Director for International Organisations. She was Counsellor in the Singapore Embassy in Brussels from 1992 to 1995 and First Secretary in the Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York from 1984 to 1988. Ms. Lim was conferred the Public Administration Medal (Silver) in 2002 and the Long Service Medal in 2006.

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fter four years in New York, three years in Brussels and several years as Director for International Organisations at HQ, I was glad to take a break from multilateral work when I was offered a posting to the Philippines. It was my first bilateral posting in all senses of the word. While the Brussels posting had a bilateral component, my assigned focus was the then European Community.

Turbulent Times That my posting in the Philippines coincided with a period of political turbulence and the Philippine chairmanship of ASEAN added a premium to my learning curve. “Never a dull moment” was what many Filipinos and seasoned diplomats had advised me to expect during my first few weeks at post. I was to have my first taste of “destablisation attempts” barely a few months after my arrival. In June 2003, about three hundred rebel soldiers took control of a small section of Manila’s financial district of Makati and demanded the resignation of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Heavily armed, they wired C4 explosives in a public carpark adjacent to a 75

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high-end shopping mall and the premier Oakwood serviced apartments which eventually lent the mutiny its name. Although the seige was short-lived and bloodless, it left the country’s establishment and diplomatic community slightly shaken. In the weeks that followed, frequent rumours, which often turned out to be just that, of military restiveness, including unauthorised troop movements, did little to dispel the sense of unease. Skipping over other political threats and crises that followed and fast forward to late November 2007, the country grabbed news headlines once more when a group of soldiers, who were facing charges for the Oakwood mutiny four years ago, walked out of a Makati regional court, marched to the Peninsula Hotel and took over the five star hotel. After a seven hour hold up, they were flushed out of the hotel by heavily armed police leading to the arrest of the soldiers and their supporters.

Calm in the Eye of the Storm Earthshaking as these events might have been viewed from outside the country, they occurred and disappeared with little or no discernible impact on the humdrum of daily life for the majority of the residents of Metro Manila, much less by those in the far flung provinces. Indeed, the generally placid mood of Filipinos seldom displayed more than the mild irritation of commuters who had to face worse than normal traffic congestions resulting from road blocks and organised demonstrations on the streets. Even then, most street protests, which occurred with a certain regularity, had a carnival air about them replete with popular music and food.

Reality Gap If a gap invariably exists between perception and reality, this disconnect can be as wide as a chasm in the Philippines. The bewildering proliferation of newspapers, tabloids, TV and radio

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stations compete for attention while opinions, rumours and speculations crowd out dull but hard facts. A rumbustious media, vociferous civil society, activist Church, and rowdy politics converge to give an impression of a runaway democracy, a political situation that is continually on the edge of a precipice and a society that is still caught in the throes of nation building. Learn to tune out the “political noise”; “things are never as bad as they look”, well-meaning Filipino friends sometimes reminded me. A successful Filipino businessman pointed out that even during the most turbulent days leading to the ouster of former President Marcos, not a single company in the export processing zones had reported a disruption of business. Much of the political noise and crises had been Manila-centric. Indeed, foreign residents and companies who have lived and operated many years in the country tell a consistent story of how they rode out the storms, both man-made and natural, and made progress in spite of them. They reflected a resilence that is evident in the economy and deeply rooted in the Filipino people.

Two Philippines In a State of Union address, President Arroyo declared “I have always said that we have two Philippines; the Philippines on the economy and the Philippines on politics. One is working well and the other is a broken system.” Certainly, the macroeconomic figures for the Philippines have never looked better even as political stability has eluded the government. The growth for 2007 was 7.3 percent, highest in 31 years. The Philippine peso and stock market are among the best performing in Asia. The strong inflow of remittances estimated at over US$17 billion from overseas Filipinos continue to drive domestic consumption and support a construction boom. Economic diversification has reduced dependency on the U.S. market from 28 percent several years ago to 18 percent. One the other hand, bilateral trade with China has grown by leaps and bounds with the balance of trade in the Philippines’ favour. Public expenditure on

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infrastructure has increased in tandem with the government’s aim to improve the business environment and attract investments. The efforts appear to be paying off. Investor confidence received a shot in the arm when U.S. Texas Instruments’ decided to build a US$1.6 billion wafer fabrication facility in Clark, followed by South Korea’s Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Ltd’s decision to build two shipyards in Subic, Luzon and Zambalas, Mindanao totalling US$3.7 billion which, when completed, will make the Philippines the world’s fourth biggest shipbuilder. Other international investors including Marubeni (power), AES (power), and Mittal Global, have or are planning on moving in.

Growing Business Confidence Local business confidence has turned positive in contrast to some years ago. According to the Philippine Stock Exchange’s data on total market capitalisation of listed companies, the rich who represent 20 percent of the population but own 80 percent of the nation’s wealth have tripled their income between 2001 and end 2007. The Department of Trade and Industry has identified business process outsourcing, mining and electronics as the top investment drivers for the next few years. The government is engaging the private sector to boost service industries by developing IT enabled services, constructing much needed physical infrastructure and establishing economic zones and IT hubs. With a young, educated English speaking workforce and a service culture, the country aims to be a major outsourcing hub that would corner 10 percent of the global outsourcing business or about US$13 billion in revenue by 2010.

Mining as a Key Driver of the Economy There are ongoing efforts to tap the country’s potential to be globally competitive in mining. The Philippines is among the most mineralised

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countries in the world and ranks third in gold, fourth in copper, fifth in nickel and sixth in chromite deposits. Current legislation encourages foreign investments in mining although challenges pertaining to the ancestral rights of the indigenous population and environmental concerns of local governments and NGOs need to be tackled.

Clearing the Infrastructure Backlog Another indicator of a growing economy is the sprouting of pocket developments of commercial, residential and entertainment hubs. Just across Makati, approximately 240 hectares of land at the Fort Bonifacio military reservation has been successfully converted, through public bidding, into a premiere central business district known as the Bonifacio Global City (BGC). Situated between the bustling Makati Central Business District and the Ortigas Business District and adjacent to the prestigious Forbes Park and Manila Golf Course, BGC’s location is as good as it gets. The country is catching up with its infrastructure backlog across most sectors including land, sea and air transportation, energy, mining, agriculture and husbandry, education and healthcare. Conducive climate and geography allow the development of alternative energy sources like thermal, hydro, wind, solar and biofuel.

Tourism Tourism reached a historical high of 3.09 million foreign visitors in 2007. The government’s target is five million visitors by 2010, an attainable goal considering the abundance of fine sandy beaches, surf sites, spectacular diving spots, UNESCO designated heritage sites, and the colourful festivals celebrated across the archipelago.

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Growing the External Markets Beyond the shores, Filipino entrepreneurs and multinationals are quietly but steadily making inroads into overseas markets in food and beverage, fashion and design. Home grown brands like San Miguel (beer), Jolibee (fast food), Bench (clothes and accessories), Figaro (coffee) and Pancake House, to name just a few, are making footprints in markets like China, Malaysia and Vietnam. Shoemart, known for its shopping malls and supermarkets has already opened malls in Xiamen, Jinjiang and Chengdu. Not only is there a large domestic mass market for consumer products, the diaspora of eight to nine million Filipinos overseas including 3.2 million in the U.S. and over two million in the Middle East provides a ready offshore market for Philippine products and services. The potential exists in the Philippines for Singapore companies in search of opportunities in emerging markets as long as they are open to exploring different business models and are willing to adapt to a different operating environment. Our businessmen should also be prepared to venture beyond Metro Manila.

Redeveloping the Naval Bases For instance, Subic and Clark remain a priority in the Philippine government’s economic master plan. A new expressway connecting Subic and Clark was opened recently to better complement the developments in the two economic zones. Subic has come a long way from a former U.S. naval base. Dotted with resorts, casinos, retirement villages and golf courses as well as being a manufacturing destination for MNCs taking advantage of its special economic status, Subic is now emerging as a popular tourist destination. The long term plan is to position Clark, a former U.S. airbase, as an aviation service and logistic hub in Southeast Asia. Low cost carriers like Tiger Airways, AirAsia Malaysia, Asian Spirit, Cebu

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Pacific and Asiana Airlines now service Clark daily. Recently, KGL Investment Company belonging to a Middle Eastern logistics group has committed over US$1 billion to build a logistics complex in Clark. Clark International Airport Corp (CIAC) has also engaged SIA Engineering to build a US$250 million aircraft maintenance facility in Clark. An ongoing bidding process for the construction of a new international terminal to handle seven to eight million passengers in 2010 has interested several foreign investors. Like all new business propositions and ventures, foreign companies should not expect a smooth and effortless ride. The rules of engagement like due diligence, market knowledge and research, choosing the right partner, risk assessment and management are no more or less challenging than in most markets. In his speech at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS), Singapore in 2005 on “Doing Business in the Philippines: Opportunities and Challenges”, the President and CEO of the Ayala Corporation Jaime Zobel de Ayala II listed “long term vision and commitment” as one of the key factors in the success of businesses in the country. He cited the example of Globe Telecom, a joint venture between an Ayala Corp subsidiary and SingTel which started operations in 1992. He credited SingTel for not panicking and pulling out its investment during times of uncertainty. Such long term view had paid off and Globe Telecom had experienced a compounded and annual growth of 140 percent since 1998.

Giving Back to Society Our companies can also take a leaf from their Filipino counterparts in nurturing a culture of corporate social responsibility (CSR). Many Filipino corporations are involved in various social development programmes on poverty alleviation, disaster relief, education, healthcare and environment. For example, the Ayala Foundation’s Center for Social Development has a strong focus on education, youth

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development and information technology. The Ayala Foundation is also a key player in an ambitious multi-sectoral consortium consisting of private corporations, civic organisations and government agencies which aims to provide computers and internet access as well as related training to more than 6,000 public high schools in Philippines through the “Gearing up Internet Literacy and Access for Students (GILAS)”. Another example is the Metrobank Foundation that promotes quality education through its annual search for Outstanding Teachers and College Scholarship Program, and improvement in healthcare delivery through its support for the Manila Doctors Hospital, promotion of local talent in visual arts and design as well as promotion of professionalism in the ranks of the military and police through its excellence awards. Strategic interests have also pushed foreign companies like those in the mining sector to contribute to the local communities to win hearts and minds.

Receptivity to Foreign Partners Because of its history and the influence of the Filipino diaspora, there is a culture of openness to ideas and receptiveness to collaborations with foreign partners. It is not surprising that barely seven months after its official launch in May 2007, Singapore’s Temasek Foundation entered into a S$2.2 million partnership with the National Institute of Education (NIE) and the Ateneo de Manila University to train 80 educators from nine public high schools in the Philippines under the Leaders and Educators in Asia Programme (LEAP) making Philippines the first beneficiary of Temasek Foundation’s LEAP outside Singapore. The upgrading of teaching skills of teachers and principals through postgraduate diplomas, leadership and other professional development programmes conducted at NIE or at the Ateneo University is expected to benefit more than 30,000 students.

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Active Civil Society Among the Southeast Asian countries, the Philippines would probably be able to boast of having the largest community of NGOs, advocacy groups, watchdog groups and other movements that make up the civil society. While some groups pursue adversarial agendas, many have forged synergistic partnerships with the government and private sector to address pressing national and social issues. A number of NGOs have made significant impact in a positive way. Most noteworthy is Gawad Kalinga (GK) which means “to give care” in Tagalog. Started as an initiative by Couples for Christ in 1995 to rehabilitate juvenile gang members and out-of-school youths in squatters, GK has evolved into an impressive movement to transform poverty stricken areas into sustaining communities through the building of houses for the poorest of the poor, provision of basic education, healthcare, livelihood and skills training. In fact, GK has been touted as an alternative solution to the blatant problem of poverty not just in the Philippines but in the world. Its goal is to build 700,000 homes in 7,000 villages in seven years (2003–2010). To date, GK is operating in 900 communities all across the Philippines and its concept has taken off in some developing countries. The GK experience is now a case study for poverty alleviation and community building in management schools like Harvard and Stanford. It has also attracted students from these schools and inspired many ardent volunteers and supporters from around the world. There remains many more “good news” in and about the Philippines that can be showcased. Unfortunately, the propensity of media and political analysts to highlight and oversimplify the “negatives” makes it necessary and even compelling for anyone seeking a better understanding of the country to be aware of the many positives.

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Mind Your Business Mr. LIM Thuan Kuan joined the Singapore Foreign Service in 1984. He is Singapore’s first Permanent Representative to ASEAN. Prior to this, he served as the Singapore Ambassador to Vietnam, Director of Directorate IV, Director of Directorate I and Director of ASEAN. He has been posted as First Secretary in Jakarta and Counsellor in Washington, D.C.

A Different Kind of Business

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FA officers may be good when it comes to analysing strategic landscapes, and political and economic developments. But throw us into the world of business, and we flounder. I am a typical MFA officer — low on business acumen. My idea of business savvy is to dress up in a scrappy tee shirt when going to a car mechanic so they will hopefully charge me less for repairs. It was thus with much trepidation that I embarked on my posting to Vietnam in late 2005. Vietnam was then (and still is) the flavour of the year for businesses. We were among the top two investors in Vietnam, and top five in terms of trade. We had just inked the Connectivity Agreement, wherein economic connectivity was a big component. Hence, it was apparent that a big part of the work in Hanoi would be business facilitation — an area where I was clueless beyond general notions of helping to open doors and scouting for new business opportunities. Meetings with Singapore companies with interests in Vietnam merely increased my sense of foreboding. They told me of their business interests and what they were looking for. Some gave me advice on their experiences, for which I was grateful. But, generally, they talked a different language and most were sizing me up, gauging whether I would be useful in time to come.

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Five Lessons Fast forward three years since my introduction into the cauldron of business. I must say that it has been a fascinating experience. One good thing about MFA and being posted overseas is you get to dabble in business without financial risk! The following are some observations, in particular on the potential role of the Embassy and its officials when it comes to business facilitation.

Know the Business First, take your time to learn the ropes. Do not over-reach in your efforts to help especially when you are green and do not know what the game is or how it is played. The business of business is complex with many layers or levels. You have the business-to-business layer, the provincial layer and the central government layer. Each layer has its own set of complexities. The Embassy is usually involved in the following ways: voicing general support in meetings with our interlocutors; gracing events to lend support etc. We usually do this at the behest of our business players. These activities do not sew up deals for our businesses, but they help. If we want to assist beyond this, we must first learn how the game is played and see how we, as an Embassy, can help further the agendas of our businesses. Unless and until we reach this point, it would be a mistake to proactively “help out” on specific deals or projects without being asked. Very often, uninvited intervention complicates deals that are in the works, positive intentions notwithstanding. One wrong word to the wrong party, and deals that are on the verge of being sealed can unravel rapidly. The cardinal rule is never assume that you know more and never assume that Embassy intervention assures success. It does not. A little knowledge, mixed with tendency of the bull with an affinity for shops, is usually a recipe for disaster.

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Know the System Second, know the lay of the land. By this, I mean know the system, the players within the system and the dynamics within the system. This is often critical in assessing how you can help. However, learning about how things work is easier said than done. In many cases, you learn a lot just by talking to businessmen, especially those who operate on the ground. To be sure, their experiences are sectorspecific, and most of their contacts are province-specific. But usually, there is a track back to the centre, and that is where your business players will seek your assistance and where your usefulness lies. You have an advantage that they sometimes do not have — access at a higher and broader level — and your position and that of the Embassy. Your value-add is that you are operating at a different plane and can help unclog log-jams at this level, provided you know where and who to approach. In other words, knowing which door to knock, and knowing whether the solution lies at the first floor or in the penthouse, is often critical.

Build Trust Third, establish relationships of trust with our business players. You have to remember that as much as our business players may need your assistance, you also need them in order to do your job better. Greater business connections usually mean better bilateral relations and a greater country signature. Your usefulness to our business players increases the more you know how things work, and the more you know about the business state of play. Usually, our business players come to you or the Embassy only if they need assistance and think we can help. Their problems are usually specific, as are their requests and the information they provide. They are not likely to go into other aspects of their business unless they think you can be useful, and they can trust that whatever they tell you in confidence

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will not be inadvertently revealed to others. On your part, the more information you get (business sensitive or otherwise), the more you are able to advance their business interests when opportunities arise as you have a better idea of what is happening and what they are looking for. Your assistance is therefore not one-off, but an ongoing affair. There will always be opportunities. For example, you could be meeting with someone who just happens to be an important player for one of our business players on a current ongoing deal. Or there could be an impending Ministerial or Permanent Secretarial visit which could be used to push the interests of some of our business players. The key is to know what to look out for in order to spot and exploit the opportunities when they come.

Communicate Clearly Fourth, when opportunities present themselves or when there is a request for assistance, it is important to communicate, and coordinate where necessary. This is to ensure that both sides are on the same page and we do not inadvertently screw things up because the information we have to work with is outdated. This is of course a two-way process.

Know Your Limitations Fifth and last, know your limitations. The Embassy can support and facilitate, but we cannot endorse because at the end of the day, these are business ventures. There is a fine line between support and endorse. We should not be fully credited for the successes, nor fully faulted for the failures because it is in essence a two party effort, with each performing different functions. To have a better chance of success, both parties have to perform. This is as it should be because over-reliance on the government or Embassy to seal deals are, to

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me, a recipe for failure. My own take is of the two, the business side of the equation is often the more critical aspect. These are just some observations I have gleaned from the past three years. It has been a long haul, but after all is said and done, I would rather just go back to my scrappy tee shirt. Life is so much simpler.

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September 11: Ground Zero in Washington, D.C. Mr. Stanley LOH is currently Singapore’s Trade Representative in Taipei. He had served in the Singapore High Commission in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, before being appointed as Deputy Chief of Mission in the Singapore Embassy in Washington, D.C. at the age of 29. From 2004 to 2007, Mr. Loh was Press Secretary to Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong. He was concurrently Director for Middle East in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 2005 to 2007. Mr. Loh was educated in the National University of Singapore and Stanford University.

Warning Signs

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he morning of September 11, 2001 began like any other Tuesday morning. I left my house near Chevy Chase, Washington, D.C., and took my usual 10-minute drive to the Singapore Embassy. At the Embassy garage, I bumped into the Ambassador’s chauffeur, Surinder. Surinder told me, “Sir, a plane just crashed into the twin towers.” Having served in Malaysia previously, I instinctively asked if he was referring to the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur. Surinder replied, “No, the World Trade Centre in New York.” It sounded like a freak accident to me. We both agreed that it must have been a small plane that had gone out of control. I proceeded upstairs. It was just before 9 am. After putting down my briefcase and doing a quick scan of my emails, I returned to the garage. I was scheduled to join some officials from our Ministry of Defence for a meeting at the U.S. State Department that morning. At the garage, our other chauffeur, Mar, told me that he had just heard on the radio that another plane had crashed into the South Tower. We stared at each other in disbelief. As Mar drove me to the State Department, I kept thinking that it 91

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was simply “too weird” for two planes to crash into the same set of office towers on the same morning. Surely it could not be pure coincidence. But it was hard to believe that anyone would dare to carry out such a bold attack on U.S. soil. Our journey to the State Department was uneventful. There were no out-of-the-ordinary security checks. Mar dropped me off in front of the main entrance as usual. The Singapore Defence officials, who were coming in a separate vehicle, had yet to arrive. So I waited at the lobby of the State Department, walking out to the porch every now and then to check if they had arrived. There was a discernible tension inside State Department. People were nervously talking about the plane crashes and trying to make sense of them. It was around 9.35 am.

Confusion Shortly after 9.40 am, I went outside for some fresh air. Suddenly, there was a loud explosion. The earth literally shook. I looked around. I saw smoke billowing out of a building across the Potomac River. From where I stood, I could not make out what had happened or what building it was. I thought to myself, “Something really bad is happening today!” There was now a mild panic in the State Department lobby. People were scurrying around asking, “What happened?” “What was that?” Mar had parked across the street. I called him on the cellphone to ask him to listen to the car radio and tell me what had happened. Mar called back seconds later. He told me, “Sir, a bomb has just exploded at the front entrance of the State Department.” I replied, “Nonsense! I am standing right here in front of the State Department. Can you go listen again?” It turned out that what Mar had heard on the radio was just one of the many rumours that were spreading wildly that morning. Nobody knew what was going on. Without facts, radio stations were resorting to reporting rumours to satisfy concerned listeners who were scrambling for

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information. A few minutes later, a lanky African-American ran out from the lobby. He was shouting, “Bastards! Bastards! They hit the Pentagon!” My heart skipped a beat. It was 9.50 am. I decided to wait a little longer for my Ministry of Defence colleagues to show up. By 10.25 am, it became apparent that they could not make it. The road to the State Department had been closed. A building evacuation had just been finally ordered. I tried to contact them, but the cellphone lines were all jammed. Mar drove me back to the Embassy. I was joined by my colleagues at the Embassy. We gathered in front of the TV in the conference room. Our eyes were glued to the screen as we witnessed screen shots of the second plane, United Airlines Flight 175, crash into South Tower. One of the Defence officials recounted how, on his way to the State Department, he had seen a civilian jetliner flying at an unusually low altitude. But he was told that it must have been because the plane was getting ready to land at the nearby Reagan National Airport. In retrospect, he could have seen the final moments of American Airlines Flight 77 before it crashed into the Pentagon.

