BEYOND SG

Sichuan Earthquake

1. China's media coverage of the Sichuan Earthquake is unprecedented. A few minutes after the first shock, national and provincial TV broke the news. Since then, the rescue efforts have been reported in detail, almost minute by minute. The entire nation is rallying around the millions of people who are affected. Donations have been pouring in from all directions.

2. For four days, Premier Wen Jiabao was on the ground, comforting the bereaved and the injured, urging rescue workers on and giving hope to those whose loved ones are still missing. It is a tragedy which brings tears to the eyes but one which also draws up the best in people. Now, it is President Hu Jintao's turn to visit while the Premier returns to Beijing. One politburo member told me that never has the comments in the Internet on the Chinese Government been so positive.

3. Aid is also flowing in from overseas. With so many people still unaccounted for, the Chinese Government has decided to let in foreign rescue teams selectively. Within a few hours of being asked, Singapore's DART team took off in two C-130s with 55 personnel, equipment and dogs. They have since landed in Chengdu and are being deployed by the Chinese.

4. Singaporeans have responded in a heartwarming way to both the cyclone disaster in Myanmar and the earthquake in Sichuan. I have received so many emails offering help and urging the government to offer help.

5. Although more lives were lost as a result of the Tangshan earthquake in 1976, the Sichuan earthquake was bigger and affected a much bigger area. It was the worst since the PRC was established in 1949. Watching the way the Chinese people and their leaders are responding to the disaster, I believe China will emerge from it stronger and more united.

George Yeo

Map of China

(Map and related information under GNU Free Documentation Scheme)

Relationship with North Korea

1. Although Singapore's political relationship with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) are good, our economic relations are minimal. In recent years, the North Koreans have indicated interest in closer relations sending occasional delegations to Singapore. A few years ago, an official delegation visited me at MTI which included Kim Jong-Il's brother-in-law. Two years ago, the former Foreign Minister made a bilateral visit to Singapore as my guest. Last year, President Kim Young Nam made an official visit calling on President Nathan and SM Goh.

2. When Singapore negotiated an FTA with South Korea, we included Gaesong Industrial Park, an SEZ in North Korea across the DMZ. Later, this provision was incorporated into the ASEAN-South Korea FTA. When I visited Gaesong Industrial Park last year, it looked very promising. However, after President Lee Myung- Bak assumed office, he put conditions on Gaesong's further development which greatly annoyed the North.

3. Neither Singapore nor ASEAN is a player in the politics of the Korean Peninsula. While we support the Six-Party Talks and reunification, we have little influence. We are well-wishers and offer our hands of frienship to both the North and the South. Our economic relationship with the South is of course much more substantial. In February, the ASEAN Foreign Ministers agreed for me to invite North Korea to accede to the Treaty of Amith and Cooperation with ASEAN. It seems likely that the North will do so when its Foreign Minister visits Singapore in July for the ASEAN Regional Forum.

4. The key to North Korea's opening up is its relationship with the US. Recently, the two sides held successful talks in Singapore. But the road to the future is not an easy one. The North is not going to give up its nuclear card readily because it is the only card it has got. When I visited Panmunjom, I was briefed on the war and the armistice as seen by North Korea. Although the Korean war was more than half a century ago, the emotions are still deeply felt. It is a tragedy that the people of the North are still trapped in the past when others in Asia are taking rapid strides into the future. They deserve better.

George Yeo

Cry for Myanmar

1 Talking about the cyclone that caused so many deaths in Myanmar, an elderly lady asked: why is there so much suffering? The estimated death toll has being rising day by day. Tens of thousands have died. Many more are without homes and need immediate supplies of food, water, medicines and shelter.

2. Aid is pouring in from all over the world. The bottleneck is the damaged infrastructure which was not very good to begin with. Initially suspicious of foreign assistance, the Myanmar Government is cautiously opening its door to outside help. This is a major test for the military government. If it rises to the challenge, its standing in the eyes of the citizenry will go up. The manner in which the Chinese leadership responded to the unusually cold weather during the Chinese New Year period this year earned it widespread praise.

