S'pore's meritocratic edge

MM Lee spoke during the lecture yesterday about how Singapore had to compete and survive in an ever-changing world. -- ST PHOTO: LAU FOOK KONG

April 10, 2009
S. RAJARATNAM LECTURE

Cohesive, multiracial and alert to vulnerabilities are crucial traits, says MM
By Zakir Hussain, Political Correspondent

MINISTER Mentor Lee Kuan Yew has urged Singaporeans not to delude themselves that they are a part of the First World in South-east Asia.

Singapore is situated in a region with 'special features' which makes it particularly vulnerable, so to keep its competitive edge and be relevant to the world, it must stay a cohesive, multiracial, multireligious nation based on meritocracy, he said.

'Our region has its own special features. Singapore's destiny would be very different if we were sited in Europe or North America.

'We cannot transplant our island elsewhere. Therefore, a recurrent issue for Singapore is how to differentiate ourselves from our neighbours in order to compete and survive, and also get along with them,' he said.

Mr Lee made these points in a prepared lecture to 500 Foreign Service officers, diplomats, and guests at the annual S. Rajaratnam Lecture, an event organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Diplomatic Academy and named after Singapore's first foreign minister.

Highlighting the fundamentals of Singapore's foreign policy, he said that as a small country, Singapore 'must seek a maximum number of friends, while maintaining the freedom to be itself as a sovereign and independent nation'.

To survive, it must stay relevant to the world, find its competitive edge, and rise above geographical and resource constraints.

'Had we disported ourselves like our better-endowed neighbours, we would have failed,' he said.
While time and working together in Asean had worn down many of the 'sharper edges' in Singapore's relations with its immediate neighbours, certain fundamental vulnerabilities remain, and successor generations of Singaporeans must not forget these, he said.

He elaborated on the 'complexities' of Singapore's relations with its neighbours, in particular those caused by differences between their political and social systems.