Emergency Response Footage of the collapse of the North and South Towers soon filled the screens on all the TV networks. While everyone else was still watching in horror, I slipped quietly to the Ambassador’s office. We discussed our next course of action. Our conversation was brief but focused. We agreed that the Embassy’s primary responsibility at this time would be to help any distressed or affected Singaporeans. We did not think that there would likely be any Singaporeans injured in the attack on the Pentagon. But we could not be certain about the World Trade Centre. Furthermore, with lower Manhattan sealed off, some Singaporeans might be locked out of their homes or offices without money or identification papers. Singaporean travellers could

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also be stranded by the massive flight delays. The Embassy must coordinate a major effort to contact all the Singaporeans in the U.S. at the time and offer consular assistance. We quickly got in touch with our Consulates in New York and San Francisco as well as the offices of other government agencies, such as the Economic Development Board and International Enterprise Singapore, in other parts of the U.S. to mount the effort. We were against huge odds because many Singaporeans did not register with the Embassy. Most Singaporeans probably thought that they were unlikely to encounter any major problems requiring Consular assistance in a highly developed country like the U.S. We established a 24-hour hotline for Singaporeans to contact us. We also reached out to Singaporeans through other Singaporeans, their families in Singapore and the help of the media. Our offer of assistance was taken up by some of those we contacted. Even those who were safe appreciated the call of concern from a fellow Singaporean. Over the next few days, with most of the ordinary phone lines jammed, the Embassy’s 24-hour hotline and other alternative communication channels with MFA HQ became the only link for some Singaporeans with their loved ones in Singapore. Our database of Singaporeans in the U.S. ballooned from just a few hundred to more than 10,000.

Private Moments In the afternoon of September 11, I managed to steal a few minutes to call my wife, Kim. Kim had spent all morning in our residence, watching the television coverage of the plane crashes. I could tell that she was very worried. She knew that my job required me to frequently visit U.S. government buildings but she did not know that I had been scheduled to go to the State Department that day. I suggested that she make a quick trip to the nearest supermarket to stock up on bottled water and canned rations. Then go back home

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and stay indoors. She told me later that night that she was shocked to tears when she saw, for the first time, half-empty shelves at the Giant Supermarket. It was a sign of panic.

A Changed World Most people remember September 11 in terms of the events that unfolded that day. But for those living in certain parts of the U.S. like Washington, D.C. and New York it was only the beginning of a protracted ordeal. We left home each morning without knowing if we would safely return that night. After all, the utterly unexpected had happened. Everyone had to learn to live with a deep and pervasive uncertainty. Rumours of further terrorist attacks raged unchecked. Everyday, there was something new: “dirty” bombs, truck bombs at public places, even poisoning of the water supply. Not all of the rumours were unfounded. On 15 October 2001, the Hart Senate Building, which my colleagues and I frequented to meet with Senators and their staffers, was shut down, after being found to be contaminated by anthrax. Suddenly, everyone across the country had to take unprecedented precautions just to open his mail. We had to identify a secured room at the Embassy with a separate ventilation system just for opening mail. Staff handling mail had to wear protective clothing. Even at home, we wore gloves to open the letter box. Until today, perpetrators of the various anthrax contaminations that led to three deaths and 10 infections in the U.S. have not been identified. During this period, the Embassy worked closely with other Singapore agencies to devise emergency plans to assist Singaporeans in the event of another catastrophic attack in the U.S. I vividly remember one conversation with Kim during this time. I told her that should the situation become worse, she should return to Singapore together with the families of other Embassy staff. I also said that I would not leave Washington, D.C. until every Singaporean who

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wished to leave had been evacuated. This was my responsibility. Kim calmly replied that she would remain with me regardless of what happened. That was a very important conversation for us. Once we had mentally prepared ourselves for the possibility that we might never return to Singapore, we could better focus on our duties. Fortunately for us, and everyone else, things gradually returned to normal.

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Intellectual Property and Public Health: Negotiating at the World Trade Organization Mr. Vanu Gopala MENON presented his credentials as Singapore’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York on 16 September 2004. Before assuming his current post, he was Singapore’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva and the World Trade Organization, and concurrently accredited as Singapore’s Ambassador to the Republic of Turkey, from December 2001 to August 2004. His previous assignments include stints as Minister-Counsellor in the Singapore High Commission in Kuala Lumpur from November 1994 to November 1997 and as Director at the Policy, Planning and Analysis Directorate I from December 1998 until October 2001. He has been a Foreign Service Officer since June 1985.

I

n February 2003, while serving as Singapore’s Permanent Representative in Geneva, I was elected Chairman of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Council for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). With that came the responsibility of finding a solution to one of the most contentious issues on the WTO’s agenda — developing a legal mechanism that would enable countries that did not have sufficient manufacturing capacity to produce life-saving pharmaceuticals, without violating patent rules in the TRIPS Agreement. This is an account of some key developments during the negotiations and some lessons learnt.

Background The TRIPS Agreement was one of the major outcomes of the Uruguay Round of trade negotiations, a result of the growing importance 97

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of intellectual property in global trade. Since its adoption, it has also been the subject of much controversy. Two key issues which policy-makers have had to grapple with include the following: (i) how to use patents as an incentive for pharmaceutical companies to invest in R&D so that they will continue to produce new drugs to combat diseases; and (ii) how to ensure that the use of patents did not make these drugs unaffordable for most people, particularly in poor developing countries.

Doha Declaration on TRIPS Agreement and Public Health From the outset, developing countries claimed that the patent rules and the compulsory licensing provisions of the TRIPS Agreement made it extremely difficult for them to obtain affordable life-saving pharmaceuticals. A key issue emerged when several developing countries realised that they lacked domestic manufacturing capacity to produce the life-saving drugs, even if they were to issue compulsory licenses. Neither could they assign a foreign manufacturer to produce the drugs on their behalf because of the stipulation in the TRIPS Agreement that products manufactured under compulsory licence had to be consumed “predominantly” in the country of the manufacturer. After protracted negotiations, it was agreed that this problem should be rectified. It was in this context that the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health, adopted at the Doha WTO Ministerial Meeting on 14 November 2001, was welcomed as a major achievement. The Declaration mandated the TRIPS Council to find an expeditious solution to this problem before the end of 2002.1 1

For a detailed analysis, see Faizel Ismail, “The Doha Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health and the Negotiations in the WTO on Paragraph 6: Why PhRMA needs to Join Consensus!”, The Journal of World Intellectual Property, Geneva, May 2003, Vol. 6, No. 3.

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The Scope of Diseases Ambassador Eduardo Perez Motta of Mexico, who chaired the TRIPS Council in 2002, ran into serious obstacles from the beginning. A key issue was the scope of diseases to be covered by any decision or legal mechanism. The Africans, supported by some Latin Americans and Asians, were adamant that the disease scope should be as broad and flexible as possible and not limited to just a few major diseases. This was unacceptable to the U.S., Japan, Switzerland and the European Union, which felt that too broad a scope would undermine the TRIPS Agreement. Moreover, they felt that this was inconsistent with the spirit of the Doha Declaration. Nevertheless, Ambassador Motta undertook intensive consultations and produced a draft decision on 16 December 2002. Unfortunately, the “compromise” did not meet all concerns, particularly those of the U.S. Since all decisions at the WTO are taken by consensus (unanimity), there was no way that the draft decision could have been adopted. It was against this backdrop that I was elected Chairman of the TRIPS Council in February 2003. Several delegations cautioned me against taking on what was perceived as a “poisoned chalice”. However, both MFA and MTI felt that I should accept the appointment and give it my best shot.

Consultations I began my consultations with the U.S. since they had the most difficulties with the draft decision. However, U.S. Ambassador Linnet Deily told me that the timing was not right for a resolution. But, she promised to get back to me as soon as there were indications that Washington was ready to move ahead. It was clear that I could not expect to make any real progress until the Americans were ready to deal. Nevertheless, I used the time to undertake consultations with other key stakeholders like the Africans, India, Brazil and other Latin Americans, ASEAN, the European Union, Switzerland and Japan.

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Glimmer of Flexibility from the U.S. The first sign of some flexibility on the part of the U.S. came during an Informal Ministerial Meeting (IMM) of the WTO in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, in June 2003. Then U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick indicated to the WTO members present that the pharmaceutical industry was united in wanting to resolve the issue before the next WTO Ministerial Meeting in Cancun in September 2003. He added that the industry was no longer as focused on the scope of diseases to be covered by a decision. Instead, their main concern related to how any decision could be abused for commercial use and diversion. If this concern could be addressed, there was a good chance of settling this.

Meeting with Pharmaceutical Industry Arising from this, I met with representatives of major pharmaceutical companies in Geneva on Monday, 30 June 2003. I told them categorically that the 16 December 2002 text could not be reopened. They were unhappy to hear this. Nevertheless, they wanted to know how I propose to break the impasse given that the U.S. could not accept the 16 December text. I said that we might be able to address their concerns about possible abuse of the decision through a Chairman’s Statement. A Chairman’s Statement would complement the draft decision by providing clarity to some of the issues that were seen as ambiguous. Adopting the 16 December text simultaneously with a Chairman’s Statement would effectively place both documents on an equal footing, forming a package which would be adopted in its entirety. I argued that this approach would preserve the contents of the 16 December text (the wish of the majority of WTO members), while at the same time addressing the concerns of the U.S. and others. However, some industry representatives felt that this approach did not provide legal certainty. I reiterated that I

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could not re-open the 16 December text. As Chairman of the TRIPS Council, I had to act in accordance with the wishes of all WTO members and not just one delegation. It was good that I took this principled approach because word got back to me from others in the pharmaceutical industry that they thought I had done the right thing in insisting that the 16 December 2002 draft decision could not be re-opened.

U.S. Willing to Consider Chairman’s Statement A week later, I received a telephone call from Ambassador Linnet Deily. While maintaining her position that the U.S. still preferred an amendment to the 16 December 2002 text, she asked whether I would be able to put down on paper the elements that might constitute a Chairman’s Statement. I read this as a strong hint that the U.S. was ready to seriously consider the idea of a Chairman’s Statement, to be adopted simultaneously with the 16 December text. I had become increasingly convinced that this was the only way to break the impasse. With the way now open for the U.S. to re-engage, I worked on the possible elements of a Chairman’s Statement. Upon receipt of my draft, Ambassador Deily consulted Washington and came back with several substantive amendments. This led to a series of exchanges between Ambassador Deily and myself with both of us proposing amendments and counter-amendments to each other’s drafts! This exercise went on for a month, until we had a draft Chairman’s Statement that both of us thought might prove acceptable to the larger WTO membership.

Consultations with Small Group At this stage, I decided that I should test the draft with a small number of representative key players — South Africa, Kenya, Brazil

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and India — to assess whether it might be acceptable to them. I felt that if these key delegations could accept the draft, we might be able to sell it to the general membership. The meeting with the Ambassadors of these key countries went better than expected. While they proposed some changes, they were not major amendments. The U.S. indicated that it could go along with the amendments. We now had a draft Chairman’s Statement which I was fairly confident would be acceptable to the general membership of the WTO.

Consulting the African Group Still, I wanted to be certain that the text would fly when it was presented to the TRIPS Council. I decided to test it again, this time with the African Group as a whole. Kenya and South Africa had participated in the small group and given their blessings to the draft. But, given the importance of this issue to the Africans, the major beneficiaries of any deal, I wanted to be sure that there was “buy in” from the group as a whole. If I had the support of the Africans, it would be difficult for the rest of the WTO membership to reject the draft. I met twice with the African Group to explain the draft Chairman’s Statement and to gauge their reactions. Happily, the response was extremely favourable. Every member assured me of their full support. Thereafter, I felt confident tabling the draft Chairman’s Statement, together with the draft decision of 16 December 2002, for adoption by the TRIPS Council.

Compromise in Jeopardy However, when the TRIPS Council convened on 28 August 2003, a small number of Asian and Latin American delegations challenged the contents of the draft Chairman’s Statement and the way the draft had been presented. They argued that they had not been sufficiently

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consulted and wanted to propose amendments. The meeting was therefore suspended in the early hours of 29 August 2003 with delegations being asked “to take time out” to reflect.

African Support as Key Factor There was furious activity over the next 12 hours, with several delegations and Ministers using their influence to persuade the “holdouts” to join, rather than undermine, the deal. I thought that the Africans should speak up in support, especially since the outcome was of critical importance to them. I requested to meet with the African Group at 2 pm on 29 August 2003, an hour before the start of an emergency informal General Council Meeting. As this was a last minute request, not all in the Group turned up. I urged those present to speak up in support of the deal at the emergency General Council Meeting. All of them agreed.

Opposition Backs Down The General Council Meeting began with a slew of African delegations speaking up forcefully for the adoption of the proposed text. Almost every African delegation welcomed the compromise and urged delegations to drop their reservations. One African delegation went so far as to say that the deal was largely meant to help Africa and that those who were not entirely comfortable should back off and not block it. Before long, opposition crumbled and the remaining “hold-outs” announced that they were withdrawing their opposition. A formal meeting of the General Council was immediately convened the next morning on 30 August 2003. At 9.50 am, the General Council formally adopted the 16 December 2002 draft decision together with the Chairman’s Statement.

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Four Lessons Learnt The following are some lessons learnt from this negotiating exercise:

Lesson Number 1: Consult Widely

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First, it is important to consult as widely as possibly. Sometimes, a delegation’s concerns might not be immediately evident until you speak to them. Sometimes, delegations can give you “trouble” not because of any substantive concern but because they feel that you have not consulted them sufficiently. The Chairman’s Statement which I had drafted almost did not make it because I had inadvertently failed to consult a few delegations which I assumed would have no difficulties with the compromise deal. The text was saved largely because the Africans stood behind it. The bottom line is that while every negotiating process will have its own dynamics, a Chairman has to be prepared to spend many long hours talking to delegations, big and small, in order to ensure that the compromise which he is working on will prove acceptable to all.

Lesson Number 2: Chairman’s Perceived Impartiality Second, related to this is the need for a Chairman to be perceived as being impartial. This in itself can sometimes help to convince doubting Thomases and nay-sayers to drop their reservations or objections. They must come away convinced that the deal you are proposing is fair and that you have tried to accommodate their concerns. In this particular case, we were able to convince the vast majority of the WTO membership, in particular the Africans and the U.S., that we had done our best and tried to be fair to everyone.

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Lesson Number 3: Think Out of the Box Third, the need to think out of the box and identify fairly creative solutions to problems. In this case, the Chairman’s Statement as a complement to the 16 December text proved an effective way of dealing with what was initially perceived to be intractable. Not every negotiation will lend itself to creative solutions. But, one must never give up trying to find creative solutions to problems that will inevitably crop up in negotiations.

Lesson Number 4: Take No One for Granted Finally, the need to cultivate the various constituencies and groupings well before you need their help. That means making a concerted effort to get to know your counterparts from the first day you arrive at post. This is especially true in a multilateral setting where you do not deal with a host government but with almost the entire world. One needs to know as many people as possible, regardless of rank or what you might think is their current significance. Never discount anyone in your cultivation efforts. You will never know when you will need their help. In this regard, Singapore has a good reputation. Being a small country, we have never taken anyone for granted. We have always made an effort to reach out to others and to be helpful. The fact that we were able to get not only the U.S. but other key players and constituencies like the African Group on board is proof of this.

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A Small State’s Diplomacy — Some Reflections Ms. SEETOH Hoy Cheng was Singapore High Commissioner to New Zealand from February 2004 to 2009, and she was concurrently accredited to the Republic of the Fiji Islands. She was Ambassador to the Lao People’s Democratic Republic from 2000 to 2003. She was Director, Policy, Planning and Analysis Directorate IV (South Asia, Middle East, Africa and Latin America) from 1997 to 2000, Director of Administration from 1995 to 1997 and Director of Management and Personnel from 1994 to 1995, and Deputy Director of Management and Personnel from 1987 to 1989. She served as Counsellor in London from 1989 to 1992 and First Secretary in Washington, D.C., from 1981 to 1984.

Into the Deep End

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joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the end of 1974, and was assigned to the then Regional and Economic Division. Three months later, I was asked to attend the U.N. Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific’s (ESCAP) annual session in New Delhi. The other two delegates were the leader of the delegation, Minister of State for Labour, Mr. Siah Kah Hui who left for Singapore after delivering his speech, to attend the committee of supply debate in Parliament, and an officer from the Ministry of Finance (Development) who left the day after Mr. Siah left as he fell sick. Being the only remaining member of the Singapore delegation present, I had to juggle my time between the plenary and the committees on the remaining days of the session. I was literally thrown into the deep end. Six months after joining the Ministry, I was appointed Assistant Director (Finance), during which I discovered and recovered the 107

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overpayment of $33,000 of overseas cost of living allowance to a Head of Mission, and the misappropriation of government funds by an administrative secretary. That was the first of my three stints, totalling nine and a half years in the Administration Directorate, later named Management and Personnel Directorate. This Directorate is now split into Human Resource and Corporate Affairs Directorates. Friendship and empathy help to make the difficult jobs easier and I benefited tremendously from the friends I have made throughout my career. Even in bilateral interactions with foreign officials, personal relations mattered.

Learning from the Master Soon after my assignment to the Political Division, Mr. S. R. Nathan (presently President of the Republic of Singapore) joined MFA as First Permanent Secretary. I learnt a lot from Mr. Nathan in note-taking, brief writing and preparation of information notes. At that time, there were few officers and a lot of work, following the invasion of Vietnam by China and the invasion of Afghanistan by USSR. Mr. Nathan started the daily morning meetings and the fortnightly briefings by desk officers. As he always mastered the briefs, it was advisable to know the facts and figures, and their sources when we met with him.

Cultivating Foreign Friends Mr. Nathan sent me to the three month Australian foreign service course in 1980. There were about 20 officers from Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and a similar number of foreign trainees from the then five ASEAN member countries, Asia, Africa and the South Pacific. Several Australian former trainees have since been appointed ambassadors/high commissioners. When I was appointed special envoy to some South Pacific countries in

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2007, I met with my former fellow trainee from Tonga, who served as High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and Ambassador to Brussels, and is presently the Lord Chamberlain. The Indonesian former trainee also became an Ambassador to New Zealand. When I was at the Australian foreign service course, the Australian trainees remarked in horror that Singapore did not allow the Vietnamese refugees in leaky boats to land. 20 years later, I noticed that Australia also did not allow refugees in boats to land.

Helpful Americans In 1981, Permanent Secretary, Mr. Nathan sent me to Washington, D.C. to fill a newly created post in the Embassy and to study for a master’s degree. The Americans were very helpful and kind. When I called an official in a department, and if it turned out that the official was not responsible for the issue, he/she would provide the name and contact number of the official dealing with the issue and also transfer the call if it was within the same ministry. The visits of then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew in 1981 and 1982, several working visits of Singapore officials, helping Singapore students, recruitment of talent, and third country reporting were good learning experiences for me. I learnt much from Ambassador Punch Coomaraswamy who was the resident Ambassador from Singapore then.

Middle East In April 1986, when I was Senior Assistant Director for Third World and the Pacific, covering South Asia, Middle East, Africa, Latin America, Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea, I accompanied then Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. S. Dhanabalan to visit Austria and Israel. The four-member delegation included Mrs. Dhanabalan and the desk officer for Middle East. When we arrived in Vienna, the Austrian Foreign Minister met Minister

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Dhanabalan at the airport and apologised that his wife could not come to the airport because she had just given birth. After the Austrian Foreign Minister took his leave, Minister Dhanabalan said that the curriculum vitae stated the minister as divorced. On my return, I advised Senior Assistant Director for Western Europe of the inaccuracy. Before Minister Dhanabalan went to call on the then Austrian President, the firm instruction given to us was that there should be no note-taking during the call. I accompanied Minister Dhanabalan to the call, and did not take notes. No taking of notes at a meeting did not mean that no notes would be produced after the meeting. One had to do it from memory!

Working without Technology From Vienna, Minister Dhanabalan and his delegation flew to Tel Aviv. Minister Dhanabalan’s visit to Israel in 1986 was the first visit by a Singapore Foreign Minister. The Israeli Ambassador in Singapore returned to Israel for Minister Dhanabalan’s visit, and he also stayed at the same hotel, King David Hotel. Minister Dhanabalan met then President Chaim Herzog, Prime Minister Shimon Peres, Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir, and the then Mayor of Jerusalem, and business leaders. As there were no laptops and handphones, communication and word processing were quite difficult. Late at night on the day of our arrival, the Israeli ambassador told the Minister that there would be a speech at the official banquet the following day, although before we left Singapore, we had been advised that there was no dinner speech. Minister Dhanabalan was very understanding and told me to give him some points for the speech the next morning. At the end of the banquet, the Israeli ambassador told me that it was a very good speech and asked for the text. I told him that Minister Dhanabalan spoke off the cuff, but I would give him a typewritten text on my return to Singapore, which I did. Several years later, I was faced with a similar situation when

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I accompanied Minister of Foreign Affairs, Professor S. Jayakumar to the Maldives. Before the visit, we confirmed that there would be no speech at the official dinner. Less than an hour before the official dinner, we were advised that there would be a dinner speech. This time, we had a laptop.