3. Singaporeans have been calling MFA and our embassy in Yangon to ask how they could help. Mercy Relief and Red Cross have responded quickly. I received emails from Ven Fa Zhao,Tony Chew and others offering immediate cash donations. At a luncheon talk given by Sister Angela on the work done by Catholic nuns in Myanmar, over $15,000 was raised and more money is coming in. I am sure many religious organisations, NGOs and private individuals in Singapore are also passing the hat around. It is right that we who are much better off should reach out to those who are in crying need.

George Yeo

Minister Yeo's Interview with Indian Express' Editor-in-chief Shekhar Gupta "Walk The Talk"

The following interview was done on 25 April in Delhi for a TV show called "Walk the Talk".

Welcome to Walk the Talk. My guest this week is one of the most youthful diplomats you've seen — a foreign minister representing a very tiny country, one of the smallest in the world, yet somebody who carries a big, heavy voice not just in Asia but all over the world, Singapore Foreign Minister George Yong-Boon Yeo.
Thank you very much.

•Sometimes I wonder that you know more about Indian politics than many of us do. Do you have an India fascination?
Yes. I first came to India in 1986 to attend a friend's wedding deep in the south. That was my first encounter with India. While traveling to Madras, I remember joining the queue. Indian passengers had all kinds of gadgets from Singapore. And they had to clear Customs methodically, and the officer was punctilious. He checked every item and would go over them with green ink. That was the Indian bureaucratic entry point. I was quite impressed.

•My favourite humourist, P.G. O'Rourke, came to India when India tested its nukes the second time. He said, "We Americans have nothing to worry about India's nuclear weapons. Because before India launches a nuclear missile on us, 30 Customs officers will tear it apart and examine every part for exportability."
I think Indians have this wonderful, almost charming ability to laugh at themselves. That says a lot for you.

•Where would we go if we didn't?
The Indian bureaucracy has changed a lot since then. Of course, you've got a long way to go. But it's much better than what it was in the past.

•One of the things that you've said is that Singapore was governed from Calcutta. The same bureaucracy, the same British system set up the two, isn't it?
Well, we're much smaller. Our margins for survival are much narrower. We had to take a more practical approach. And adopt a simpler system. Whereas in your case, it's a big country, and without two institutions holding the country together, I've said this earlier, without the civil service and the army, the idea of a united India would've been much more difficult.

•One more thing that not many people know about you is that you were in the Singapore armed forces.
I was in the army and the air force. I remember visiting Khadakvasala in 1988. The National Defence Academy. Because it is a tri-service academy, we wanted to learn from it. There I met the superintendent, a three-star general who was once upon a time a defence attaché in Singapore. He invited me to address a gathering, which I did. It was a very impressive gathering of young cadets. Tall Pathans, people with Mongloid features from the east. There I realised that this is a key institution holding the union together. It was an interesting experience for me. Do you know when I was an officer cadet in 1972, we had to study the law which created the Singapore armed forces. It was a thin document. The instructor told us to refer to the Indian army manual when there was a lacuna, which was a thick red book. Today, you probably still have that thick red book.

•You're someone whose interest in India is original. It's not inherited.
I think that's a compliment. When I attended the wedding of my friend in Madurai, he introduced me to his aunt. Everyday, she would bring a bottle of boiled water to ensure we stay healthy. I realised there are many things we share in common. The jargon, even the body language. The aunt said we should stick to vegetarian food, because this way you're less likely to have an upset stomach. I learnt all this from her. Years later when I visited IMA, I went to the physics lab and found the equipment was identical to what I used in school in Singapore. We had the same central supply office, the same logistics.

•You studied at Cambridge and Harvard. You'll be too qualified to be a cabinet minister in India.
Don't say that, please. You have very eminently qualified ministers. I mean, like P. Chidambaram. Eminently qualified.

•You are also part of a group at Harvard.
We meet regularly at conferences. I have very high respect for him.

•Is your fascination for India responsible for your interest in the Nalanda Project? You're the father of the project.
Not at all.