The Herzog Visit In September 1986, I was a member of the Singapore delegation to the U.N. General Assembly in New York, at the height of the Cambodia problem. While I was in New York, I was stunned to learn of the press release by Israel on the visit of then President of Israel, Chaim Herzog, to Singapore. The fallout from the premature release of the statement on Herzog’s visit and the visit itself was great. The Mission in New York was asked to draft the Middle East section of the banquet speech and the task fell on me. At the U.N. General Assembly, the chill of the Arab delegates following the Israeli release of the press statement on President Herzog’s visit was palpable.

Latin America When I was Director for Policy Planning & Analysis Directorate IV, responsible for South Asia, Middle East, Africa and Latin America, I was a member of then Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong’s delegation on his visit to Chile in 1998, when he proposed the East Asia-Latin America Forum (EALAF), which was accepted by then President of Chile. One Saturday morning, then Minister for Foreign Affairs, Professor S. Jayakumar called me to his office and told me that we needed to prepare a thoughtful concept paper of reasonable length on EALAF. He wanted the paper by 1 pm that same day. My desk officer, Yvonne Ow, and I worked out a draft paper by 1 pm, but the Minister had left so I faxed it to his home. That same

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evening, Minister Jayakumar informed me that he had made some amendments. I returned a clean copy of the draft concept paper to him the following day, on Sunday. On Monday morning, Minister Jayakumar brought back the concept paper which I sent to PM to give to the Philippine President who was visiting that Monday. The concept paper on East Asia-Latin America Forum was prepared in one weekend. Persuading would-be members of the merits of including Australia and New Zealand in EALAF (now called FEALAC), was a challenging exercise, in which Second Permanent Secretary Bilahari Kausikan played a key role. He also chaired the inaugural EALAF Senior Officials’ Meeting in Singapore.

Management and Personnel In 1994, I moved away from policy work and was appointed Director, Management and Personnel, responsible for personnel, finance and property management, including the development of the new MFA building which took a long time. MFA, under then Minister for Foreign Affairs, Professor S. Jayakumar, embarked on a quantum leap to expand its manpower. In the following year, the Public Service Commission devolved to Permanent Secretaries the authority to appoint and promote staff in their respective ministries. The competition among ministries for the best officers was keen and we had to be prompt in making offers to the good candidates. At the same time the selection process had to be vigorous. We introduced the psychometric tests and other tests to consider the candidates’ suitability before the interview. I am grateful to Ambassador Tommy Koh for assisting me in the career talks at NUS and for sitting in the selection panels to interview the candidates. As there was no Deputy Secretary for management then, every senior officer who could lend a hand in the selection process was much appreciated. A MFA video was produced. Then Permanent Secretary Kishore Mahbubani introduced the mentor system for new officers. The

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shortage of officers was a perennial problem, and this was more acutely felt when hosting multilateral meetings such as the ASEM and AMM meetings.

Becoming a Better Match-maker Making a better match between the officer’s expectations and the postings available, we created a system where all officers (except the Heads of Missions) and eligible support staff could indicate their three preferred choices for their overseas assignments. Thus, the Ministry could assign officers to overseas posts of their choice, as far as possible. I also decided to schedule in-house language classes, early in the morning, before the workday began. The drop-out rate of the officers from the early morning language courses was much lower, than those previously held in the evenings.

Laos When I presented my credentials to the Lao President he suggested that I should visit the provinces. Lao leaders invited me to bring in business delegations, to request that Singapore Airlines resume flights to Vientiane, sought advice on how to improve the economic situation, and the education system. Information and publications were scarce. When I visited the provinces, I was asked how to improve their livelihood and retain their teachers. I enjoyed meeting the villagers. Singapore businessmen and even Singapore Permanent Residents visiting Laos wanted assessments of the economic and political situation, and advice on doing business. Singaporeans also requested assistance to resolve their business disputes. Foreign diplomats advised me that it would be difficult to meet the xenophobic politburo members of the ruling Lao People’s Revolutionary Party but I met all of them. One politburo member invited me to his house, for lunch and dinner with his family. One gets the feeling that the

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Lao PDR, a small state and one which is landlocked and surrounded by big neighbours, will always feel vulnerable. In Vientiane, I participated in fund-raising events for Lao women and children. Now, in Wellington, as a female High Commissioner, I attend the ambassadors’ functions and participate in the Heads of Mission spouses’ social functions, and fund raising events. I also host women’s functions. Thus, I perform the dual roles of the Ambassador and the Ambassador’s spouse. One should never underestimate the influence of the spouses.

List of Virtues After sitting in selection panels, ranking panels and the Personnel Board for several years, I know most of the MFA staff. I share the views of a late New Zealand diplomat, who stated the qualities of an ideal diplomat as follows: truth, accuracy, calm, patience, good temper, modesty, loyalty, intellignce, knowledge, hospitality, charm, industry, courage and tact. I would add resourcefulness, discipline and courtesy to the list.

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Singapore’s Diplomatic Assets Mr. A. SELVERAJAH is currently Singapore’s Ambassdor to the Philippines. He was Singapore’s Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany from August 2003 to 2008, and was concurrently Singapore’s Ambassador to Greece from 2004 to 2006. He joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in July 1979. He served as First Secretary and Counsellor at the Singapore Embassy in Bangkok; Deputy Chief of Mission in Washington, D.C.; and Director of Policy, Planning and Analysis, Directorate II (North America and Europe). He was Singapore’s Ambassador to the European Communities, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and the Holy See from July 1999 to July 2003. He was awarded the Public Administration (Silver) Medal and conferred the Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Gregory by Pope John Paul II. Mr. Selverajah graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Honours (Class II Upper) from the National University of Singapore in 1979 and obtained a Master of International Affairs from Columbia University, New York in 1985.

I

served in two European capitals — Brussels, the headquarters of the European Union (EU) institutions and Berlin, the capital of the biggest European country. In the European worldview of foreign policy priorities, Singapore is a small player in Asia and an even smaller actor in the world. We are, in reality, a “little red dot”. We could have been easily ignored in their world of international relations. However, we succeeded in transforming our “little red dot” into a “shining little red star”, that has been able to catch some international attention by its glow. This statement risks being interpreted as reflecting a naivety of our limitations and role in the larger scheme of international relations. But without overstating the point, there is indeed an element of truth in it.

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Why Singapore is Admired We have been able to receive a modest degree of international attention and recognition disproportionate to our size, influence and strategic weight in the world. Several reasons account for this, and having lived in the transatlantic world for 12 of the past 14 years, I was able to experience this at first hand:

Economic Success First, and foremost, is our sustained track record of economic success. No amount of foreign policy achievements can substitute the international standing which our economic accomplishments have gained for us. We are seen as a country which despite heavy odds, not only succeeded but thrived, by transforming a third world city-state, into a first world metropolis. The Europeans are aware that despite the lack of natural resources, limited land and a small population, Singapore was able to catapult itself into the ranks of the First World through good leadership, hard work and determination. Due to our economic success, pragmatism and prudence, we were able to be independent and self-reliant. We did not continuously go around asking for economic help, except for the initial advice that we received from the UNDP and other U.N. bodies. Thus we are respected as a country which achieved success through diligence and the sweat of our brow. The fact that very few other countries which achieved independence after World War II were able to do this, has earned us broad and genuine respect in Europe. It is something we can be proud of but should not be smug about. We should also know that the admiration and sentiments can change easily if our economic achievements decline.

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Good Governance Second, we are admired for our system of governance, strong and stable institutions, clean government, rule of law and transparency. Undoubtedly, there are some who question our perceived lack of press freedom, form of democracy and tough laws. But even they do not deny our achievements and know that we are rational and pragmatic, though some of our policies may not be to their liking. Moreover, they are aware that our policies and actions are supported by the vast majority of Singaporeans. While they do not believe that Singapore will decline, they know that if we do, then only Singaporeans can restore it. This fact cuts ice with a lot of rational people in the Western world. Thus even if they publicly call for the adoption of Western notions of democracy, as it is the most politically correct thing to do, privately, many will acknowledge that Western democratic norms and ideas cannot be completely transposed by ignoring the specific context of the country. They also readily admit that by the yardstick of fundamental standard of living indicators such as healthcare, jobs, housing, education and security, Singapore has done extremely well in a short span of 42 years.

A Responsible Global Citizen Third, following the experience of World War II, Europeans have a strong instinct (which varies between countries) to eschew military force and use soft power to solve problems, even if they may be idealistic at times. They share a vision to prevent the recurrence of the horrors of World War I & II which they brought upon themselves, and seek to create peace and stability in Europe by working through the EU and other multilateral institutions such as the U.N., IMF and World Bank. European military involvement in territories outside Europe such as Africa, Asia and the Middle East are done

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primarily to help resolve conflicts and contribute to peace-making and peace-keeping. Singapore is seen as a small country which can be strong in defending its interests and sovereignty, but not irrational or impulsive. Singapore can stand its ground when we need to, but can be helpful when the situation demands. Our assistance to our neighbours during crises such as the tsunami, earthquakes and other natural disasters and in a systematic way through our Singapore Cooperation Programme (SCP) to developing countries in Asia, Africa, the Pacific, Caribbean and Latin America help to demonstrate our wider sense of responsibility. Thus, while we may have a perception of being tight-fisted, our prudence is not viewed negatively.

Strategic Long Term Vision Fourth, Singapore is seen as a country which takes the long term perspective. Our European friends are aware that we work closely with our neighbours in ASEAN to promote peace, stability and security in Southeast and the wider East Asia. While we are not a regional heavyweight, we are seen as a small country with big ideas. Not grandiose and unrealistic ones, but practical, longsighted and advanced ideas for the broader interests. Every country seeks to promote its own interests in international relations. We are no exception. Yet we are noted for defining our interests on a wider canvas and not in a narrow sense. Thus when we advance ideas and work to create forums such as the ASEAN+1 dialogue, ASEAN+3, ARF, ASEM, AMED and EAS, they know that Singapore’s interests in using these forums to engage and entrench the major powers in the region, not only serves our own interests but also contributes to the larger regional political, security and economic interests.

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Sharing Ideas Fifth, the EU would like to encourage Singapore and our other ASEAN neighbours in our integration efforts. The EU member states recognise that EU integration helped them achieve 60 years of unprecedented peace and stability in Europe. Thus, any attempt by other regions to replicate the EU model is welcomed. Specifically, ASEAN’s approaches to the EU to borrow ideas in drafting the Eminent Persons Group report and ASEAN Charter were noted. The EU sometimes tends to be impatient in wanting ASEAN to integrate more quickly, or expecting ASEAN countries to evolve into Western-style democracies rapidly. Due to Singapore’s track record in economic development and our contribution in ideas and efforts to promote peace and stability in ASEAN, we enjoy a relatively high degree of credibility and trust that enables us to counsel patience to our EU friends when they judge some of our neighbours, or when we tell the EU that while ASEAN might borrow some ideas from the EU’s integration experience, we cannot or do not wish to completely replicate the EU. If we were a poor country ourselves without a clear larger regional vision, our voice will have carried no weight.

Delivering What We Promise Sixth, Singapore enjoys a reputation for reliability, trustworthiness, hard work and rational decision-making. These qualities differentiate us from many countries in the developing world. While this should not lead to hubris, however admirable these qualities, nevertheless they are important premiums that we have acquired. They are appreciated by German and other European companies, and help to offset our disadvantages of a small domestic market, high rentals and land prices, and increasing wage costs which our other bigger and better endowed neighbours can offer at more attractive terms.

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Businessmen from the EU know that when they invest in Singapore, they have the support of a clean and pragmatic government and a reliable, trustworthy and hardworking populace. While they will have to make the hardnosed business decisions, they appreciate the support we provide by creating an environment which facilitates, and not hinders, their business ventures. An Ambassador of a developing country, which shall remain unnamed, once told me, with some amount of envy: “You are lucky, when German businessmen visit your country, they can immediately see that what you have told them syncs with the reality, and is no exaggeration. But when I promote my country, and the businessmen visit and see the real situation, I lose a lot of credibility with them. They will not believe me the next time”.

Retaining Our Competitiveness Despite these advantages, the world around us is changing. In the 1970s–1990s, our glow was indeed very strong. Europeans who went to Southeast Asia and East Asia, would not miss stopping over in Singapore. In fact, setting up a base in Singapore was an essential prerequisite for a European company to successfully do business in the region. However, today other new stars are emerging with some supported by the advantage of having a big hinterland, such as Shanghai, Mumbai, Bangalore or Hong Kong. Our “little red star” has to therefore compete with the increasing glow coming from these emerging new stars, which are also catching the attraction of European investors. Our challenge is to ensure that we are not completely overshadowed by these new stars, and that instead we continue to reinvent ourselves and strengthen the shine that our “little red star” exudes. In this process of restructuring, we can also learn from our European interlocutors, like the Germans, in the fields of R & D, science, technology and education and how German SMEs have grown to become global leaders in many fields of business, thus making Germany the world’s largest exporter.

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As Singapore is a continuous work in progress, where change and development is a permanent feature, it is necessary for us to constantly update and convey the correct image of Singapore to our European interlocutors. This must be accompanied by a determined effort to ensure that we remain on the radar screen of our major political and economic partners in Europe. So long as our “little red star” continues to shine, we can do this successfully. Singapore Airlines (SIA), a Singapore icon by its emphasis in providing excellent service, has done much to put Singapore on the world map. Having had to compete internationally from the very first day, SIA created a global brand name for itself. Hardly a first conversation is made with a Singapore diplomat in Germany and other European capitals, where praise for SIA’s excellent service is not mentioned. In fact I have experienced some of my contacts, Europeans and non-Europeans, denigrate their own airlines to heap praise on SIA. The commentary usually ends, “if I had a choice, I would rather take SIA”.

Co-ordinated Efforts to Support the Singapore Brand Like SIA, the Singapore brand name gives us a strong advantage in our efforts to ensure that Singapore remains on the radar screen in Europe. Even if we are not in the centre, we must not allow ourselves to be pushed completely off the screen by the other stars. Thus the image our diplomats convey of Singapore must be up-to-date and reflects the actual vibrancy, dynamism and wholesome picture of Singapore. In posts, where more than one government agency is present, this task can be more effectively realised by all our agencies working both independently and collectively as Singapore Inc. to complement the stereotyped perception of Singapore in Europe, as a country with a strong leadership, disciplined workforce, tough laws and clean city, with the new image of Singapore as a great place to

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work, live and play, with a vibrant arts scene, great food, multi-racial and multi-cultural heritage, integrated tourist resorts and Formula One night race. Where possible, we have to encourage our European friends to visit and see Singapore at first hand. When they recognise that the image conveyed matches with the reality, they will return to become mini-Ambassadors for Singapore in their own countries.

Singapore’s Other “Ambassadors” There is yet another constituency, which we can also tap into. These are the Germans/Europeans who have worked and lived in Singapore. Today the German community in Singapore numbers around 6,000. Many of them return home after a three to five year stay in Singapore with their families. They bring back many fond memories of Singapore, and can become the best “Ambassadors” for Singapore in their host country. Just as we reach out to the Singaporean community living overseas, we have, in Germany, reached out to these Germans by setting up ‘Friends of Singapore’ (FOS) Groups in Berlin, Hamburg, Stuttgart and Munich. By keeping the FOS in touch with key developments in Singapore, we can create a natural constituency of opinion moulders and supporters who can help to spread a positive image of Singapore in their country. Unlike bigger countries which have the manpower and resources to be effectively represented throughout a country, Singapore needs to leverage on our brand name and circle of friends/admirers. Ultimately, this combination of ideas, dexterity, reliability, brand name and friends can help to compensate for our small size and lack of strategic weight, in our efforts to promote our foreign and economic policy interests in Europe and beyond.

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From Lan Xang1 to Lac Leman2 Ms. Karen TAN is currently Permanent Representative to the World Trade Organization in Geneva and to the World Intellectual Property Organization. Ms. Tan joined the Foreign Service in 1985. She served as First Secretary in the Singapore Embassy in Paris (1989–1992), and Counsellor and subsequently Deputy Permanent Representative at the Singapore Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York (1997–1999). At the Ministry HQ, she held various appointments including Deputy Director, International Organisations (1994–1995) and Senior Deputy Director in the Policy Planning & Analysis Directorate IV (1996). She became Director of Human Resource from 1999 to 2001. She was appointed Director of Policy, Planning and Analysis Directorate II from 2001 to 2003. She was Singapore’s Ambassador to the Lao People’s Democratic Republic from February 2004 to August 2007. Ms. Tan graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (History) (Honours) in 1985 from the University of London, United Kingdom. In 1993, she obtained a Master of Science in European Studies (with Distinction) from the London School of Economics and Political Science, University of London, United Kingdom.

Being Adapatable

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omeone once remarked to me that “It’s amazing how you guys can just switch and adapt from the first world to the ‘hardship’ environment in Indochina and back so easily.” This is what makes the work in the Foreign Ministry so challenging as well as interesting. In February 2004, I left Singapore for Vientiane on my first Ambassadorial assignment, a bilateral post in a region where I had never served, even though I had covered the Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia (VLC) Desk when I joined the Foreign Ministry in November 1985. It was as if I had come full circle. During my 1

Also known as ‘The Land of a Million Elephants’ Also known as ‘Lake Geneva’

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three and a half year stint in Laos, the host country hosted its first ASEAN Summit and we celebrated the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Laos and Singapore. In September 2007, I assumed the post of Permanent Representative to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). My job would entail taking part in negotiations to conclude the Doha Development Agenda, economic negotiations which I had hitherto never participated nor dealt with. The job and life of a diplomat is a varied one. In the transition from Singapore to Vientiane and then to Geneva in just four years, not only have I had to adapt to totally extreme living conditions, extreme ‘hardship’ in Laos, to perhaps the country with the highest living standards, Switzerland, but also from dealing solely with one country, to dealing with an international organisation with 153 members.

The Land of a Million Elephants I arrived in Vientiane, the capital of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic with some trepidation. One of the five remaining Communist countries in the world, I feared that my every movement would be monitored and reported on. As the post was designated “extreme hardship”, I also wondered, rather belatedly, if I had made a mistake in volunteering to become Singapore’s third Ambassador to Laos. My initial concerns were unfounded and I was instead greeted with unparalleled warmth, friendliness and collegial working environment. There were also many opportunities for Singapore to boost its political, economic and social links with what had hitherto been an inward-looking country. Early on, I was able to experience first-hand, the impact of our technical assistance programmes conducted under the aegis of the Singapore Cooperation Programme (SCP) which is administered

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by the Foreign Ministry. The fact that I could speak to many Lao Ministers and senior officials was thanks to our decision several years earlier, when Laos joined ASEAN, to invite selected groups of Lao officials to Singapore for intensive English language training. Not only did they learn English during their three months’ stay in Singapore, they also got to know Singapore well. More than half of the current Lao cabinet have spent some time in Singapore to hone their English skills, a point which was consistently made throughout my stay in Laos.

Technical Assistance and Beyond Besides these English courses conducted in Singapore, we had also set up the Lao-Singapore Training Centre (LSTC) in November 2001 under the Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI) in Vientiane. I was to spend most of my Friday afternoons in Laos presenting certificates to groups of 20–30 Lao officials who had participated in courses at the LSTC ranging from English, speech-writing, and note-taking, to basic IT skills, tourism services, SME development, healthcare, and WTO accession. It is through these courses that I met and interacted with a myriad of officials from across the Lao civil service as well as the wide cross-section of Singaporeans who had come to Laos to impart their knowledge to these willing and grateful students. These courses proved to be a concrete and effective way for Singapore to assist the Lao to build up their knowledge and capacity. We were gradually able to rope in other countries and partners, such as Australia, France, Japan, the European Commission, and the UNDP to cooperate with us in extending this training to a broad spectrum of areas. For example, with the UNDP and legal expertise from Singapore’s National University of Singapore (NUS), we collaborated with the Lao National Parliament and the Ministry of Justice to translate the Lao constitution and national laws into

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English. Some clarity and certainty in Lao laws was crucial in foreign businesses’ decision to invest in Laos. We are often asked to quantify the returns on our SCP outlay. The goodwill that we have gained cannot be put in terms of dollars and cents, but the many unsolicited words of gratitude are concrete examples of the positive impact that these courses have had on Laos and its building of human capacity. In addition to the more formal and organised technical assistance, Laos was also the recipient of many volunteer groups from Singapore, some supported by the Singapore International Foundation (SIF), such as the doctors and nurses who would come to perform cleft lip operations or work in the National Rehabilitation Centre. There were also young volunteers who would take time off from their school holidays to build schools, teach English, IT, maths and science to primary school children, in the process creating bonds of friendship and understanding between our two countries. This was a real eyeopener for me as our youth have often been described as spoilt and materialistic. Whenever I met these volunteers over tea in the Embassy, I would always tell them that they were all Ambassadors of Singapore!

Cultural Diplomacy Laos also allowed me to pursue my personal passion for the arts. Unlike Vietnam, Cambodia and Myanmar, Laos is not well known for its artists. However, I was to experience a visual overdose when I arrived — through their intricate silk textiles, wood carvings, ornate temples and rich traditions. I was keen to use art and culture to promote closer bilateral relations between Singapore and Laos. Through this pursuit, I met weavers, artists and craftsmen, mostly Lao, but also some foreigners who had settled in Laos to fully immerse themselves into Lao culture and society. Through art, music and dance, we can learn a great deal about a country and its people.

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While networking at the political and official levels is a given in our daily work, we should not ignore the importance of having a wide range of contacts in the economic and cultural fields. Networking not only means knowing and meeting people, it also means building trust and friendships. This cannot be done overnight and requires an investment of one’s time and effort. Time, to make it a point to attend official and social functions, even those over the weekends such as weddings and dinners, and picking up a new sport, in my case, golf. At these social functions, it was imperative that you be a sport and dance and sing, like the other guests. Often, because you are an Ambassador, you are treated like a special guest and you are often given the special honour of having the first dance. Imagine my horror when I was asked by the groom for the first dance at the first Lao wedding I was invited to. Many weddings and official dinners later, I can safely say that I have mastered the different steps and styles of Lao traditional lamvong and even the more quick-paced baselop, a dance akin to line-dancing. While I may have picked up the lamvong without too much embarrassment and effort, picking up golf was less straightforward. Having been “instructed” by my higher authorities to learn golf when I assumed post in Vientiane as many Lao leaders, including then Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, were keen golfers, I spent many of my first evenings in Vientiane at the driving range, making it to the golf course three months later, only to realise that there must be easier ways to spend four uninterrupted hours with the Lao Foreign Minister! Needless to say, I had my good and bad days on the golf course, more bad than good, since I have many trophies proclaiming me the “Most Intelligent Player”, but all in the interests of duty, honour and country.

Lac Leman Thankfully, golf was not on my “Must Do” list when I arrived in Geneva. The pace of work is not yours for the making and I was

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thrust into the hustle and bustle of multilateral life and negotiations once I set foot in this beautiful city, the home of the WTO. As seasoned MFA officers, we make the move from post to post as we were told. While the logistics are smooth and problem-free, it often takes time to adjust to our new life. Even though I was moving from one small land-locked country, to another, the transition from Third World to First, particularly, is not as easy as one would imagine. If anything, I had gotten used to excellent French cuisine at a fraction of the price in Geneva. I was shocked when confronted with a small bowl of soup for the price of a whole meal in Vientiane. I could not bring myself to eat in a restaurant in Geneva for nearly three weeks. Then there were the adjustments to the way things are done here. Also, there could not be a greater contrast between the boh peang yang (never mind) attitude of the Lao, and the rigidity of the Swiss. On the professional front, adjusting to multilateral work proved even more challenging. Not having the benefit of having worked on a international trade policy, I had to learn a whole new set of acronyms and technical terms. In the negotiations on Non-Agricultural Market Access (NAMA), alone, I filled up half a notebook in which I had dutifully jotted down WTO jargon which was all new to me. I also walked into the world of intellectual property rights and a highly politicised environment in WIPO where a group of countries were seeking to oust the incumbent Director-General. As I write this after I left Laos, the Doha negotiations broke down and we will be resuming work to see what of the Round can be salvaged. WIPO also confirmed the election of its new Director-General in September. Much has happened in the past 12 months.

Keeping up with Change This change of pace is the norm in the life of a Foreign Service Officer. We learn to adjust and to adapt. Some find this life of

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constant change difficult, I, on the other hand, have enjoyed this itinerant and varied lifestyle which has given me great professional satisfaction as well as an opportunity to live and appreciate a host of different cultures, societies and peoples. In this increasingly globalised world, forging friendships and promoting understanding are key to our job. Each assignment we are sent on brings new challenges for each of us and new opportunities for Singapore.

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Lessons From Multilateral Diplomacy Ms. TAN Yee Woan is currently Singapore’s Ambassador to Cambodia. She was with IBM Singapore from 1986–1989, before joining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from June 1989. Ms. Tan was previously posted to Singapore’s Permanent Missions to the United Nations in Geneva (April 1992–May 1995) and in New York (January 2000–January 2003). Within Singapore, her assignments in the Ministry included stints at the Western Europe and Economic Policy portfolio in the Policy, Planning and Analysis Directorate II, Human Resources Directorate, and International Organisations Directorate. Ms. Tan graduated with a Bachelor of Social Science (Honours II Upper) from the National University of Singapore in 1986. In 1996, she obtained a Master in Politics of World Economy (with Distinction) from the University of London, London School of Economics and Political Science, United Kingdom. Ms. Tan was awarded the Public Administration Medal (Bronze) in 1999.

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or the greater part of my career in MFA, be it in Singapore or at overseas postings, I have been dealing with multilateral work in United Nations, GATT, G77, Commonwealth, NAM etc. My simple observations below are derived mainly from the course of my multilateral work which I believe are also relevant for bilateral assignments.

Be Prepared for Long Meetings You can never be certain when your next meal will be. Usually there is a deadline that must be observed during multilateral negotiations, after which the negotiations will be declared a success or failure. Sometimes there is little choice but for the meetings to enter into overtime and overdrive, over a period that could stretch from a few days to a few weeks. When a lot of work remains to be done, the breaks, if any, also tend to be short, sometimes very short.

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Knowing When to Adjourn Some chairpersons presiding over multilateral negotiations engage in the tactic of keeping people in the meeting room without any breaks, with the hope of forcing difficult compromises out of sheer hunger and fatigue on the part of the delegates. My personal view is that this is a dangerous tactic which runs a high risk of backfiring. A hungry man is an angry man, and an angry man is irrational. Being also exhausted and tired compounds matters. I recall one incident in the 1990s when I was at a GATT negotiation in Geneva in the lead up to the conclusion of the Uruguay Round of trade negotiations. It was approaching or a little past midnight, and we had been negotiating non-stop since afternoon. In the middle of an exchange between two delegations, to everyone’s shock, the Ambassador of one of the parties threw a cup across the room in a fit of anger at the negotiator from the other delegation. Fortunately, no one was hurt; it was a paper cup which had held some water. Sensing that no progress could be made by prolonging the meeting any further, our then Ambassador to Geneva, Mr. K. Kesavapany, wisely proposed that we called it a day. This was warmly welcomed by the other delegations. The Chairperson acquiesced, I suspect with relief, as it presented a way out for himself and everyone else from a dynamite and awkward situation. Incidentally, another of my take-aways from that incident is that invariably, a diplomat will come to regret such acts of violence. The reputation of the Ambassador who threw the cup plummeted, and he went around looking sheepish for a long while after that. Though I cannot remember what it was that we were negotiating at the time, I do not think that I will forget the Ambassador who lost his temper in such a physical way, or his nationality.

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Mrs. Kesavapany’s Food Delivery I recall several occasions when Mrs. Padmini Kesavapany, the spouse of Ambassador Kesavapany, prepared food for the Embassy staff which the driver would take to us at the GATT building. The fried rice came in colourful tupperware containers. It was a most welcome and heartwarming sight. Some delegates from other countries made do with only a hot drink and a smoke, while some of the other more fortunate ones were able to grab a sandwich. When the Singapore delegation devoured our home-cooked meal at the delegate’s lounge at the GATT, the delicious whiff and our delighted faces made us the envy of all the other hungry delegates. Occasionally, we shared the food with a couple of other foreign delegates. We were quite gleeful, and immensely grateful to Mrs. Kesavapany for providing us with a good hot meal during the short breaks back then.

Kishore’s Roster Duty Another veteran and distinguished diplomat, my then Ambassador in New York, Mr. Kishore Mahbubani, also insisted that his staff made time for meals and rest, no matter how short. It was in 2000 and it was approaching Christmas Eve, the real guillotine time before the U.N. went into recess. The negotiations over a new set of assessment rates for countries’ contributions to the U.N.’s budget continued to be deadlocked. The negotiations went into overdrive. Ambassador Mahbubani decided to enlist the help of other staff at the Mission and to divide us into teams, one each for the day and night shifts. This turned out to be a wise decision, as in the final leg, the meeting continued overnight and ended at about 2 pm the following day. Although the Singapore delegation was tired, we were able to keep sufficiently alert so as to effectively defend and advance our national interests.

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Emergency Food Supply When I attend multilateral meetings, I usually carry with me a small stash of what I call “emergency food supply”, which translates into bars of individually-wrapped chocolate, or muesli. When my energy level is low, and I am unable to have a proper meal, I snack on these, discreetly. I also find that some sliced American ginseng in the mouth helps me to stay alert and last longer during the bouts of intense and long negotiations.

Dress Comfortably It would not do to look sloppy. Looking professional does not have to engender physical discomfort. This is fortunate, as my tolerance for constrictive clothing is inversely proportional to age. I am less irritable when I am attired comfortably. For aesthetic reasons, many ladies find it very hard to stay away from heels. But I believe that it is a trade-off worth making some times. When you need to sit down for most of the time, blood circulation is already potentially impaired and you really do not want to exacerbate things by wearing tight fitting clothes and shoes. If you need to run around, it also calls for comfortable attire, especially shoes.

Sex For Information I recall a career talk at the National University of Singapore in 1997, at which I was a speaker representing MFA. An undergraduate asked if it was true that lady FSOs slept with foreign contacts in order to extract information! At that time, I was already eight years in the Foreign Service and I remember being taken aback by the question. While there are some occupational hazards and rewards that come with being a diplomat, sex for information is certainly not one of them. I think that such wrong impressions as to what diplomats did

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stemmed from the fact that in those days there were even fewer senior Singaporean women diplomats and therefore impressions of what we did were informed by lurid movies and novels which were remote from day-to-day realities. Anyway, my reply then, which continues to be valid today, was that if an FSO chose to sleep with someone other than his or her spouse, and in the process obtained information relevant to the job, do not blame it on the job. Whom someone sleeps with is the person’s own lifestyle choice, and has nothing whatsoever to do with the requirements of the job. In fact, as official representatives of the Singapore Government overseas, our actions and behaviour should be exemplary and should not bring the country into disrepute or compromise the Embassy.

Are Women Given Preferential Treatment? Some of my male colleagues feel that women diplomats enjoy operational advantages especially when working in Western societies. They feel that most male Westerners are more tolerant and accommodating towards women than they would be of men under similar circumstances. While I find that gentlemen tend to be more courteous and less prone to expletives in the presence of ladies, I do not think that it results in any sustained and substantive advantage in terms of helping a lady diplomat become more effective in defending and advancing national interests. Universally, there is low tolerance for fools and buffoons regardless of gender. Gender, like any other attribute, can help or be a hindrance under different circumstances and situations. My own view is that by and large, a diplomat’s effectiveness on the job is gender neutral. The happy state of affairs that being a woman is generally not a disadvantage in the diplomatic service, can be attributed to the increasing global acceptance that women should be considered as individuals in their own right, and are equally capable and competent as men in most fields if given equal opportunities.

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Learning, Teamwork and Management for Success Mr. TAN York Chor is currently Singapore’s Permanent Representative to the U.N. and other international organisations in Geneva, and to the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna. Since joining the Civil Service in 1985, he has worked in various capacities in the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), including at the Singapore Embassies in Paris (1991–1993) and Bangkok (1993–1994), and the Singapore High Commission in Canberra (1997–1999). He served as a Deputy Director in MFA’s Southeast Asia Directorate (2000–2002) and Senior Deputy Director for North America and Europe (2002). From 2002 to 2005, he was concurrently Deputy High Commissioner in the Singapore High Commission to Canada and Deputy Permanent Representative in Singapore’s Permanent Mission to the U.N. Deputy in New York. He was MFA’s Director of International Economics in 2006, concurrently, till May 2007, Director of Europe and from April to November 2007, Director of International Organisations.

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count myself honoured and privileged to have had the opportunity, over the years, to work for Singapore in various capacities as well as in a wide range of different situations overseas, exposing me to an interesting spread of experiences. These include participating in the Paris Conference on Cambodia in 1989; in our national effort to launch the Asia-Europe Meeting in 1995–1996, and post-2000, to seal the U.S.-Singapore Free Trade Agreement; and in many U.N.related meetings to protect and advance Singapore’s interests, and many campaigns for Singapore’s candidatures or bids to host major events.1 On various occasions, I had the fortune to work with some 1

Other “highlights” of my career include the painful year-long negotiations to develop the outcome of the 2005 U.N. Summit; witnessing up close and first-hand major international developments as they unfurled (e.g., in the U.N. Security Council in the lead-up to the 2003 Iraq War); and exposure to the heated tussle over U.N. reform, in particular, over the proposal to expand the Security Council to include new permanent members. 137

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of our first generation diplomats, in the process, learning from them. I have also been posted in Canberra and New York, where access was easy to many good seminars and conferences to hear and learn from leading world authorities on emerging global issues. All said, however, my experiences as a third generation Singapore diplomat pale before those of our pioneers in diplomacy, who started with little or nothing, but managed to establish Singapore as a serious, balanced and credible voice on relevant important matters in international and regional fora. I salute their worthy accomplishments and commend their sharing of their recollections for all future Singapore diplomats. Beyond the good work done by our pioneers, Singapore’s economic and overall success today translates into global brand recognition, often accompanied by a positive disposition towards Singapore and a curiosity in people that helps to open doors. This makes it easier for us to enlist attention when we seek to put across a point.

Modern Jack of All Trades or Master of Diplomacy? What foreign affairs is about — making friends, making our stand, and seizing and creating opportunities in the global market of ideas, principles and interests in international relations to enhance Singapore’s economic and political relevance and space — has not changed much from the time of our pioneers. However, Singapore’s relations with many countries in ASEAN, as well as many beyond our immediate region, in particular, in South Asia (e.g., India), the Middle East (e.g., the Gulf States), the Magreb and Latin America, have deepened and widened significantly compared to even just 10 years ago. Moreover, in today’s post-Cold War globalised world, the scope of MFA’s work has also become much wider as well as more complex. We need to take into account many new variables and dynamics, not least the many new non-State actors including the civil society.

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As issues become increasingly cross-cutting, MFA’s work today is about virtually everything. From helping our economic agencies to promote Singapore in relation to tourism, trade and investment, to working with them in the WTO or on free trade agreements, we have progressively worked with other Singapore agencies on a host of issues that our earlier diplomats were hardly concerned with in the past. These include international security (e.g., counter-terrorism, counter-proliferation, nuclear safety, supply chains security, piracy), bioethics (e.g., stem cells and cloning), public health (e.g., avian influenza), intellectual property, migrants, energy, environment (e.g., haze, deforestation), climate change and interfaith issues. The preceding list is not exhaustive, as these are just some of the issues that have crossed my path in the last few years. Faced with this broad spread of challenging issues, how we manage our approach to people, to information and learning becomes quite important. Our success in diplomacy would not lie in MFA officers becoming masters of all these issues. Apart from possibly having one or two in-house experts on very specific key issues, it would be redundant for MFA to duplicate expertise that should reside in relevant agencies and we would only end up burdening our officers in unproductive pursuits. Rather, on major complex global issues that could involve sophisticated negotiations, our success would lie in MFA officers being able to quickly learn a bare minimum about the issues that they deal with so as to be able to intelligently monitor and report on developments, discern the game plan of the relevant players, and then work with our agencies and consultants on how to best strategise and position ourselves to look after Singapore’s overall interests. MFA has realised that it is only by focusing on the big picture that MFA will continue to be able to cope and to provide its value-add, putting its know-how and skills in diplomatic manoeuvring and footwork to good effect, and guiding the national team effort to success. MFA has also recognised that diplomacy, at the most basic level, is no longer the preserve of foreign ministries. To enhance other ministries’ ability to pursue their own diplomacy

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on most issues that are directly relevant to their work, MFA has been working with various ministries to assist them in establishing or building up their own international relations units. The importance of teamwork cannot be overstated. In my recent experiences, this has often been the greatest challenge. Diplomacy begins at home. MFA will need to keep its own act together, and beyond that, to foster teamwork with and among our agencies so that, together, we will work off the same page and not at crosspurposes. It would not reflect well on us and in our endeavours to show up any division before our foreign counterparts. Worst of all, running down one’s staff before foreigners would earn us no respect — quite the contrary — as a few of our old-school seniors would have realised.

Importance of Self-Learning, Innovation, and Management Singapore’s key asset for success has been its people — the same can be said of MFA, and it will be even more so in the future. In this highly mobile modern world, I foresee that MFA will increasingly need passionate, hence highly-committed, people who are capable of quickly sieving through oceans of available inputs for nuggets of relevant information, officers who are highly agile and able to learn new issues and adapt to new environments. We will also need them to be highly creative, since Singapore’s interests as a global city are unique and will require a diplomacy that knows no modern precedent. At the same time, they will need to be team-players. These are already some of the key attributes that MFA recruiters have been looking for. The corollary to wanting good people is that how we manage staff will need to keep pace so that we can retain them. First, having experienced a number of good supervisors, who had given me space to develop and to prove myself, I have similarly in turn encouraged

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my co-workers to be independent and self-motivated professionals, and have accorded to each of them space as appropriate to their growth and stage of career. For older colleagues, we also need to accord them due respect, draw on their experience and make them feel that their work continues to be valued. Second, it is commendable that MFA, as an organisation, has, overall, become more enlightened in caring for the well-being of our staff (and their families where applicable). MFA has made huge strides in this area even if the progress has not always been in a smooth straight line. Third, MFA already has a fairly open culture and good degree of transparency. Over time, the performance of all MFA staff, both in Headquarters and overseas, in delivering work results as well as in management, becomes quite apparent to all. Still, it is very human and ever too easy to be subjective, so supervisors need to consciously avoid favouritism for meritocracy to prevail as a fair basis for rewards and advancement. Regrettably, for reasons beyond MFA’s control, the pace of promotion still cannot meet the expectations of all good performers, causing a degree of disappointment in delayed promotions. To have good people and a well-functioning organisation also means that our managers must have the courage to level with and see off those who slip through the selection process and turn out to be clear misfits, by their serious lack of basic abilities or real interest in MFA work. Whenever this unpleasant duty befalls me, I have always been philosophical that an early separation is in the best interests of both the ministry and the concerned staff, some of whom have gone on to do well in other careers. Due recognition and appropriate rewards for good work must go to all MFA staff — not just to those working at the political “frontlines”, but also all working in functional areas (e.g., public affairs, corporate affairs, human resource, consular, protocol, technical cooperation, information management including our librarians and registry personnel), and in secretarial, technical or directorate support roles well away from the limelight. The latter’s

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work are no less crucial to the overall success of MFA. I, therefore, join others before me like Ambassadors Ong Keng Yong and Philip Eng, in wholeheartedly saluting these unsung heroes, heroines and their contributions. Finally, also critical to our success is the understanding and support of our families for what is, without any doubt for them, a highly disruptive nomadic life that they have to undergo and try to live. Each posting and de-posting can be quite an ordeal for them, even while we, faithful civil servants, focus on completing our ongoing work and prepare to hit the ground running to our next post or destination. The sacrifices of our loved ones would be worthy of many National Day Awards. Perhaps an effort will be undertaken to also collate their views for another book based on their experiences on the “home front”.

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A Day in the Life of a Symphony Mr. Michael TAY is the Executive Director of the APEC Secretariat. He served as Singapore’s Ambassador to Russia from 2003 to 2008. He commissioned Vladimir Martynov, one of the foremost Russian composers of his generation, to compose a symphony on Singapore. During those years, he also started the Russia-Singapore Business Forum that has become the only international business platform where the Russian business elite engage the world.

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hy “Singapore. A Geopolitical Utopia”? It was a question I asked Vladimir Martynov, an acclaimed Russian composer. His answer was both profound and simple. Singapore was more an idea than a country, an emblem of the future rather than a manifestation of the present. In the symphony he composed, he included the text of the Dao De Jing1 as the basis of a Russian orthodox chant: “the way (dao) that can be described is not the Way (Dao)”.

The Philosopher of Music It began as a step into the unknown. In 2003, I went to a concert premiere of Martynov’s opera called “New Life”. Held in the newly built Moscow International House of Music, a glass-domed hall with a giant G-clef atop it, this was choral music that lifted one to another level of spirituality. According to Martynov, also known as a philosopher of music who has declared the “death of the composer”, music is no longer about inventing a new genre or a doctrine of

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Also known as The Book of The Way it is a key work of Chinese philosophy, written by Lao Tzu. This text forms the basis of Taoism. 143

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music. One new purpose of music was to create a new sacred space within which musicians, the music and the listeners could connect and interact at a different level. When I decided to meet Martynov a few weeks later, it was part passion and part courage that motivated me. I wanted to take the measure of the man, to ascertain if he would descend into the land of mortals to write music for me. I waited outside the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall, apprehensive that I would meet this austere, other-worldly man who would not find my proposition appealing. I was afraid that he would find Singapore too small a notion or commitment. I was happily surprised, for what I found in him was not austerity but an earthy Russian warmth and humility, completely untainted by the commercialism of the Western classical recording industry. I had raised no funds for the commission, I said to him, but I needed to know if he was open to composing a piece of music on Singapore. Martynov was open and in fact intrigued. He would await my next approach.