•I mean, this quest for an Asian identity which you talk about?
When I was the Minister for Trade and Industry, Shri L.K. Advani was in Singapore on an official visit as Deputy PM. And I said, 'Why don't you promote Buddhist tourism in India? There are hundreds of millions of Buddhists in East Asia who want to visit these places of pilgrimage. He agreed with me and asked me to speak to Jagmohan, who was the tourism minister. Jagmohan, when he visited Singapore, said he could help. It was in our interest too. A year later, the Mahabodhi Temple in Gaya was designated as a world heritage site by UNESCO. He invited me to participate in the celebrations. We brought a flight full of Buddhist tourists from Singapore including twenty-five monks. We told them we'll visit Nalanda etc and it fascinated me how in the age of globalisation we're one world. And how in this century we're coming together again. When I spoke to my Indian friends, they were also thinking along parallel tracks. I remember, when (former) President Abdul Kalam visited Singapore, I called on him for 15 minutes. The entire conversation was on Nalanda. It's not just me, its many people who are interested in it. It's an idea whose time has come.

•The touching thing is that you believe it can be done. We Indians are too cynical to believe anything can be done between Delhi and Patna. For you, it's an act of faith and courage. How has it been?
Maybe. When you don't know too much, you're more prepared to try. We've made good progress. Amartya Sen chairs a committee of mentors, of which I am a member. I am involved as an individual, not as a foreign minister. We've met twice, in Singapore and Tokyo. Next month we meet in New York.

•Another creditable thing about the Indian system is that even if there is a change in government and there is a great deal of bitterness between the two parties, the project is unaffected.
I think it has captured the imagination of both sides. We've had discussions with Shri L.K. Advani, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, (Ambika) Soni and Rahul Gandhi, Arun Shourie.

•So this cuts across party lines.
Yes, there's genuine enthusiasm for it.

•Is it tough for a Singapore minister to handle, the kind of division in our politics, having to balance all sides?
Because I've spoken to ministers and individuals from all over East Asia — China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Myanmar, Indonesia — there's a common enthusiasm for it.

•One thing Singapore politics doesn't prepare you for is the contentiousness of Indian politics, because we're the opposite for Singaporean discipline and focus.
I think each system has its strengths and weakness. And the diversity of views makes India a lively society. And this is a creative society, that's what India has always been.

•We sometimes say, 'Look at China, they're so disciplined. We are an anarchy. Nothing moves, soft state, this, that. . ." And one little Tibetan thing happens and the whole Chinese state is in so much pain and trauma. India has a million mutinies going on at any point in time and we take them in our stride.
India will never have a revolution. China will need one every two or three centuries. Because their society is organised differently. It's hierarchical, has one core centre. India is diverse. In many ways it's like Europe: it's tribal, has got all kinds of divisions, religions, and a commonality which is soft. I've said this before — that there's no aspect of the human condition which Indians have not thought about or philosophised on and somehow given expression to. Whereas in China there has to be a certain way of looking at civilisation, a certain hierarchy, a certain orderliness. That enables China to move very fast when it wants to, but at other times it also creates a certain bitterness. In the case of Tibet, I think, it's an expression (of that).

•To say things like "beast" for the Dalai Lama, or 'We'll crush them' is not how a big power reacts to an internal disturbance.
Part of the problem is in the translation. Many translations they use are imported from the Cold War days and sound dated and awkward in the 21st century. I've often spoken to them to update their jargon. And perhaps be a little more flexible.

•What do they say to you? You're a young man.
Because Singapore is three-quarters Chinese, they took our view seriously. They don't always agree.

•You're managing your diversity very well in Singapore.
By necessity, because we have no choice.

•A less wise political system could've gone the other way. You've done more for Tamil than Malaysians could do. You accept signboards, you accept Tamil as one of your national languages.
We lived in apartment blocks as children in Singapore. In the same building we have Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, Hindus living side by side. We don't allow ghettoisation because it creates separate mentalities. As parents, we nag our children when they're insensitive. We tell them, 'You've got to see what he will think, what his parents will think.' Singaporeans are taught to be tolerant and sensitive. It's in our blood. We've incorporated it into our DNA.

•Could the Chinese have handled it a bit better?
This recent outbreak of violence wasn't their fault. It was organised by groups that wanted to hold China hostage to the Olympics. I am not saying the Tibetans don't have legitimate grievances. These are grievances of a sizable minority community with a different past and with certain hopes for themselves that are not necessarily coincidental with that of the state. The actual precipitating incident itself, I think, was organised. It's quite wrong to blame China.

•A country of the size and power of China, is it wise for them to make the Olympics a coming-out party? Do they need one?
They've pinned so much of their national hopes and dreams on the Olympics. It's their prerogative, they want a big party. I think they're fully entitled to it. They've suffered long enough. We shouldn't be spoiling it. If I were them, I wouldn't have had such a party because it attracts too much attention. The people say, 'Look, you wanted it so much, now pay.'

•You understand China even better than you understand India. We don't understand China adequately in India. After so much growth, having become a military and economic superpower, having great leaders and political stability, do they still have to keep on harping on a hundred years of humiliation and then ride this nationalism as if that is the only ideology? The whole combination sounds a bit odd.
I look at it differently. My mother came from China and I have cousins there. I visit them every few years. When I first went there in 1983 — my mother came from the south of China where the people lived in abject poverty — I would draw water from the well and go for my daily business outdoors. From 1983 to now, their society has been completely transformed. At the level of ordinary lives of hundreds of millions of people, there has been amazing transformation. The same kind of transformation we are now seeing in India. We've got to give them the credit for that. Yes, they're not perfect. Sometimes, they're excessive. Sometimes, they bungle in their foreign relations. On the whole, they're doing very well.

•But they're very defensive about so many things, very sensitive. There may be an 18-page story in Time magazine praising them, but a one-page story on pollution in Beijing irks them so much that one man sits and pulls out that page from tens of thousands of copies.
I know, it seems so silly. It's the way their society is organised. I was for many years the minister for information of Singapore and knew my Chinese counterpart very well. He has a big burden, because for the major newspapers in China, he had to decide the headlines, had to give proper emphasis.

•Were you envious of him?
Not at all. That was too much of a burden. I wouldn't have been able to sleep! There is a strange similarity between China and the Catholic church. Both are highly centralised. Both believe that in doctrinal matters you have to be correct. It's the core doctrine which holds all the members together, and that propaganda is really communication, something essential. There's a dogma which has to be propagated.

•You're Chinese and also a Catholic, so you should know both sides.
To some extent.

•Should the world keep this is mind while relating to China, because the world relates to China in a certain way? The rest of the world gets anxious about China's rise. Nobody gets anxious about India's rise.
It's a diverse world becoming multipolar. There's only going to be peace if we accept diversity, which means respecting each other for his differences. You can't say that you have a relationship based on the fact that you have got the other party to become what you wanted him to be. Countries are different, so are societies.

•Maybe there's more comfort about India because of diversity, chaotic politics?
Partly because India doesn't loom as a threat to what I call the West, or America. The Pentagon has identified China as the only country in the world which can become a rival to the US.

•It's wonderful how the Pentagon divides the world. They divide the world somewhere where India is. You came to India in 1988 and stood in a smuggler's queue. When you came on a plane to India this time, how has it changed since then?
I came as an officer in 1993, just after the Babri Masjid incident in December 1992. Even then, one could sense in India a big transformation taking place. What really impressed me were two conversations I had with two district collectors, in Kanchipuram and Mysore. I wanted to know the extent to which the policies of (then prime minister) Narasimha Rao were percolating to the ground. I asked them their reactions and they were enthusiastic. I felt good about it. When I went back, I wrote a report: the changes in India have to be taken seriously.

•You made a quick trip to Bhopal this time.
I had friends from Madhya Pradesh and wanted to visit the state. There's enormous potential in India for tourism. For instance Sanchi, it hasn't been tapped properly. It is a gem, an unpolished one. The good it can do to so many ordinary people!

•I think you have more hotel rooms in Singapore than we have in our 10 big cities together.
It's one industry which can bring the good life to ordinary men and women. I would promote it with the greatest enthusiasm.