Size Did Not Matter It was almost a year later that I saw Martynov again. This time, I had raised enough sponsorship and funds to send him to Singapore. He was thrilled. Over the next few months, I met him many times to talk to him about Singapore, about whom he should meet, and of course, what kind of music he “should” try to write. In an act lacking in faith and poor in ambition, I asked him to consider writing a string quartet. I had envisaged a work on the small-scale because I myself thought of Singapore as small and why would a major composer from a musical civilisation like Russia take that leap. Also, I felt the constraint of funds. I did not anticipate that in his own impressions of Singapore, he would look upon our small country as representing something far bigger and grander. When he

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returned from Singapore in March 2005, he told me, in his usual calm and reflective self, that he could not conscionably write a string quartet, or even a chamber work. It had to be a symphony. What he saw in Singapore was not a tiny city-state, but an idea that would have repercussions far beyond its physical size. He felt that the kind of communist utopia that the Soviet Union had tried to construct was flawed from the beginning, as the truth of the utopian ideal was not found in any predetermined end-state. It was the striving, the constant searching for the “Truth” or perhaps the “Dao”, the never-ending regenerative process that defined “utopia”. Singapore, for him, epitomised this “geopolitical utopia”. What Singapore did and was doing had geopolitical consequences and that put Singapore on the map of any future world. I was very persuaded by his profound understanding of Singapore and touched by his premonitions about our future. He had already experienced one attempt at Utopia. He was a man who had personally suffered from the repressive atmosphere of state-defined art.

Utopia Presented On 5 October 2005, “SINGAPORE” the sympony was premiered in the exalted Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow, with an audience of more than 1,500, with close to 60 journalists attending. In the next few days, there were eight concert reviews in all the major newspapers in Russia. All positive, they posed an underlying question: why was a small country like Singapore raising funds to support one of their major composers and to commission a new symphonic work, a rarity in modern Russia. At that point, I understood that what began as a music and cultural project had turned into something bigger than its original conception. We had crossed boundaries, and had virtually leapt into a space blurring the usual meaning of diplomacy.

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Cultural Diplomacy or A Diplomat of Culture Hence, this has not been a story about diplomacy as we know it. Diplomacy and diplomats are used to functioning in the rarified world of grand strategy, of inter-state relations, of geopolitics. Once upon a time, in the old world, where messages and information were couriered by hand, on horseback, across oceans, the Ambassador held enormous power in his hands. He was the Plenipotential, the man who could counter-declare war and act solely for the interest of the state he represented, often using only his judgement and relying on the confidence of his country or his Royalty. He could ride with Kings, fete with the confidants of Royalty, engineer final solutions that affected the real ties between empires and states. That was the old world diplomat. In our modern age, the meaning of diplomacy has changed, quite fundamentally and irreversibly. Today, leaders can communicate at ease when they choose to; when news spread to policy makers instantly; when borders have become porous to business, technology, tourism; and technology diminishes and erases the mental distance between people. In an age of democracies and popular votes, where leaders do not rule as kings but as imperfect aggregates of the desire and aspirations of the people, it is no longer the exercise and demonstration of raw influence and power that infects people to excel and exceed themselves. It is the soft side of power that counts, as technology creates proximity and globalisation magnifies our connectedness. So, what is a diplomat? I will always remember something that Martynov said to me in the course of our many conversations about music and life. He told me, almost warned me, that the project we were about to embark on would generate ripples far beyond our individual lives and perhaps even beyond the histories of our nations. We would not be able to see it now, at that moment, but it would happen. I really did not understand him then. But today, I think I do. For what emerged after the commissioning of the symphony

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has been a range of initiatives that has drawn a great empire closer to a small city-state — from Singapore’s work with Russia on their Special Economic Zones, to the successful Russia-Singapore Business Forums that have become the only international businessto-business platform engaging Russian business.

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Would I Choose MFA Again? Mr. WONG Kwok Pun joined the Singapore Foreign Service in 1975 and is currently the Singapore Ambassador to Egypt, with concurrent accreditation to Qatar and Kuwait. He served as Director (Special Duties) Middle East Directorate from 2005–2006, as Director/Directorate 4 from 2002–2005. His other ambassadorial posts were to India between 1999 to 2002, and Ambassador to the Kingdom of Thailand from January 1995 to December 1998. He was Director/ASEAN from 1993 to 1994. From 1991 to 1993, he headed the Information, Management and Research Directorate. He served as the Deputy Chief of Mission in Tokyo from 1988 to 1991, and in Manila from December 1984 to February 1988. He started as Second Secretary (Economics) and was later promoted to First Secretary at the Singapore Embassy in Washington D.C.

D

iplomacy was not my first career choice. I had wanted to follow the footsteps of my father to be a businessman. My father was a self-made man with little formal education but, he was fluent in Mandarin, Malay and several Chinese dialects. He also picked up skills in draughtsmanship and carpentry, designed and built his own bungalow, a cinema hall and a medium-size construction business. Unfortunately, his weakness in the English language and modern finance limited the growth of the company and eventually became its undoing. I too wanted to start my own company but family obligations persuaded me to choose a less risky path. Hence, after graduating from Singapore University and completing my national service, I joined the private sector. I got bored after two and a half years working to push up sales and profits, and decided to respond to a Public Service Commission (PSC) recruitment advertisement. The Singapore civil service was not considered then as a preferred employer, but I was interested in joining MFA as it had a commercial service (or trade-promotion) arm. I was always keen to build something and felt that MFA could offer me the opportunity to 149

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help build up the Singapore brand and its market share abroad. That, I thought, would be sufficiently exciting and might even provide me useful experience and contacts should I decide to start my own business. After an interview with PSC, I was offered a job with MFA. On 25 August 1975, I started my first day at City Hall.

Interest in Trade and Diplomacy It was not difficult settling into MFA. MFA was one of the smallest Ministries and I got to know everyone soon enough. There was a deep sense of camaraderie which meant a lot to me. I started with the Regional & Economic (R&E) Department and had to learn the trade on the job. Fortunately, I had Mr. Lee Chiong Giam as the Director and he was extremely patient with the new officers. After three months in MFA, I was put to the real test. I was instructed to be the note-taker for a courtesy call by a South African business leader on then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. I recall asking my more experienced colleagues for advice and some took the opportunity to shake up a “newbie”. Putting on a brave front, I told them that the teasing would not work, and that they could wish me either “good luck or good-bye”. I knew that I passed the test when I was asked again to take notes for the then Prime Minister Lee. However, I did not stay in R&E for long. A few months later, I learned that the commercial service arm had been moved out of MFA to the Department of Trade, Ministry of Finance. I requested and got a transfer to the Trade Department at Fullerton Building. My new colleagues at the Trade Department were friendly and warm but I had not expected the regulatory mindset. It was rightly so that their priorities lay with the prevention of smuggling and profiteering, food security and to maintain a trade database. Profiling Singapore’s brand name was a new responsibility for the Department. While I had the opportunity to assist in a couple of trade missions, I soon became bored with the emphasis on regulation. It was on a mission to Japan that I met Chiong Giam again and he offered me the economic

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post in Washington D.C. In March 1977, my chance to help push Singapore products into the world’s largest economy began.

Washington D.C., 1977–1982 The U.S. was Singapore’s main trading partner. Singapore enjoyed tariff-free access under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) programme and the Multi-Fibre Agreement. The U.S. and other First World countries provided these trade concessions to encourage economic and industrial growth in Third World countries, to counter the Communist threat. The fear that poverty and hopelessness would encourage support for communist movements was real. But soon after I arrived in Washington, a crisis in the U.S. economy started and trade protectionism (as well as human rights) was gaining currency in U.S. foreign policy. I recalled noting for the first time the concept of “a level-playing field” in trade relations at a Congressional Ways and Means Committee hearing. The U.S. was no longer willing to expand its economic assistance to all developing countries and existing concessions to the more successful economies were being reviewed.

Singapore Orchids for America I spent much of my time with officials at the State Department, Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), Department of Commerce and Capitol Hill defending the need for Singapore to retain existing benefits while pleading for higher textiles quotas. The most gratifying moment of all was when my proposal that cut orchids be added into the GSP programme was approved. The idea came to me one day as I was running through the U.S.-GSP list when I was surprised to find out that cut flowers were not entitled to duty-free entry. Orchid exports from Singapore were doing well then. I went to see a State Department official and he explained that there were

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rose growers in Hawaii who feared competition from Israel. I told him that I was interested only in orchids, which was not grown in the U.S. I suggested that if the category could be split up into “Roses” and “Other flowers”, and “Other flowers” be given GSP treatment, both our needs would be taken care of. He agreed with my idea and advised me to file a petition to the USTR Office, something I had not done before. After seeking the advice of my USTR contacts, the approval of Ambassador Punch Coomaraswamy and relevant information from our Department of Trade, I drafted and submitted a petition. I did not realise that there could be others sharing a similar interest until a Washington lawyer called and identified himself as representing Interflora. At a USTR public hearing, I argued that opening up the cut flowers market would create jobs and wealth in Singapore and other developing countries, and that in turn would benefit the U.S. through exports of high-end products like machinery and airplanes. Several weeks later, the Washington law office held a small party to celebrate our success. Our orchid industry (and air freight companies) blossomed until rising wages pushed the industry out to neighbouring countries.

Impressions of America My first overseas posting was enriching and educational. I got a first hand view of American political and economic dynamics and left with a firm impression that few nations could match the U.S. in individual creativity and technological innovation. I also learned first hand the importance of the consumer to the American economy. Coming from Singapore where thrift was valued, I wrongly presumed that the absence of a credit history would be positively regarded. Thus, I was puzzled when my application for a credit card and a bridging car loan was turned down. Fortunately, a friend at the Riggs National Bank was able to help me overcome this obstacle by giving me a small initial loan (which I did not need and repaid

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the following week) just to build up a credit history. This was my introduction to American Economics 101. Throughout my five year stay, I would consistently cringe at the wasteful consumption of the society. But, that also drove the economy to greater heights and more importantly, it powered the global economy. The jury is still out on whether this is sustainable.

Tribute to Punch Coomaraswamy The time I spent in R&E and in Washington Mission was perhaps the most important in terms of anchoring myself to a career in MFA. I had a couple of opportunities to return to the private sector but owed it to Chiong Giam and Ambassador Coomaraswamy (as well as then Deputy Chief of Mission Peter Chan) that I remained with MFA. They provided quality leadership and were men of humility and humanity. My admiration for them (as well as my marriage and new family obligations) persuaded me to stay with MFA. I felt that I belonged there. I remember Ambassador Coomaraswamy to be tough and demanding, but he did not demand anymore that he was unable to do himself. He even learned to use the encryption machine and at times toiled in the basement to de-crypt messages. Most of all, he was a fair, honest and caring boss. What I appreciated most was that Ambassador Coomaraswamy gave me room to decide on my agenda and schedule. It was a vote of confidence, which was sufficient reason for me to try even harder. It was with his encouragement that I decided to take a brief sabbatical for my postgraduate studies at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. Ambassador Coomaraswamy became my role model.

Manila, 1984–1988 I am not sure if it is a fortune or a curse for diplomats to live in interesting times. In Washington, I was shocked to see how a

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powerful nation lost a key ally in Iran and became paralysed as its diplomats in Tehran were held hostage. Personally, I witnessed an even more turbulent event in my next posting — Manila. After a two-year stint back at HQ, I was sent to Manila as Number Two to Ambassador Aziz Mahmood. Like my previous bosses, Aziz gave me much room to set my agenda. When I arrived in Manila on Boxing Day in December 1984, the popular game in town was to guess whether President Ferdinand Marcos was still alive. He had been out of public view for more than three months. Speculations of his death were quickly silenced when on 1 January 1985, Manila dailies carried front-page photographs of Marcos in bed reading the previous day’s edition of one major daily. But, his presence was no longer sufficient to calm the nation. The assassination of Senator Benigno Aquino in August 1983 had set off a political ferment and there was no turning back until the Marcos regime was ended. The clamour for political change was felt right across the nation. Almost everyone I spoke to (businessmen, government officials, military commanders and the church) had lost confidence in the regime. The economy was on a downward spiral and the mood from Manila to Baguio, from Cebu to Cagayan de Oro to Zamboanga City was similarly despondent.

The End of the Marcos Regime A political crisis developed rapidly in February 1986 when the snap elections called by Marcos led to an impasse. Both Marcos and his rival, Mrs. Corazon Aquino, had claimed victory. The National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL), an accredited election watchdog, supported Mrs. Aquino’s claim while international observers reported widespread rigging by Marcos’ supporters. In the build-up to the elections, my first-born (Nicholas) arrived. I returned to Singapore for his birth and returned to Manila as quickly as I could. It was a gruelling four weeks as my colleagues and I

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monitored the news, attended political rallies, visited the polling and counting stations, talked to officials and politicians from both camps, obtained readings from journalists and exchanged information with fellow diplomats. Where necessary, I would put up situation reports and tried to get them to HQ before the next day started. With adrenalin all pumped up, I was not aware of the strain and stress my body was undergoing. For almost four weeks, my office sofa was my bed. I was not the only one as there were hundreds of thousands of people watching Philippine history unfold.

People Power The beginning of the end for the Marcos regime came on Saturday afternoon of 22 February 1986. I was alerted by the duty officer in HQ about a wire agency report on an impending crackdown against anti-Marcos elements in the military. The chief targets were Defence Minister Juan Ponce Enrile, Armed Forces Vice-Chief Fidel Ramos and the members of RAM (Reform the Armed Forces Movement). They were suspected of planning a coup. Upon receiving word of their impending arrest, Enrile and Ramos moved swiftly. Later that afternoon, they held a press conference and renounced their allegiance to Marcos. Enrile and RAM members were holed up in Camp Aguinaldo and Ramos in Camp Crame. Both camps were situated along EDSA1. That evening, our Defence Attaché Peter Stuart and I decided to visit Ramos in Camp Crame. EDSA had been sealed off to vehicular traffic and there were several curious onlookers strolling along the highway outside the camps. We had no problem entering Camp Crame and Peter led the way to Ramos’ office. As we looked around, we could not count more than 200 soldiers armed with nothing more than M16s. Ramos told us that he was successful in persuading other battalions outside of Manila 1

Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA) is the main circumferential road and highway of Metro Manila in the Philippines.

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to join them. But it was quite obvious that the rebel forces were no match for the loyalist forces under Armed Forces Chief General Fabian Ver. Jaime Cardinal Sin, the highest Catholic authority in the country, must have shared that view as he appealed to the public to form a human shield around the two camps. Peter and I left Camp Crame after midnight and the next day I was back at EDSA. Sin’s appeal was successful as the crowd had built up substantially, maybe up to 100,000 or more. Ver had also deployed his tanks and soldiers close to the rebel camps. It was a real-life drama that I was not likely to witness again. There were nuns and priests standing and sitting defiantly in front of a tank. I saw the tank commander signalling the tank driver to start his engine. The driver jumped in, closed the hatch and started the engine. He moved the tank an inch or two, but the nuns refused to budge. The driver gave up, switched off the engine and came back out. Then, there was an elderly lady speaking sternly in Tagalog to battle-hardened marines carrying M16s. I did not understand what she said but guessed that she was warning them not to kill fellow Filipinos. A few yards away, there were young girls inserting yellow chrysanthemums into each M16 barrel. It was “people power” in action and the church-run radio played a key role in this psywar. The fight could only be settled by bloodshed or by Marcos stepping down. Marcos lost the fight when his elite and air forces defected and captured the broadcast stations. On 25 February, Marcos yielded and left for Hawaii. To everyone’s relief, no blood was shed.

Restoring the Bilateral Relations Another memorable moment came soon after Marcos left. I had wired HQ for instructions regarding recognition of the new government. When approval came, I rushed over a TPN to Aquino’s spokesman Rene Saguisag. He called for his first press conference the next day and read out the list of countries which had recognised the Aquino

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Government. I was elated when Rene mentioned Singapore first. Bilateral relations, which had deteriorated under the Marcos regime, were fully restored. There was so much goodwill for President Aquino at home and abroad that she could get almost any help she asked for. My proposal to extend bilateral technical aid to the Philippines was quickly approved. It was our first bilateral assistance programme. NEDA (the implementing agency) was in the midst of reorganisation and it took a while before our first project was launched.

Missed Opportunities Land reform was critical to unleash Philippines’ vast economic potential. Pending the adoption of a new Constitution, President Aquino exercised absolute power. But, the quick economic turnaround that people had hoped for did not come about. In focusing on undoing Marcos’ legacy, too little attention was given to bolstering the fundamentals for economic growth like improved power supply, transparency and predictability. Philippines had resources that others would envy and an English-educated workforce. It was a shame that the Japanese investment boom brought on by the appreciation of the yen after the Plaza Accord bypassed the Philippines. Perhaps the most depressing moment was when I visited Bacolod with a Singapore Broadcasting TV crew led by Reginald Chua. The crew was there to document the socio-economic impact of a slump in world sugar prices. We visited a hospital in Bacolod and saw several malnourished and under-developed children whose parents had lost their jobs. Etched in my memory is an emaciated boy who looked like a 4-year old but was twice that age. Sugar prices had collapsed. As landowners abandoned sugar planting, transient farmers dependent on seasonal jobs were left without work and hope. I left Manila in February 1988 with a firm belief that strong and visionary leadership was a critical factor for success in Southeast Asia.

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Tokyo, 1988–1991 None of my postings after Manila was as exciting, but they provided further testimony to the importance of effective leadership. I arrived in Tokyo in August 1988. The revaluation of the yen following the Plaza Accord had boosted Japan’s confidence and it went on a billion-dollar shopping spree in the U.S. and Australia. Analysts such as Harvard’s Ezra Vogel predicted that Japan was on course to overtake the U.S. and would change the balance of power in our region. When the Japanese bought Rockefeller Centre in late 1989, American reaction was visceral. I was amazed that the strongest advocate of free-market capitalism had reacted that way. I wondered how the purchase could possibly hurt American interests. The Japanese could not physically move the symbol of capitalism back to Tokyo. Even more puzzling was the Japanese decision to purchase what seemed to me to be a mere symbol. I was impressed by its industrial efficiency but it had weaknesses too. The financial services I used was shockingly backward. Bank customers preferred to queue to deposit or withdraw their money. There were few ATMs around then. Debit cards were popular but credit cards were not. When I sold my BMW to a Japanese man, he came to the office with a stack of ¥10,000 notes. I forgot the exact amount but it was probably around ¥4 million. I had to count the stack, hand over the car and went to DBS Tokyo branch to deposit the money. At the bank, the teller had to count the money again before giving me the acknowledgement slip. It would have been easier for everyone had the buyer given me a cashier’s order. Japan had a rigid and opaque system. The more one learns about Japan, the more puzzling it gets. Nevertheless, I remained convinced that its strong sense of national pride would serve it well in any crisis. Thus, when Japan’s economic bubble burst as I was about to leave Tokyo, I had thought that Japan would make the necessary reforms and the economy would bounce back in quick time. I have changed my view since. It has been more than 15 years since and the Nikkei index remains below 50 percent of

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its 1991 level. I hope this will change soon, preferably domestically inspired rather than by “gaiatsu” (foreign pressure). Asia would be better off having another engine of growth.

Bangkok, 1995–1998 After a home assignment looking after ICT matters and information management, and later as Director/ASEAN, I got my first Ambassadorial appointment. My posting to Thailand was most rewarding as it was challenging. I arrived in Bangkok in January 1995 at a time of political change. Party politics and democracy was beginning to take hold in Thailand. It was not a smooth process though. In my four year stay, the government changed three times and I worked with six Foreign Ministers. But, it would be wrong to conclude that Thailand was unstable. Stability was provided by the strong and caring leadership of King Bhumibol and the deep respect he commands throughout the country. The military and bureaucracy provided the continuity in governance. Thus, when the Asian currency crisis struck Thailand in 1997, it was not surprising that there were no mass protest on the streets or starvation. I was impressed by the resilience and can-do spirit of the Thai people. Financial executives who lost their high paying jobs in the financial collapse turned to selling sandwiches and washing cars until the economy recovered. To me, Thailand is a lucky country. Regardless of the government in power, the Thai economy will continue on a steady trajectory and there will always be food on the table.