•Well, George, I hope your friends are listening. I'm sure they take you very seriously. The fact is you're so young by the standards of our politicians, but they'll take you more seriously than they take many of your cabinet colleagues. Keep coming to India and do stay a friend of India forever.
Thank you, Shekhar. I will come, you can't keep me away.

Interview with The Hindu

I gave an interview to Mr P.S. Suryanarayana of The Hindu before my visit to India for the inaugural ministerial consultation between me and Shri Pranab Mukherjee.

George Yeo

Date:21/04/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/04/21/stories/2008042155451100.htm
Yeo: There are no irritants in India-Singapore relations
P. S. Suryanarayana

“… you need to have some progress on the border problem [between India and China]. I don’t see that not happening.”

In a reflective interview to P.S. Suryanarayana in Singapore, its Foreign Minister George Yeo narrates how the dynamics of India-China engagement are seen and felt in the City-State.

You will be starting a new mechanism, Joint Ministerial Committee (JMC), which will meet in New Delhi this week. India and Singapore have a robust relationship. Will it transcend the traditional notions of strategic partnership?

Whatever you call it, it is a strategic relationship, which both sides see as not only mutually beneficial but also necessary. This is the inaugural [JMC] meeting. And, then [will follow] a strategic dialogue [whose] inaugural meeting will be held in Singapore.

Are you looking at any new projects at this JMC meeting?

It is good always to have a discussion on what is going on in the world and [how] we should respond to these changes. I have always found it useful to talk to [External Affairs Minister] Pranab Mukherjee: very experienced, very wise.

One of the likely new ventures is the special economic zone (SEZ). Has Singapore been given the green light from the Indian side to go ahead?

We are certainly interested.

Singapore has had a particularly important role in China. Will it be qualitatively different in India?

We have industrial estates in China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia. Each has got to take into account local conditions.

SEZ is a politically sensitive issue in India. Have you already zeroed in on any particular area?

Ascendas has been in discussions with different groups in different parts of the country. [The project] must make commercial sense, and it must respect local sensitivities. In India, you operate within a different framework [compared to China].We are very used to operating in different environments (Laughs genially). And, the key here is: we understand that this issue is particularly sensitive in India, and we will accommodate it. We will work with that sensitivity in mind.

What is the secret of the recent deletion of some items of liberalised trade-in-goods from the (India-Singapore) Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement?

This is the usual horse-trading that goes on when free trade agreements are reviewed. There’re always trade-offs.

This is not an issue?

Not at all. (Laughs heartily) Best as I know, as of now, there’s no irritant in our bilateral relationship.

Any particular focus, to start with, in the Strategic Dialogue?

It’s between Prof. Tommy Koh and Dr. S.K. Lambah (leaders of the Singapore and Indian delegations to this Dialogue). You have on the Asian landscape something truly historic, which is the simultaneous re-emergence of two ancient powers.

The United States today is a wounded superpower and also somewhat of a sliding economy. If that can be taken as a framework, are India and China in a position to restructure the East Asian security architecture?

No, not for a long time to come. China and India are growing, while the U.S. is dominant and [will] remain dominant for a long time.

I see so many Indians now in very high positions in the U.S. in all fields. It’s a great asset to India, which gives the U.S.-India relationship a quality which China can only wish it has. [But] China has been recognised by the Pentagon as the only country on the horizon which can compete with the U.S. strategically.
There is [also] an interesting phenomenon that the world meets in the U.S. Oh! Should I say: the American dream became the Asian dream. [Moreover] China and India are engaged in a new encounter: unparalleled, without precedent. It is a huge engagement which will be interesting and surprising (Emphasises in a positive tone). And, it has only just started.

We sense it in Singapore (Says with a touch of emotion). We sense this new age, because we are like an approximate precursor of what may be happening on a much larger scale. We have two-or-three thousand Indian companies; 3,000 Chinese companies, huge migrations [of people] from India and China. They meet in our classrooms, the restaurants; and, sometimes I wonder: “God, What’s going on!” You know: in our condominiums, how they encounter each other; some lead separate lives, some inter-marry. It is something which you will see replicated a thousand times across Asia, maybe in Bombay, in Shanghai, Hong Kong. It’s a huge phenomenon which is just beginning to appear before us.