Strengthening Ties with Thailand I am grateful for the warmth and friendliness the Thais showered on me and my family. When I first arrived in Bangkok, I was not sure what I could achieve to strengthen bilateral ties. The Cambodian issue was resolved and the spirit of cooperation had given way to

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a sense of economic competition. The bruising bid for the APEC Secretariat reinforced this sense of rivalry. I was determined to help restore the cooperative spirit and was aided by the close contact between our leaders. The first opportunity came in early 1996 when Thailand agreed to host the inaugural ASEM. We worked hard to support the Thai Chairmanship and the Summit was a huge success. The second came when the Thai baht came under attack from hedge funds in 1997. Singapore assisted in the defence of the baht. Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong made an official visit in 1997 to signal Singapore’s support for the besieged Thai economy. He received the highest decoration from King Bhumibol. It was equally gratifying to read The Nation describing Singapore as “a friend in need”. In 1998, after several years of discussions, the Singapore-Thailand Civil Service Exchange Programme was finally launched. When I made my farewell calls in late 1998, I was pleased to note that the Thais were looking at Singapore as less of a rival and more of a partner. Senior Thai MFA officials said to me that the two countries “were never closer”.

New Delhi, 1999–2002 A bigger challenge awaited me as I arrived in New Delhi in January 1999 to take up my post as High Commissioner. India is a complex nation, a land of great contrasts. If one looked hard enough, one would find pockets of excellence. Its ICT industry was the most obvious gem. However, the Indian fever in Singapore was cooling and I felt the need to find a success story to revive that interest. Of the three flagship project proposals, only the Bangalore International Tech Park (BITP) got off the ground but it was barely surviving. The occupancy rate was too low and a new business model was needed. I suggested to Jurong International that instead of selling floor space to Indian companies, it should continue to manage BITP and look for foreign tenants. The wage cost in Bangalore should be attractive

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enough for MNCs to relocate part of their business processing to BITP. By early 2000, the occupancy rate had increased substantially to a point where Prime Minister Goh could officially launch the BITP. It was a time of unstable coalition politics and India’s relations with Pakistan and the Western world were at a low. The West had imposed sanctions to punish India for defiantly conducting its nuclear test in 1998. The political uncertainty unnerved many potential investors. Our efforts to build closer economic cooperation with India at a time when it had problem elsewhere earned us friends in India. Within the three years, I had the privilege of arranging the visits of Prime Minister Goh, President Narayanan and Prime Minister A. B. Vajpayee. Our business presence in India grew and the sweetest moment for me was when India and Singapore agreed to a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement. India has become our strategic partner and a major partner of ASEAN.

Conclusion My focus has shifted to the Middle East and on my sixth overseas assignment. I will leave my experience in Cairo and the Middle East as material for future writing. Thus far, my career in MFA has turned out to be better than I had expected. I was fortunate enough to have supportive bosses and they gave me room to try out different ideas. I can look back with great personal satisfaction that I have been able to contribute to MFA, although I had my fair share of trying times too. But most of all, I had opportunities to build bridges of friendships and cooperation across countries and cultures, and to witness history in the making. Having said that, would I choose MFA if I could start all over again? None of my three sons (Nicholas, Bryan and Sean) has considered it a career choice. In fact, at one of those father and son session on career preferences, Nicholas said “Dad, your job sucks.” That was when I saw the flip side. I had not realised the impact of the nomadic life on my family. If I had

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to choose all over again, I would probably make the same choice only if I had no intention of having children. My family were the ones who had to pay an emotional price each time they moved with me from one city to another; and as the children moved from one school to another. It is difficult to tally up what they had paid thus far. And the meter is still running.

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Annex I Milestones of Singapore’s External Relations from June 2005–December 2008 2005

16–19 Jun

The Secretary for the Holy See’s Relations with States, Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo made an official visit to Singapore. This was the first visit by a Secretary for the Holy See’s Relations with States to Singapore.

21–22 Jun

The inaugural Asia-Middle East Dialogue (AMED) was held in Singapore. More than 40 countries from Asia and the Middle East participated at this gathering. AMED was mooted by Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong during his visit to Egypt in 2004.

23 Jun

Singapore signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Indonesia to affirm Singapore’s undertaking of the reconstruction projects on the construction of the pier and the refurbishment of Meulaboh General Hospital. This was part of Singapore’s assistance package for the reconstruction efforts in the tsunami-affected Indonesia.

29 Jun

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong signed the landmark free trade agreement treaty Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) with India.

12 Jul

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong made his first official visit to the United States in his capacity as Prime Minister. Prime Minister Lee and President George W. Bush signed the Strategic Framework Agreement. This agreement creates an umbrella platform that brings together existing and future cooperation in security and defence between Singapore and the United States. 163

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1–2 Aug

Foreign ministers from Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore met in Batam, Indonesia to discuss maritime security in the Malacca Strait. The three countries agreed to conduct air patrols over the Strait of Malacca from September 2005, to help fight piracy and deter terrorists.

5 Aug

President S. R. Nathan launched the first volume of The Little Red Dot at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This is the first time that a collection of original essays by current and former Singapore diplomats has been published.

18–19 Aug

Brunei’s Prince Mohamed Bolkiah visited Singapore and signed the Agreement for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income (DTA).

23 Aug

The inaugural Forum for East Asia-Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC) Young Parliamentarians Forum (YPF) was held in Singapore. The Forum seeks to promote better inter-regional understanding between East Asia and Latin America.

16 Sep

ASEAN Ministers, including Singapore decided not to attend the ASEM Economic Ministers’ Meeting held in Rotterdam as a matter of principle. Singapore’s position is that all members of international fora, such as the Asia-Europe Meeting, should be treated equally.

19–21 Sep

Chinese Vice-Premier Wu Yi led a delegation of ministers and senior officials to attend the Second Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC) meeting. Singapore and China signed a number of agreements, such as organising exchange visits of officials and

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representatives from the business communities. VicePremier Wu welcomed Singapore’s decision to set up a Consulate-General in Guangzhou and a Consulate in Chengdu.

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20 Sep

Singapore and Thailand celebrated the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.

22 Sep

Singapore signed the additional protocol to the International Atomic Energy Agency Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement, which underscored its strong commitment to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

2 Oct

Barely two days after the bomb attacks on 1 October in Bali, Indonesia, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong met Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at the Bali Retreat, and extended his full support for Indonesia’s anti-terrorism efforts. Together with the negotiations for an Extradition Treaty, both leaders agreed for both countries to negotiate a Defence Cooperation Agreement (DCA), and a CounterTerrorism Agreement.

3 Oct

Singapore signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Government of Maldives to implement Singapore’s post-tsunami reconstruction projects for the Maldives in Male.

10 Oct

Singapore provided a humanitarian relief package to Pakistan in response to international appeals for assistance from the Government of Pakistan. Pakistan was the worst-hit country by the earthquake which struck Afghanistan, Pakistan and India on 8 October 2005.

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24–30 Oct

Singapore and China agreed to step up top-level exchanges and cooperation in areas like trade, security and disaster relief during Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s first visit to China as Prime Minister. This year also marked the 15th anniversary of formal diplomatic ties between the two countries.

27 Oct & 2 Nov

Singapore stood by decision not to commute the death sentence on Australian drug trafficker, Mr. Nguyen Tuong Van after the President, on the advice from the Cabinet, turned down the appeal for clemency.

17 Nov

ASEAN and United States issued a Joint Vision Statement to launch the ASEAN-U.S. Enhanced Partnership, comprising political and security, economic, social and development cooperation, which signalled the strong U.S. commitment to ASEAN.

27 Nov

Jordan and Singapore co-chaired the inaugural meeting of the Asia-Middle East Dialogue (AMED) Working Group on the Social, Educational, Scientific, Cultural, Environmental and Media (SESCEM) in Singapore. It aimed to produce collaborative initiatives to benefit both regions.

6–9 Dec

President Marc Ravalomanana of Madagascar made his first working visit to Singapore at the invitation of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

9 Dec

Singapore and San Marino established diplomatic relations at Ambassadorial level.

12 Dec

Leaders of the 10-member ASEAN grouping signed a landmark Kuala Lumpur Declaration on the Establishment of the ASEAN Charter. An Eminent Persons’ Group (EPG) was tasked to deliberate on

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what the Charter should include. Deputy Prime Minister S. Jayakumar was Singapore’s representative in the EPG.

2006

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14 Dec

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong attended the First East Asia Summit (EAS) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. At the summit, the ASEAN leaders adopted the Kuala Lumpur Declaration, which recognised the shared view that the EAS will play an important role in the formation of the community in the region.

20 Dec

Fiji and Singapore signed the Agreement for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income (DTA). The DTA will help to facilitate more crossborder economic opportunities for businessmen from both Singapore and Fiji.

20 Jan

The Malaysian Agong, King Syed Sirajuddin and Her Majesty Permaisuri visited Singapore at the invitation of President S. R. Nathan. It was the first visit by a Malaysian head of state to Singapore since 1988.

17 Jan

Professor Chan Heng Chee, Singapore’s Ambassador to the United States, presented a cheque for the funds raised by the Singapore Red Cross last September, to the American Red Cross in Washington. This was in aid of victims of Hurricane Katrina.

1–2 Feb

Dr. Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam, President of the Republic of India made a state visit to Singapore. He delivered the 27th Singapore Lecture entitled “Evolution of Enlightened Societies on our Planet” as part of the visit.

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10 Feb

Ministry of Foreign Affairs launched the book, The Singapore Foreign Service: The First 40 Years to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Ministry.

20 Feb

Singapore provided humanitarian assistance to the Philippines in response to the devastation caused by the landslides in Southern Leyte.

22 Feb

One of Singapore’s founding fathers, and also the Republic’s first Foreign Minister, Mr. S. Rajaratnam passed away. He was also the author of the Singapore Pledge of allegiance.

22–24 Feb

Lithuanian Singapore.

President Valdas Adamkus

visited

28 Feb–2 Mar

Second Vice-President of Panama, Ruben Arosemena Valdes visited Singapore and witnessed the signing of the Panama-Singapore Free Trade Agreement on 1 March.

4 Mar

Singapore and Libya established diplomatic relations.

16–18 Mar

Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom visited Singapore. This was her third state visit to Singapore since Singapore’s independence.

18 Mar

Foreign Minister George Yeo announced that Singapore and Indonesia would work together to develop new Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in Indonesia, after his meeting with Indonesian VicePresident Jusuf Kalla. The Singapore Government will help Indonesia hammer out policies for the SEZs and to train manpower.

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169

29–31 Mar

His Majesty King Norodom Sihamoni of the Kingdom of Cambodia made a state visit to Singapore.

3 Apr

Foreign Minister George Yeo witnessed the opening of a 175m-long pier on Meulaboh’s seafront. It was the first major project in post-tsunami Aceh funded by the people of Singapore through the Singapore Red Cross Society Tidal Waves Asia Fund.

10–15 Apr

Singapore and Saudi Arabia ratified the General Agreement on Cooperation and signed the Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of both countries during the official visit of Saudi Crown Prince Sultan Abdul Aziz Al-Saud to Singapore.

17 Apr

During the official visit by Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr Al-Thani, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Qatar to Singapore, Singapore and Qatar agreed to establish a high level Joint Committee to lay down the basis for the bilateral relations.

22 May

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong assembled a new Cabinet after the general election. Mr. George Yeo continued as Foreign Minister and Mr. Raymond Lim continued as Second Minister for Foreign Affairs. Dr. Balaji Sadasivan was appointed as Senior Minister of State and Mr. Zainul Abidin Rasheed remained as Senior Minister of State.

31 May

Singapore provided humanitarian assistance in response to the earthquake struck Yogjakarta, Indonesia on 27 May 2006. More than 5,000 people were killed and thousands more injured.

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1 Jun

Mr. Dileep Nair, former United Nations UnderSecretary-General for Internal Oversight Services at the United Nations was once again vindicated of any wrongdoing. In the MFA Spokesman’s comments, it was noted that in a letter from then U.N. Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan had stated that the investigation initiated in 2004 had completely exonerated him of any wrongdoing, and expresed “every confidence that the good work of OIOS (Office of Internal Oversight Services) under your (Mr. Nair’s) leadership will continue”. It was therefore never clear why the SecretaryGeneral saw a need to re-open the investigation into Mr. Nair. More than a year later, the findings by Mr. Jerome Ackerman and Mr. John Vanderstar, who conducted this second investigation, have only confirmed that re-opening of the enquiry was unwarranted. The findings of Mr. Ackerman and Mr. Vanderstar have vindicated Mr. Nair and cleared him once again of any wrongdoing. Mr. Dileep Nair was earlier appointed as ConsulGeneral for Singapore in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on 28 August 2005.

8–10 Jun

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His Majesty Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko of Japan visited Singapore for the first time since he ascended the throne in 1989. This year also marked the 40th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Japan and Singapore. They last visited Singapore in 1970 and 1981 when they were the Crown Prince and Princess.

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12 Jun

171

Foreign Minister George Yeo spoke at a symposium to mark the 100th anniversary of the Founding of the Tong Meng Hui in Singapore. Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the founding father of modern China formed Tong Meng Hui, or Chinese Revolutionary Alliance in Tokyo, Japan, to overthrow the Qing Dynasty through his successive revolutionary activities. Singapore was a major centre of the Chinese republican movement in Southeast Asia, and the Singapore chapter’s role could be traced to the key events in China’s revolutionary movement then. At this celebration, Foreign Minister George Yeo reiterated Singapore’s one-China policy. Keynote speeches were delivered by Dr. Lien Chan, Honorary Chairman of Kuomintang in Taiwan; Mr. Xiong Changliang, Director General of the Liaison Department of China’s Overseas Exchange Association and Dr. Lily Sun, the granddaughter of Sun Yat-sen. This event also marked the close relations among Singapore, China and Taiwan.

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14 Jun

Singapore recognised the Republic of Montenegro as a sovereign and independent state, and established diplomatic relations with the state with effect from 30 June 2006.

20–24 Jun

Singapore and the Holy See celebrated 25 years of diplomatic relations since 24 June 1981. Cardinal Renato Raffaele Martino, the Vatican’s first ambassador to Singapore from 1982 to 1986,visited Singapore as the Pope’s special envoy for the celebrations.

22 Jun

Singapore established diplomatic relations with Afghanistan.

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25 Jun

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono signed the Framework Agreement on Economic Cooperation in the islands of Batam, Bintan and Karimun. They also discussed an extradition treaty as part of regional cooperation in combating terrorism and security.

3 Jul

Singapore consulate-general in Guangzhou commenced operations.

27 Jul

Singapore provided humanitarian assistance to Lebanon in response to the war in Lebanon.

27 Jul

Foreign Minister George Yeo and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov launched a commemorative magazine to mark the 10th anniversary of ASEANRussia dialogue relations.

31 Jul–3 Aug

North Korean Foreign Minister Paek Nam Sun made his first official visit to Singapore as Foreign Minister. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong met Mr. Paek and “reiterated Singapore’s support for the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula through peaceful and diplomatic means, and urged North Korea to return to the six-party talks to resolve the issue.”

25 Aug

China and Singapore agreed to launch negotiations for a bilateral Free Trade Agreement when Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng visited Beijing for the Third Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation meeting.

4 Sep

The Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery Against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP) Agreement entered into force. Singapore, together with 10 countries signed and ratified the

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first regional government-to-government agreement to promote and enhance cooperation against piracy and armed robbery at sea in Asia.

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16–18 Sep

Singapore hosted the 2006 Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and The World Bank group. It brought together ministers, private sector leaders, academics, civil society actors, and delegates from 184 countries, and other key players in the international development and financial fields to strengthen the network for cooperation in the global economy.

18–20 Sep

A breakthrough was achieved at the IMO-Kuala Lumpur Meeting on the Straits of Malacca and Singapore when Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and user States of the Straits agreed to establish a cooperative mechanism to enhance safety of navigation, security and environment protection.

25–26 Sep

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong attended the 10th Anniversary celebrations of the VietnamSingapore Industrial Park (VSIP) in Vietnam. He co-witnessed the signing of a commitment letter to launch VSIP II.

9 Oct

The Singapore Consulate in Chengdu, Sichuan Province commenced operations.

8–10 Oct

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs Wong Kan Seng led a delegation to Doha, State of Qatar to co-chair the Inaugural Meeting of the Qatar-Singapore High-Level Joint Committee with the Heir Apparent of Qatar, His Highness Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani. The Joint Committee serves as the vehicle for implementing

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the Qatar-Singapore Connect initiative by identifying areas for bilateral cooperation and overseeing the implementation of agreed projects. 11 Oct

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong wrote to Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to express his concerns on the haze issue. Indonesia agreed to convene a Sub-Regional Environment Ministerial Meeting on Transboundary Haze Pollution. President Yudhoyono later said that Indonesia would ratify the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution as part of the effort to tackle the haze issue.

26–31 Oct

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong attended the Commemorative Summit celebrating the 15th anniversary of ASEAN-China relations in Nanning, Guangxi Province, China. He also made a working trip to Guangzhou and Chengdu.

31 Oct–3 Nov

Namibia President Mr. Hifikepunye Pohamba made a state visit to Singapore with a business delegation.

6–8 Nov

Botswana President Mr. Festus Mogae made his first state visit to Singapore.

13 Nov

Singapore hosted the inaugural meeting of the Nalanda Mentor Group that will guide in re-establishing Nalanda University into an icon of the Asian renaissance. The ancient University used to play a pivotal role in the spread of Buddhism from India to China and Southeast Asia over a thousand years ago. Foreign Minister George Yeo was a member of the Group.

14–22 Nov

President S. R. Nathan made a state visit to Egypt and Jordan, the first visit by a Singapore Head of State

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to the Middle East. In Egypt, he attended a reception to mark the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Egypt and Singapore whereas in Jordan he jointly signed a plague with King Abdullah II Bin Al-Hussein commemorating the establishment of the Asia-Middle East Dialogue (AMED) Regional Vocational Training Centre in Marka. 16 Nov

United States President Mr. George W. Bush made an official visit to Singapore, his first stop in the region en route to Vietnam for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders Meeting. He delivered a speech on America’s priorities in the region.

17 Nov

ASEAN and United States issued a joint statement on follow-up to the ASEAN-US Enhanced Partnership on eight thrusts. Singapore is currently the country coordinator for ASEAN-US relations.

24–30 Nov

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong made his first official visit to the Middle East. In Doha, he witnessed the signing of the Double Taxation Agreement and the Memorandum of Understanding on the Asia-Middle East Dialogue (AMED) Regional Training Centre. In Saudi Arabia, it was announced that negotiations for a FTA with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) would be launched.

5 Dec

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Singapore sent humanitarian relief supplies to the Philippines in response to the widespread damage caused by the floods and mudslides in southern Luzon.

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12 Dec

Singapore and the government of Antiqua and Barbuda agreed to establish diplomatic relations between the two countries at Ambassadorial level.

14 Dec

Singapore and the World Bank signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for collaborative programmes in human resource development in the African Region through the Singapore Cooperation Programme (SCP).

8–16 Jan

Senior Minister Goh made an official visit to Morocco, the first by a senior Singapore leader. It took place in conjunction with the 10th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Singapore and Morocco. He then travelled to Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates where he informed the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan that a Singapore embassy will be set up later this year in Abu Dhabi.

13 Jan

At the 12th ASEAN Summit held in Cebu, the Eminent Persons Group (EPG) submitted its report to the 12th ASEAN Summit. Following a meeting between the EPG and the ASEAN Leaders, the leaders agreed to adopt the recommendations as a basis for the drafting of the ASEAN Charter. Member countries of ASEAN also signed the Cebu Declaration on the Acceleration of the Establishment of an ASEAN Community by 2015.

15 Jan

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ASEAN signed free trade agreement in services with China.

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16 Jan

177

Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs decided to suspend the Thailand-Singapore Civil Service Exchange Programme (CSEP), cancel the CSEP Coordinating Meeting, and rescind invitation to Minister for Foreign Affairs George Yeo to attend CSEP. The Singapore Government noted that the position taken by the Thai Government was a response to the recent private visit of Dr. Thaksin Shinawatra on 13 January. Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement that Mr. Thaksin had asked to meet Professor Jayakumar, who is an old friend. The ministry said it had no further comment as the meeting was purely social and private.

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23 Jan

Indonesia announced a ban on concreting sand exports to Singapore. According to the Indonesian Minister of Trade, this ban was being imposed because of environmental reasons and to protect Indonesia’s borders.

24–26 Jan

The President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov was on a state visit in Singapore, the first since Singapore and Uzbekistan established diplomatic relations on 8 April 1997. This visit marked the 10th anniversary of diplomatic relations. President Islam announced his country will be opening an embassy in Singapore.

28 Jan

Launch of a music festival “ASEAN Rocks!” to kick off the Singapore’s celebration of ASEAN’s 40th Anniversary.

15 Feb

Singapore contributed to the Flood Relief Efforts in Johor.

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22 Feb

Singapore Embassy in Jakarta, Singapore Association in Indonesia and Singapore Technologies Telemedia handed over relief supplies for victims of Jakarta floods.

5 Mar

Foreign Minister George Yeo said in Parliament that Singapore and Indonesia had agreed to elevate negotiations on the extradition treaty and defence cooperation agreement to the ministerial level. He also revealed that Singapore proposed to set up a consulate in Johor Baru. The Prime Ministers of Singapore and Malaysia will hold their first retreat in May.

12 Mar

Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong met the President of Iran, Mr. Ahmadinejad in Iran. He urged Iran to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency towards assuaging the concerns of its neighbours and the international community over its nuclear programme.

18 Apr–1 May

President S. R. Nathan made a State Visit to South Africa, Namibia and Botswana.

27 Apr

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong witnessed the signing of the Extradition Treaty and Defence Cooperation Agreement in Bali.

28 Apr–2 May

Foreign Minister George Yeo visited Israel from 28–30 April. He was the second foreign minister to visit Israel; the first was former Foreign Minister S. Dhanabalan. Singapore and Israel signed the agreement to cooperate on joint scientific projects and exchange knowledge in science and technology,

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as well as education curricula. After Israel, Minister Yeo visited Palestinian Territories on 1 May to call on President of the Palestinian National Authority Mahmoud Abbas and Deputy Prime Minister Azzam al-Ahmad, and met with Foreign Minister Dr. Ziad Abu-Amr.

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2–8 May

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong made a six-day visit to Washington and San Francisco. He met President George W. Bush, and expressed hope that the U.S. will be able to secure more FTAs with other countries, including Malaysia and Thailand in due course.

8 May

Singapore contributed to the United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) to “support UN peacekeeping and humanitarian missions within our abilities”.

8 May

Ukraine and Singapore launched negotiations for a bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA).

14–15 May

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong met Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi for informal talks in the Leaders’ Retreat held in Langkawai, the first retreat between the two leaders. They reaffirmed the importance of bilateral relations not only to the peoples on both sides of the Causeway, but also as a catalyst for regional growth.

19–27 May

Foreign Minister George Yeo made a landmark visit to Libya and Yemen, the first by a Singapore minister. Libya and Singapore established diplomatic ties only in March 2006.

3–9 Jun

Foreign Minister George Yeo attended the sixth Ministerial Meeting of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue in South Korea, and later visited the Gaesong Industrial

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Complex in the Democratic Peoples’ Republic of Korea.

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4–6 Jun

Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah made a three-day visit to Singapore. It was his first official visit to Singapore since taking office last year. Sheikh Nasser and Prime Minister Lee witnessed the signing of two Memoranda of Understandings (MOUs).

18–20 Jun

Foreign Minister George Yeo and Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee announced the launch of the bilateral Strategic Dialogue between Singapore and India.

25 Jun

A key Indonesian parliamentary commission rejected the Singapore-Indonesia Defence Cooperation Agreement (DCA) signed in April.

9–12 Jul

Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi of the State Council attended two economic meetings with Singapore officials to discuss the planned Singapore-China free trade agreement (FTA), and the iconic eco-city project, 13 years after the development of the Suzhou Industrial Park. This annual high-level economic meeting was the fourth one since the inaugural one held in Beijing in 2004.

13–15 Jul

Inaugural of the Nalanda Mentor Group Meeting in Singapore.

29 Jul–3 Aug

The 40th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM) took place in Manila. Foreign Minister George Yeo led the Singapore delegation to the 40th AMM, the annual Post Ministerial Conferences (PMC) and the 14th ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in Manila.

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2 Aug

Singapore assumed Chairmanship of ASEAN Standing Committee.

13–14 Aug

Introductory visit to Singapore by Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.

17 Aug

Singapore provided humanitarian assistance for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

4–6 Sep

Singapore hosted the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Meeting. A landmark decision was taken at this meeting to establish a cooperative mechanism relating to the Straits of Malacca and Singapore. For the first time, Article 43 of UNCLOS would now be implemented. This article which is incorporated under Part III of the convention, states: “States bordering a strait and user states should by agreement cooperate in the establishment and maintenance of navigational safety or other improvements in aid of international navigation, and also for the prevention, reduction an control of pollution from ships.” The decision also augered well for the cooperation among the three littoral states of the Straits of Malacca and Singapore namely, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, the user states, and other stakeholders, to enhance safe and sustainable navigation through the straits.

18 Sep

Singapore’s former ambassador, Mr. Edward Lee Kwong Foo, was conferred the Bintang Jasa Utama, or the First Class Order of Service Award by the Indonesian government in recognition of his outstanding and extraordinary contributions in promoting relations between Singapore and Indonesia. Mr. Lee served as the ambassador to Indonesia from 1994 to 2007.

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27 Sep

Myanmar’s crackdown on protest across Yangon. Singapore, as Chairman of the ASEAN Standing Committee, had been consulting with the other ASEAN countries on the situation in Myanmar. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, in consultations with other ASEAN leaders on the situation in Myanmar, had said the regional grouping cannot “credibly remain silent or uninvolved in this matter”…They agreed with Mr. Lee that ASEAN should put out a clear statement urging the Myanmar authorities to exercise restraint, and find a political solution for national reconciliation without resorting to violence.

28 Sep

ASEAN issued a statement on Myanmar in New York and the ASEAN Foreign Ministers said they were “appalled to receive reports of automatic weapons being used” on crowds and demanded that the military junta in Myanmar “immediately desist from the use of violence against demonstrators”. They also expressed their concern that the developments in Myanmar had a serious impact on the reputation and credibility of ASEAN. The ASEAN Foreign Ministers gave their full support to the decision of U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to send Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari to Myanmar.

28 Sep

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The ASEAN Foreign Ministers welcomed the decision announced by President George W. Bush on 7 September to appoint a U.S. Ambassador to ASEAN, particularly as the U.S. will be the first ASEAN dialogue partner to do so.

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183

29 Sep

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, in Singapore’s capacity as ASEAN chair wrote to Senior General Than Shwe, Chairman State Peace and Development Council to express the deep concerns that ASEAN leaders shared over the very grave situation in Myanmar.

3 Oct

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, in Singapore’s capacity as ASEAN chair, met U.N. envoy Ibrahim Gambari in Singapore to discuss the diplomat’s recent talks with Myanmar’s key political figures. Prime Minister Lee reaffirmed that the U.N.’s efforts offered the best hope for Myanmar and its people.

5 Oct

Ambassador Vanu Gopala Menon, Permanent Representative of Singapore to the United Nations, in the capacity as ASEAN Chair at the Security Council Session made remarks on the situation in Myanmar.

8 Oct

Singapore rejoined United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organizations (UNESCO).

9 Oct

Responding to Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda’s remarks on Indonesia government’s decision to put on hold the implementation of a defence pact between Singapore and Indonesia, Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that it ‘respected’ the Indonesian government’s decision, but that Singapore remained fully committed to the package of the Extradition Treaty (ET), Defence Cooperation Agreement (DCA) and its associated four Implementing Arrangements, which was agreed to by the two governments on 23 April 2007.

9 Oct

Ministry of Foreign Affairs rebutted allegations in an Asian Wall Street Journal article that it was

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pressuring the United Nations to nix the latter’s antifraud team, apparently to protest against its shabby treatment of U.N. assistant secretary-general Andrew Toh, who is a Singaporean. Mr. Andrew Toh, a career U.N. employee who was once the U.N.’s chief of procurement except for peacekeeping missions had been probed for fraudulent procurement and not providing personal financial information.

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19 Oct

Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the Ministry was “very saddened” by the U.N.’s decision to demote Andrew Toh from Assistant Secretary-General to Director and to fine him two months’ salary, and said the “decision was unjust and unfair”.

19 Oct

Foreign Minister George Yeo officiated at a ceremony to welcome the 50,000th participant of the Singapore Cooperation Programme (SCP). Established in 1992, it was a milestone for the SCP which provides technical assistance to 168 developing countries.

20–25 Oct

Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Zainul Abidin Rasheed visited the Middle East. He attended the official opening ceremony of the Asia Middle East Dialogue (AMED) Regional Vocational Training Centre in Jordan, and called on Israeli Acting Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni in Jerusalem to reaffirm the longstanding and multifaceted relationship between the two countries. He also met Palestinian Prime Minister in Ramallah to discuss regional issues.

23–26 Oct

State visit of President S. R. Nathan to Maldives. He officiated at the inauguration ceremony of Ghaazee School built by the Singapore government and the Singapore Red Cross Society as part of Singapore’s

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reconstruction assistance package for Maldives following the December 2004 tsunami.

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25–27 Oct

Foreign Minister George Yeo visited China and Japan. China expressed full support for ASEAN’s efforts to help bring about a process of national reconciliation in Myanmar, and will work closely together with ASEAN to assist U.N. SecretaryGeneral’s Special Advisor Ibrahim Gambari’s mission as mediator. In Tokyo, Japan also pledged its support to Mr. Gambari.

29–30 Oct

Heir Apparent of Qatar, His Highness Sheikh Tamim Bin Khalifa Bin Hamad Al-Thani, led a high level delegation to Singapore to co-chair the second Meeting of the Qatar-Singapore High-Level Joint Committee (HLJC) with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs Wong Kan Seng. Seven MOUs and agreements were signed between Qatar and Singapore.

6–8 Nov

Foreign Minister George Yeo participated in the opening of the Fajar Hidayah Integrated Boarding School in Banda Aceh. The school was jointly built by the Singapore International Foundation and its Indonesian partner Yayasan Fajar Hidayah as part of Singapore’s contributions to the reconstruction of Aceh after the December 2004 tsunami.

6–23 Nov

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Netherlands held its public hearings in the case concerning Sovereignty over Pedra Branca/Pulau Batu Puteh, Middle Rocks and South Ledge (Malaysia/ Singapore).

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13–14 Nov

Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Zainul Abidin Rasheed called on Myanmar’s Prime Minister Thein Sein to convey Singapore’s hope that the Myanmar government would continue to cooperate with Mr. Gambari in his efforts to get all the relevant parties engaged in genuine and serious discussions to bring about national reconciliation.

15 Nov

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon agreed to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s invitation for his Special Advisor Mr. Ibrahim Gambari to brief the leaders of the East Asia Summit in Singapore on 21 November 07.

18 Nov

China’s Premier Wen Jiabao and Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong signed the EcoCity Framework and officiated at the launch of the Singapore-China Foundation in conjunction with the 11th ASEAN Plus Three Summit and the Third East Asia Summit. This is a project comparable in significance to the Suzhou Industrial Park which was started in 1994.

18–21 Nov

Singapore hosted the 13th ASEAN Summit and related meetings. The theme of the Summit was ‘One ASEAN at the Heart of Dynamic Asia.’ At the Summit, ASEAN leaders signed the ASEAN Charter on 20 Nov 07 which coincided with ASEAN’s 40th Anniversary. ASEAN Charter is a document which opens a new chapter in regional integration. It transforms ASEAN into a more effective and rulesbased organisation. The leaders also endorsed the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) Blueprint which will help chart

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concrete targets for establishing a single market and production base in the ASEAN region by 2015. In addition, they signed the ASEAN Declaration on Environment Sustainability to address the need to protect the environment, response to climate change and conserve natural resources. The 3rd East Asia Summit (EAS) was held in Singapore. The leaders issued a Singapore Declaration on Climate Change, Energy and the Environment on 21 November 07. The leaders met their respective counterparts from China, Japan, and Republic of Korea in the ASEAN Plus Three meeting where they issued the 2nd Joint Statement on East Asia Cooperation to commemorate the 10th Anniversary of relations. On 22 November, ASEAN-EU Commemorative Summit marked the 30th Anniversary of ASEAN-EU relations. The leaders declared to enhance economic relations by expeditiously negotiating the ASEAN-EU Free Trade Agreement based on a region-to-region approach. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong reaffirmed Singapore’s continued commitment to the Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI) by pledging another S$30 million to cover technical assistance projects from 2009 to 2011. To date, more than 20,000 officials from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam (CLMV) have participated in the training programme. 19 Nov

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ASEAN Chairman issued a statement on Myanmar. Myanmar’s Prime Minister Thein Sein made clear that the situation in Myanmar was a domestic Myanmar

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affair and Myanmar was fully capable of handling the situation by itself. In view of Myanmar’s position, Professor Gambari will not brief the ASEAN or EAS Leaders. The ASEAN leaders agreed that ASEAN would respect Myanmar’s wishes and make way for Myanmar to deal directly with the UN and the international community on its own. ASEAN stands ready to play a role whenever Myanmar wants it to do so. They emphasised that they will strive to prevent the Myanmar issue from obstructing ASEAN’s integration efforts, especially the ASEAN Charter and the establishment of the ASEAN community.

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20 Nov

Singapore pledged a further contribution of S$30 million in technical assistance programmes to the Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI) for another three years, starting from 2009 to 2011.

21 Nov

The Exhibition “On the Nalanda Trail: Buddhism in India, China and Southeast Asia” at the Asian Civilisation Museum was opened by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the presence of the other leaders attending the East Asia Summit. Nalanda played a pivotal role in India and was one of the world’s first great universities — in the spread of Buddhism from its birthplace in India to China and Southeast Asia. Foreign Minister George Yeo was instrumental in reviving the interest in Nalanda and facilitating this tri-partite project among China, India and Singapore.

25–30 Nov

Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Zainul Abidin Rasheed made working visits to Ethiopia and Nigeria. His visit to Ethiopia marked the first high level visit to the country since 1964.

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189

9–12 Dec

His Highness Sayyid Fahad Mahmood Al-Said, Deputy Prime Minister of the Sultanate of Oman, together with his high-level delegation visited Singapore at the invitation of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Prime Minister Lee and His Highness agreed that Singapore and Oman should engage in even closer cooperation as part of a long-term strategic partnership.

11 Dec

Singapore contributed US$20,000 through the Singapore Red Cross Society (SRCS) to provide relief and humanitarian assistance for cyclone-affected Bangladesh.

11–13 Dec

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong attended the HighLevel Segment of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali.

13–16 Dec

Foreign Minister George Yeo and Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Koumura signed a Memorandum of Discussion to enhance the existing Japan-Singapore Partnership Programme for the 21st Century (JSPP21) and to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the JSPP21. The JSPP21 is Singapore’s largest and most successful partnership under the Singapore Cooperation Programme (SCP) and has trained more than 3,000 officials from various developing countries in diverse fields.

17 Dec

Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Zainul Abidin Rasheed participated in the ministerial-level Conference of Donors for the State of Palestine at the invitation of France and the Conference Co-chairs. Singapore’s participation was to pledge support for all efforts to achieve the goal of two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security.

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31 Dec

Mr. Ong Keng Yong ended his tenure as ASEAN Secretary-General.

7 Jan

Singapore is the first ASEAN Country to ratify the ASEAN Charter.

23–26 Jan

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong participated at the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meetings in Davos. As the current Chair of ASEAN, he took the lead in making the pitch for ASEAN. The Plenary focused on how ASEAN could play its part in a changing East Asia and featured a dialogue between the WEF participants with ASEAN Leaders. This was the first time ASEAN leaders had taken such a high profile at the WEF.

28-annex I.indd 190

27 Jan

Singapore conveyed her condolences to the passing away of former President of the Republic of Indonesia Soeharto, one of the pioneers who helped shape ASEAN. On 13 January, Singapore’s Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew flew to Jakarta to visit the ailing Mr. Soeharto.

28 Jan–3 Feb

Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong made an official visit to Doha at the invitation of the Heir Apparent of Qatar, His Highness Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, followed by a working visit to Dubai and United Arab Emirates. The visits are part of Singapore’s on-going efforts to deepen her political and economic engagement with the Middle East.

31 Jan

Singapore and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) concluded talks on a free trade agreement after a year of negotiation. The pact marks the 1st free trade

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191

agreement concluded by the GCC countries with a country outside the Middle East.

28-annex I.indd 191

12 Feb

Bahrain’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohammed Al-Khalifa visited Singapore to explore new areas of cooperation between the two countries.

18–19 Feb

ASEAN Ministers attended a two-day annual Foreign Ministers’ Retreat in Singapore to discuss regional developments, ASEAN integration and implementation of the ASEAN Charter.

19 Feb

Brunei, Laos and Malaysia ratified the ASEAN Charter, bringing the total to four member countries, with the remaining six expected to come round to it by December.

19 Feb

Finland’s President Tarja Halonen was on a twoday state visit to deepen bilateral ties in science and technology and trade with Singapore.

25 Feb

President S. R. Nathan was on a state visit to Vietnam, hoping to extend closer ties between the two countries beyond the political and economic.

25–28 Feb

United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Adviser Prof Ibrahim Gambari called on Foreign Minister George Yeo in Singapore, as part of his regional tour to seek support in helping achieve democracy in Myanmar.

28 Feb

Foreign Minister George Yeo in his budget speech, emphasised the importance of ratification of the ASEAN Charter and keeping Myanmar within ASEAN as Myanmar is a buffer state between China and India, both of which have strategic interests in the state.

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1 Mar

Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew led a Singapore delegation to three Gulf States — Dubai, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain.

8 Mar

Vietnam ratified the ASEAN Charter.

10 Mar

President S. R. Nathan launched the MFA Diplomatic Academy by delivering the Inaugural S. Rajaratnam Lecture entitled “Singapore’s Foreign Policy: Beginnings and Future”.

12 Mar

Singapore and Abu Dhabi inked pacts in various fields — public service training and maritime policy and planning. Opening of the Singapore embassy in Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates.

28-annex I.indd 192

12 Mar

Deputy Prime Minister and Law Minister S. Jayakumar and Vietnam’s Justice Minister Ha Hong Cuong inked a milestone pact at Singapore’s Foreign Ministry after President S. R. Nathan’s visit to Hanoi last month. The MOU provides cooperation in drafting laws, promoting arbitration and developing legal expertise between the two countries.

19 Mar

Singapore and Thailand resumed two key cooperative programmes — the Thailand-Singapore Civil Service Exchange Programme (CSEP) and the SingaporeThailand Enhanced Economic Relationship (Steer) meeting.

23 Mar

Taiwan’s President-elect Ma Ying-jeou reiterated his interest in restarting stalled Free Trade Agreement talks with Singapore.

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193

2 Apr

Singapore and Egypt signed a cultural cooperation agreement to provide a framework for cooperation between the two countries in the areas of the arts, heritage, library and film.

4–7 Apr

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Indian government jointly organised “Incredible India!@60” in Singapore to celebrate India’s 60th independence anniversary. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong addressed a gala dinner comprising political, business and cultural leaders from India and Singapore.

7 Apr

Foreign Minister George Yeo made his first official visit to Austria, the Slovak Republic and the Czech Republic to strengthen links with the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) in the fields of political dialogue, trade, investment and culture.

8 Apr

United States and North Korean nuclear envoys held one-on-one talks in Singapore to try to get the deadlocked talks over Pyongyang’s nuclear programme going.

9 Apr

U.S. President George W. Bush described Singapore as a “very strong ally” after meeting Senior Minister Goh at the White House. The meeting was to reaffirm close relations between the two countries.

30 Apr

Senior Minister of State Zainul Abidin Rasheed is on a six-day working visit to Iran to attend the eighth Indian Ocean Rim-Association for Regional Cooperation Council of Ministers’ Meeting and explore economic partnerships.

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194

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2 May

Singapore, as chair of ASEAN, welcomed the confirmation of Mr. Scot Marciel as the U.S. Ambassador for ASEAN affairs by the U.S. Senate on 27 April.

5 May

Foreign Minister George Yeo wrote to his Myanmar counterpart U Nyan Win to convey his sympathies and Singapore’s offer of humanitarian assistance in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis. Singapore’s Ambassador to Myanmar, Robert Chua, handed over to Myanmar authorities the first portion of an aid package on 7 May.

5 May

Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong made his first official visit to Libya. Singapore establishes ties with Libya in early 2006, two years after it renounced terrorism.

5 May

Singapore hosted the inaugural meeting of the IndiaSingapore Strategic Dialogue (ISSD), with the aim of deepening relations across trade, economic, defence and culture links between India and Singapore.

13 May

Singapore signed a Memorandum of Understanding with North Korea during Foreign Minister George Yeo’s official visit to Pyongyang — the first by a Singapore foreign minister.

16 May

Singapore and Malaysia set up a Joint Technical Committee to enforce the verdict on the sovereignty dispute over Pedra Branca. Singapore’s Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs Peter Ho and Malaysia’s Foreign Ministry secretary-general Rastam Mohd Isa are co-chairing the Committee of officials.

17 May

Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang was on his first official visit to Singapore as Chief Executive.

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195

21 May

Rwandan President Paul Kagame, on his first official visit to Singapore, witnessed the signing of an agreement for Singapore to continue collaborating in the African nation’s development. He also delivered a public lecture entitled “Africa and Rwanda: from Crisis to Development”, organised by Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKYSPP).

21 May

The Commission on Growth and Development released its final report “The Growth Report: Strategies for Sustained Growth and Inclusive Development”. The Chair of the Commission was Nobel Laureate Professor Michael Spence. Senior Minister and Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Goh Chok Tong was a member of the Commission.

22 May

Foreign Minister George Yeo said that Singapore would establish a consulate-cum-trade office on Batam Island by end of this year to further boost Singapore’s economic ties with the Special Economic Zone (SEZ).