You were saying that the American dream has in a sense become the Asian dream as well. Given the American dream in Asia since the end of the Second World War, will the U.S. feel threatened by the simultaneous rise of China and India now?

The U.S. of course [would] like to have an ally in India. But India is too big to be anybody’s pawn. [And] India recognises that China is a permanent neighbour.

[And, while] it has become a multi-polar world, with the U.S. still the strongest pole, there are two emerging poles which are becoming more and more influential: China and India. Everybody is playing the field, in an electromagnetic sense.

As the Chair of the Association of South East Asian Nations Regional Forum (ARF) and also the East Asia Summit (EAS), both of which include India and China, what does Singapore make of their engagement?
Take Tibet. China has been emphatic in praising India for doing the right thing, and India has been very careful in doing the right things. So, when the [Olympic] Torch went through Delhi, the Indian Army was on both sides to ensure that nothing happened to the flame. (Laughs heartily) I fully expected that. It is too important a relationship to be trifled with by either side.

China has settled its land borders with everybody else, including Russia and even Vietnam. So, you need to have some progress on the border problem [between India and China]. I don’t see that not happening. There is no history of antagonism between the two sides, except for the brief war (in 1962) which remains a scar in the Indian psyche [but] ... not in the consciousness of most Chinese. So, whenever I have a chance, I tell the Chinese: “Hey! Look. You must factor this in.”

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice recently suggested that the six-party talks on the North Korean nuclear issue, which bring Washington as a participant, can be institutionalised. What is the game-plan?

If the six-party talks, after making some progress, can also provide a readymade platform for other areas of cooperation, that should only be encouraged. With the U.S. having been a part of the past [in East Asia], it must also be a part of the future.[As for the] East Asia Summit, the U.S. has not expressed interest [in joining]. From Singapore’s perspective, the EAS is a very important grouping which brings China and India together.

© Copyright 2000 - 2008 The Hindu

(Courtesy - The Hindu)

The Art of Being Not There

I am constantly amazed at how humans intereact these days. If you observe closely, humans equipped with cellphones, PDAs, notebooks, iPods and all that digital gizmos no longer talk to each other.

At McDonalds restaurants, starbucks and all the usual "gathering" places, humans talk to their cellphones, SMS, I-chat - they are physically there but they are not "there". I find it most shocking when the same social behaviour extends to St James Powerstation's discos and lounges. Everybody is looking at their cellphones when they should be enjoying the music or "checking the babes" but no! they are dutifully staring at their tiny LCD screens. They are not there.

I have to have a night life because I am a businessman these days to connect, collaborate and contract. Yet I am staring at my blackberry reading New York Times and ABC News while the world around me drink, dance and date. I am not there too.

Faith Popcorn, the author who wrote the classic "Popcorn Report" and "Cocoon" predicted that humans, equipped with cocoon technologies like potable MP3 player, video players and communication devices will cocoon themselves in their own ecospheres/dataspheres. Reality or real space is too boring, being here is cool, being not here is sub zero cool.

Hope to meet you soon. Remember, I am not really here.

Harold Fock

The Power of a Search Engine in a trip to Seattle

Last month, I was in Redmond, Seattle to attend a Microsoft conference. During the trip, my business partners and I decided to visit the Apple store as we wanted to check out the new iPhone and the Air Mac. The problem was we have no idea where was the flagship store in Seattle. We got into the cab and asked the cab driver to locate any Apple store. He was very helpful but was not sure. He remembered vaguely that there is an Apple store somewhere at University Village.

I punched three search words in Google on my Blackberry 8800. "Apple" "store" "seattle". Out pop the following information on my Blackberry screen:

Apple Store www.apple.com 2656 NE University Village St Seattle, WA 98105, United States +1 206-524-8100 Get directions

Google "knew" that when you punched in the above keywords, chances are you are looking for an Apple store and it is smart enough to anticipate you need a map too. A second click told me the opening hours of the store. Mission accomplished. We all bought quite a few items from the Apple store, thanks to Google. Otherwise we would have gotten back to our hotel, have a few glasses of wine and sleep.