23 May

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) awarded Pedra Branca to Singapore, and two smaller outcrops near it, Middle Rocks to Malaysia. In the case of South Ledge, the Court requested the two parties to meet to decide in whose territorial waters it was located. On the sovereignty over Pedra Branca, the 16 judges of the ICJ voted 12 to four in Singapore’s favour.

25 May

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Foreign Minister George Yeo hosted the landmark international aid conference in Yangon to discuss measures to support relief and recovery efforts in cyclone-hit Myanmar. He said that ASEAN could play a decisive and critical role in helping to bridge

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a gap of trust between Myanmar and the international community.

28-annex I.indd 196

26 May

Singapore pledged US$5 million to an assistance fund and offered to reconstruct the Cyclone Nargis affected areas. Private individuals, companies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Singapore also extended their assistance.

3–6 Jun

Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew and Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong visited Moscow. Senior Minister Goh addressed the Skolkovo Forum, which was organised by Skolkovo Moscow School of Management, a major graduate business school whose international advisory board is chaired by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. MM Lee attended a meeting of the School’s board of which he is a member.

6 Jun

Malaysia and Singapore issued a joint press statement by spelling out an agreement on the issues of aid to ships in distress, joint survey works and fishing in the seas around Pedra Branca, Middle Rocks and South Ledge. This was followed by a meeting of the Joint Technical Committee co-chaired by Malaysia’s Foreign Ministry secretary-general Rastam Mohd Isa and Singapore’s Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs Peter Ho.

9 Jun

Former ASEAN secretary-general Ong Keng Yong, ambassador-at-large to Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Singapore assumed the post as the director of the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS), an autonomous research centre within the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.

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197

11 Jun

Singapore leaders expressed sadness at the demise of former Vietnamese Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet. Mr. Kiet died in Singapore on 11 June 08 at the age of 85. The Vietnam Singapore Industrial Park is testimony to the bilateral cooperation between Singapore and Vietnam.

14 Jun

Foreign Minister George Yeo offered his congratulations on the resumption of cross-straits talks after a nineyear hiatus. Singapore hosted the 1st dialogue in 1993.

23–25 Jun

Singapore hosted the inaugural Singapore International Water Week, the World Cities Summit and the East Asia Summit’s Conference on Liveable Cities to create opportunities for the experts, administrators and leaders to come together to address and discuss the interrelated issues of urbanisation, climate change, water, energy and the environment.

17–24 Jul

Minister for Foreign Affairs George Yeo as the ASEAN Chairman, hosted the 41st ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM), the Post Ministerial Conferences (PMC) and the 15th ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in Singapore. At the AMM, two higher-level experts groups were formed to establish an ASEAN Human Rights Body and a dispute settlement mechanism. ASEAN will also set up its own Committee of Permanent Representatives based in Jakarta to streamline decision-making and actions. At the ARF, the leaders noted with satisfaction that the first ASEAN-led mechanism, the ASEAN Humanitarian Task Force, had effectively delivered

28-annex I.indd 197

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humanitarian assistance to the victims and survivors of Cyclone Nargis. To date, seven of the 10 Member States of ASEAN have ratified the ASEAN Charter. Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines have yet to ratify the document. During the ARF, the leaders issued a statement on Promoting Collaboration on the Prevention of Diversion of Precursors into Illicit Drug Manufacture. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) acceded to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia on 24 July. Singapore handed over the Chairmanship of ASEAN to Thailand on 24 July 2008.

28-annex I.indd 198

19 Jul

Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Zainul Abidin Rasheed attended the opening ceremonies of Babussalam School and Samatiga Orphanage in Meulaboh in Aceh province of Sumatra. They were two of the nine completed projects built by Mercy Relief, a Singapore aid agency and its funding partners as part of Singapore’s contributions to the reconstruction of Aceh after the December 2004 tsunami.

20 Jul

Foreign Minister George Yeo, speaking as the ASEAN chair, said that the ministers during a working dinner were given a briefing on the Thai-Cambodia border situation around the Preah Vihear temple and “urged both sides to exercise utmost restraint and resolve the issue amicably in the spirit of ASEAN solidarity and good neighbourliness”.

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21 Jul

Cambodia had requested ASEAN to assist in resolving the issue. The members were unable to reach a consensus on setting up a contact group to mediate the conflict. Cambodia decided to appeal to the United Nations Security Council, which Foreign Minister George Yeo thought might be a little premature at the close of the ASEAN Regional Forum on 24 July.

21 Jul

ASEAN released the joint assessment report of ASEAN and the United Nations in the aftermath of Myanmar’s cyclone crisis. The High Level Panel (HLP) held its first meeting to kick start the process of drafting the terms of reference of an ASEAN human rights body. Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Bilahari Kausikan, is the Chairman of the High Level Panel (HLP). Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong launched the ASEAN Studies Centre (ACS) when he opened the 41st ASEAN Ministerial Meeting. The research centre, a unit within the Institute of Southeast Asia (ISEAS) will work closely with the ASEAN Secretariat to produce policy recommendations to strengthen regional institutions and their cooperation.

28-annex I.indd 199

21 Jul

Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Balaji Sadasivan responded to Parliamentary questions on Singapore’s position to claim a territorial sea and an Exclusive Economic Zone around Pedra Branca.

23 Jul

Six foreign ministers — from the United States, China, Japan, Russia, South and North Korea — met informally on the sidelines of an ASEAN event in Singapore. It was the highest-level gathering of the

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group, also the first time all six nations had gathered outside China since the nuclear dialogue began in 2003. China, Japan, New Zealand and Australia announced they would appoint permanent representatives. Foreign Minister George Yeo met U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and both reaffirmed the strong relationship between Singapore and the U.S., and the importance of ASEAN-U.S. cooperation. Dr. Rice commended ASEAN for acting as a platform for people to rally and resolve problems.

28-annex I.indd 200

1 Aug

Singapore and Vietnam mark 35 years of diplomatic relations.

7 Aug

Foreign Minister George Yeo hosted the ASEAN Day reception, which celebrated ASEAN’s 41st anniversary.

8 Aug

Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew represented Singapore at the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony. President S. R. Nathan attended the Games from 12 to 16 August in support of the Singapore National Team.

12 Aug

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd made his first official visit to Singapore in his capacity as Prime Minister. Both Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Prime Minister Rudd signed the MOU concerning defence cooperation between Australia and Singapore. In addition, Prime Minister Rudd delivered the 29th Singapore Lecture entitled “Australia, Singapore, Our Region and the World” during his visit.

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28 Aug

Singapore contributed emergency humanitarian supplies to Laos, in response to the widespread damage caused by the recent flooding of the Mekong River.

1 Sep

Singapore and Malaysia set up a new sub-committee to deal with maritime, airspace and fishing matters around Pedra Branca, Middle Rocks and South Ledge.

2–6 Sep

Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng co-chaired the fifth session of the Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation (JSBC), a top level meeting overseeing cooperation between Singapore and China with new Chinese co-chair — Vice Premier Wang Qi-shan. At the meeting, it was announced that Singapore and China had successfully completed negotiations for the China-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (CSFTA) — a “new milestone” in Sino-Singapore relations. Singapore is the first Asian country to reach a comprehensive bilateral FTA with China.

6 Sep

Dr. Dieter Lorenz-Meyer, Singapore’s Honorary Consul-General (HCG) in Hamburg passed away. Dr. Lorenz-Meyer was appointed as Honorary Consul on 28 January 1993 and served as HCG since April 1995.

28 Sep

Singapore and China began construction of their flagship eco-city, with the groundbreaking ceremony attended by Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.

7 Oct

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201

Philippines ratified the ASEAN Charter.

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202

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10–11 Oct

Singapore hosted the PBD Singapore (Global Indian Diaspora Conference) in which Singapore leaders President S. R. Nathan, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong and Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew delivered keynote speeches. It was the first PBD event in Asia outside India. The Conference drew some 700 overseas Indians from across the Asia Pacific region.

14 Oct

Bahrain and Singapore signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Singapore Exchange Limited (SGX) and the Bahrain Stock Exchange to explore collaboration opportunities.

21 Oct

Indonesia ratified the ASEAN Charter.

23 Oct

China and Singapore signed the landmark Free Trade Agreement (FTA). Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong witnessed the ceremony during his visit to China to attend the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM).

3–6 Nov

President S. R. Nathan made the first State visit to Kuwait. He witnessed the signing of three agreements between Singapore and Kuwait, namely the Agreement on Establishing a Joint Committee for Co-Operation, the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on CoOperation in E-Government, and the Memorandum of Understanding on Air Services.

3–6 Nov

Singapore hosted the meeting of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) to prepare for the forthcoming 14th Conference of the Parties (COP-14) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Poznan, Poland in December 2008.

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5 Nov

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong congratulated United States President-elect Barack Obama on his election as the 44th President to the United States. He invited President Obama to APEC Leaders Meeting which Singapore will host in November 2009.

5 Nov

Singapore contributed emergency relief supplies to Yemen in response to the latter’s call for international aid to alleviate the devastation caused by the recent flooding in Yemen’s Hadramaut region.

16–18 Nov

The Governor-General of Australia, Quentin Bryce, made her first official visit to Singapore where she met the Singapore leaders to reaffirm the good bilateral relations between Singapore and Australia.

17 Nov

Minister for Foreign Affairs, George Yeo, made a working visit to Barcelona, Spain and attended the launch of the Spanish edition of Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew’s memoirs.

19 Nov

Singapore government has appointed Ambassador Lim Thuan Kuan as Singapore’s first Permanent Representative to ASEAN with effect from January 2009. Singapore was the first Member State of ASEAN to appoint a Permanent Representative.

21–27 Nov

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong made his first official visit to Peru in conjunction with the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting (AELM). He also visited two other Latin American countries, Brazil and Chile. In Brazil, he witnessed the signing of three agreements between Singapore and Brazil, namely the Bilateral Air Services Agreements (ASA), the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Establishing the Joint

28-annex I.indd 203

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Committee on Promoting Trade and Investment, and the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in Science and Technology Cooperation. He also launched the Portuguese edition of Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew’s memoirs in Brazil’s capital Brasilia in the company of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva. In Chile, he witnessed the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Education Exchanges and Cooperation.

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24 Nov

Foreign Minister George Yeo led the Singapore delegation to the inaugural ASEAN-MERCOSUR Ministerial Meeting in Brasilia, Brazil.

26 Nov

Singapore imposed an indefinite moratorium on the export of cluster munitions with immediate effect. Singapore will not be signing the Convention on Cluster Munitions which will be opened for signature on 3 December 2008 in Oslo.

26–28 Nov

Prince Philippe, Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Belgium, led a business delegation to Singapore and had meetings with the corporate as well as arts and culture sectors.

28 Nov

Ms. Lo Hoei Yen, a Singaporean who was held hostage during the terrorist attack on Mumbai did not survive. This is the first time a Singaporean has been a victim of a terrorist attack.

1–5 Dec

President of Costa Rica, Oscar Arias Sánchez, made an official visit to Singapore. He delivered a public lecture titled, “Peace with Nature: A Costa Rican Green Initiative” as part of the Institute of Policy Studies Nobel Laureate Lecture series.

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205

4–5 Dec

Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Mr. Koïchiro Matsuura, visited Singapore under the auspices of Singapore’s United Nations Distinguished Visitors Programme.

10 Dec

Foreign Minister George Yeo delivered a speech at the inaugural Bali Democracy Forum which was launched by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Bali.

11 Dec

Singapore leaders paid tribute to Mr. Ali Alatas, Indonesia’s former Foreign Minister during the Suharto era who passed away in Singapore. He played a crucial role in the Eminent Persons Group on the ASEAN Charter.

15 Dec

Singapore and the six-nation, Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) signed a landmark free trade agreement (FTA), the first by the grouping during Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s official visit to Doha, Qatar.

18 Dec

Singapore and the World Bank signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) to collaborate through the new partnership “World Bank-Singapore Urban Hub” in sharing the country’s urban development experience with developing countries.

19 Dec

The book entitled Pedra Branca: The Road to the World Court was launched at Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) by Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong. Deputy Prime Minister S. Jayakumar and Ambassadorat-Large Tommy Koh co-authored the book.

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Sources: 1. Press Statements/Releases, Speeches and Transcripts from Media Resource Centre, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Singapore (http://ww.mfa. gov.sg) 2. Singapore. Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA). Retrieved from MFA website at http://ww.mfa.gov.sg on 14 January 2008. 3. Singapore. Ministry of Finance (MOF). Budget 2008 — Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Retrieved from MOF website at http://www.mof.gov. sg/budget_2008/revenue_expenditure/attachment/MFA_EE2008.pdf on 2 July 2008. 4. Singapore. International Enterprise of Singapore (IE). Retrieved from IE wesite at http://www.iesingapore.gov.sg on 29 April 2008. 5. Singapore. The Parliament. Parliament Report. Head N — Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr. George Yeo. 28 Feb 2008. 6. The Straits Times.

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Annex II List of Countries with which Singapore has Diplomatic Relations1 As of December 2008, Singapore has established diplomatic relations with 178 countries. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Country Afghanistan Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan

Date 22 June 2006 20 November 1986 12 May 1983 18 September 1997 14 September 2000 12 December 2006 30 September 1974 1 July 1992 18 August 1965 16 March 1966 15 August 1994

12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brazil

16 December 2004 30 June 1985 10 September 1972 19 December 1996 12 August 1992 10 October 1966 23 August 1995 23 February 1994 20 September 2002 3 August 1987 1 November 1995 30 August 1993 2 November 1967

1

Source: Diplomatic and Consular List, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Singapore, 2008. 207

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25 26 27

Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria Burkina Faso

1 January 1984 20 November 1967 1 May 1993

28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43

Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Chile China Colombia Comoros Congo Congo, The Democratic Republic of Costa Rica Cote D’Ivoire Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech Republic

10 August 1965 30 September 1991 15 December 1965 6 October 1995 25 July 1979 3 October 1990 15 December 1982 24 August 1985 8 February 2001 23 March 1984 1 September 1987 2 October 1996 23 November 1992 18 April 1997 26 April 1980 11 February 1993

44 45 46

Denmark Djibouti Dominican Republic

28 September 1965 15 September 1983 10 February 2000

47 48 49 50 51 52

Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia

23 September 1994 28 November 1966 6 August 1974 15 December 1993 2 February 1993 31 March 1969

53 54 55

Fiji Finland France

30 November 1971 16 February 1973 21 November 1968

29_annex II.indd 208

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209

56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63

Gabon Georgia Germany Ghana Greece Guatemala Guinea-Bissau Guyana

6 February 2007 16 February 1993 6 November 1965 11 October 1989 21 October 1966 1 December 1992 1 July 1996 19 September 2002

64 65 66

Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras Hungary

23 June 1981 5 July 1985 24 August 1970

67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74

Iceland India Indonesia Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq Ireland Israel Italy

4 May 1999 24 August 1965 6 June 1966 6 March 1973 27 December 1977 2 December 1974 11 May 1969 28 October 1965

75 76 77

Jamaica Japan Jordan

1 November 1992 26 April 1966 28 July 1988

78 79 80 81 82 83 84

Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Korea, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait Kyrgyzstan

30 March 1993 30 September 1991 7 September 1989 8 November 1975 8 August 1975 18 November 1985 27 August 1992

85 86 87

Lao People’s Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon

12 December 1974 20 January 1992 3 May 1969

29_annex II.indd 209

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88 89 90 91 92

Lesotho Liberia Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Lithuania Luxembourg

12 January 1990 7 January 1987 3 March 2006 10 October 1993 17 March 1975

93

8 May 1995

94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110

Macedonia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Mauritius Mexico Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Morocco Mozambique Myanmar

111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118

Namibia Nepal, Federal Democratic Republic of Netherlands New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Norway

9 November 1994 25 March 1969 7 December 1965 22 November 1965 6 January 1993 1 June 1998 20 April 1970 7 March 1969

29_annex II.indd 210

31 January 1990 24 August 1998 1 September 1965 20 February 1975 29 August 1989 16 May 1988 28 August 1992 27 October 1989 22 December 1975 26 August 1991 15 January 1993 14 October 1996 11 June 1970 30 June 2006 20 January 1997 29 July 1996 12 April 1966

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211

119

Oman

21 February 1985

120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128

Pakistan Palau Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal

17 August 1966 30 September 1999 6 August 1982 14 May 1976 10 December 1992 27 October 1980 16 May 1969 10 April 1969 24 August 1980

129

Qatar

23 January 1984

130 131 132

Romania Russian Federation Rwanda

30 May 1967 1 January 1968 18 March 2005

133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150

Saint Kitt and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa San Marino Sao Tome and Principe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa Spain Sri Lanka Sudan

1 July 1992 15 January 1994 19 February 1999 3 September 1990 9 December 2005 18 August 1997 10 November 1977 16 September 1999 22 August 1967 16 September 1988 11 February 1993 7 September 1992 21 April 1987 14 January 1983 11 October 1993 15 June 1968 27 July 1970 8 October 2003

29_annex II.indd 211

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151 152 153 154 155

Suriname Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Syrian Arab Republic

15 April 1996 1 September 1992 8 February 1966 11 October 1967 28 May 2008

156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165

Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand Timor-Leste Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Tuvalu

8 December 1995 12 December 1980 20 September 1965 20 May 2002 6 August 1993 15 December 1971 30 November 1984 12 February 1969 12 September 1996 6 December 2001

166 167 168 169 170 171 172

Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States Uruguay Uzbekistan

1 June 1998 31 March 1992 15 May 1985 12 November 1965 4 April 1966 15 September 1987 8 April 1997

173 174 175

Vanuatu Venezuela Vietnam

10 December 1982 1 August 1987 1 August 1973

176

Yemen

10 March 1983

177 178

Zambia Zimbabwe

17 December 1996 31 July 1987

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Index ASEAN xiii, 3–7, 12, 13, 27, 36, 49, 59, 60, 75, 85, 99, 108, 118, 119, 124, 125, 138, 149, 159, 161, 164, 166, 167, 172, 174–177, 180–183, 185–188, 190–192, 194–205

Kobe Earthquake 21 Korea 27, 31, 32, 78, 172, 179, 180, 181, 187, 194, 198, 199, 209 KPNLF xiv, 36–38 Kuwait xv, 17, 19, 40, 149, 202, 209

Baghdad ix, 17–19 Baguio 61, 62, 154 Bahrain 49, 55, 63, 191, 192, 202, 207 Bangkok 3, 25, 28, 29, 33, 35, 36, 38, 65, 115, 137, 159 Brunei x, 49, 51–54, 67, 164, 191, 208

Laos 25, 113, 123–126, 128, 187, 191, 201 Lebanon 64, 172, 209

EU xiii, 11, 12, 15, 115, 117, 119, 120, 187 European Union xiii, 11, 99, 115 FUNCINPEC

xiii, 36, 38

Geneva 43, 45, 46, 48, 97, 98, 100, 123, 124, 127, 128, 131, 132, 137 Indonesia x, 4, 23, 35, 49–52, 163–165, 168, 169, 173, 174, 177, 178, 180, 181, 183, 190, 198, 202, 205, 209 Iraq xv, 17, 40, 137, 209 Japan 27, 30–32, 99, 125, 150, 158, 170, 171, 185, 187, 189, 199, 200, 209

Manila 21, 24, 59, 61, 75–77, 79, 80, 82, 149, 153–155, 157, 158, 180 MFA x, xiv, xvii, 3, 11, 14, 15, 21–23, 25, 27, 34, 38, 43, 47, 59–63, 65–68, 74, 75, 85, 86, 94, 99, 108, 112, 114, 128, 131, 134, 137–142, 149, 150, 153, 160, 161, 170, 192, 205, 206 Moscow 143, 145, 196 Myanmar 21, 24, 29, 33, 35, 126, 182, 183, 185–188, 191, 194–196, 199, 210 New Delhi

107, 160

Philippines x, 6, 33, 35, 62, 75–78, 80–83, 115, 155, 157, 168, 175, 198, 201, 211 Pinatubo 62 PSC xv, 149, 150 Riyadh

33, 38–40, 54, 55–57

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S. R. Nathan 5, 7, 33, 43, 108, 164, 167, 174, 178, 184, 191, 192, 200, 202 SARS ix, xv, 17, 21–23 Saudi Arabia x, 35, 38–40, 49, 54–56, 169, 175, 192, 211 September 11 x, 91, 94, 95 SQ006 68, 74

Tokyo 21, 22, 24, 30, 31, 149, 158, 171, 185 TRIPS xv, 97–99, 101, 102 Tsunami ix, 21, 23, 62

Taipei 17, 67–70, 72, 91 Taiwan 69, 171, 192 Thailand 23, 28, 29, 32, 35, 36, 149, 159, 160, 165, 177, 179, 192, 198, 212 Togo 64, 65

Washington, D.C. 3, 4, 85, 91, 95, 107, 109, 115 WIPO xvi, 45, 46, 48, 124, 128 WTO xvi, 44, 97–102, 104, 124, 125, 128, 139

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Vietnam 36, 80, 85, 108, 123, 126, 173, 175, 187, 191, 192, 197, 200, 212

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