It just dawned on me there and then why Google is worth billions in terms of valuation. And why Microsoft wishes to buy Yahoo. In the net age, you cant live without a smart search engine.

Harold Fock

At Microsoft Conference Centre trying to fight jet lag. The folks at Redmond WORKS HARD. Their conference assembly time is 645am!!!

At Seattle's amazing Science Fiction Museum and Experience Music Project Building (the purplish reflective structure behind me). Yes, you got it right. They devote half a Frank O. Gehry-designed building to SCI FICTION books and movies. How Geeky Sub Zero Cool can you get?

The APPLE store (It felt like "Harold and Kumar found White Castle" Burgerstore when we arrived!!!)

Slovakia

1. Slovakia is now one of the fastest growing economies in Europe. With a flat tax and an environment conducive to investment, Slovakia is developing fast. Unemployment has been coming down. It now prides itself as the world's biggest producer of motorcars on a per capita basis.

2. Slovakia and Singapore share a kindred spirit. Completely dependent on the larger environment, Slovakia is outward oriented and determined to make itself relevant to others, like us. Joining the EU has been a boon. With the removal of border controls, Bratislava and Vienna are becoming twin cities, with the international airport at Vienna serving both cities.

3. Foreign Minister Jan Kubis went out of his way to make my short visit pleasant and productive. Our economic link is still weak but has potential to become much stronger. Like Austria, Slovakia is now in the middle of Europe and well-positioned to benefit from new opportunities brought about by the enlargement of the EU. There is a lot we can do to help each other. In 2006, Slovakia's President visited Singapore and SM Goh visited Slovakia, opening a new chapter in our relationship.

4. An interesting new press law has just been passed by the Slovak Parliament giving politicians the right of reply to inaccurate reports in the media. This of course was what we insisted of foreign newspapers circulating in Singapore some years ago.

George Yeo

Minister Yeo and Slovak President Dr Ivan Gasparovic

Minister Yeo and Foreign Minister Jan Kubis

Minister Yeo and Deputy Speaker of National Council Miroslav Ciz

Minister Yeo in Red Stone Castle

Minister Yeo outside a house where Mozart is played

Slovakia Flag

Austria

1 Vienna sparkles. I have not been back to this elegant city since 1979 when I drove in from Budapest past the iron curtain.

2. It was for centuries the capital of a vast realm ruled by the Habsburgs. Austro-Hungary was a multi national empire kept together by a sophisticated system of governance. Though staunchly Catholic, it handled ethnic and religious diversity sensitively. These instincts are deeply ingrained in the Austrian people.

3. After the First World War, Austria lost its monarchy and much of its empire. But it kept its high culture expressed in manners, music, pastries and diplomacy. A big tree became a beautiful potted bonsai. With the end of the Cold War and the eastward enlargement of the European Union, the pot has been broken and the roots and branches are spreading again in a European garden. We are fortunate to have the Chairman of Raiffeisen Bank as our Honorary Consul General. The bank is expanding at a rate of one branch a day, not including weekends, mostly eastwards. It even has a branch in Kamchatka! Austria is now one of the best performing economies in the European Union.

4. We've not had a Singapore Foreign Minister visit Austria for over 20 years partly because it has been a happy and mostly problem-free relationship. Sometimes we take our friends for granted. Looking ahead, there is much we can do to help each other.

George Yeo

Minister touring Kunst Historishes Museum

Minister touring Nationalbibliothek

Minister with Federal Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer

Minister with Federal President Heinz Fisher and Ambassador Soo Kok Leng

Minister with Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik

Minister with HCG Rothensteiner

Vienna Code of Arms

Minister Yeo's speech at 2nd Asia-Middle East DIalogue Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

SPEECH BY GEORGE YEO, MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS
AT THE SECOND ASIA-MIDDLE EAST DIALOGUE
SHARM EL SHEIKH, EGYPT
5 APRIL 2008

Your Excellency Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit
Fellow Ministers
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentleman

1 I am delighted to be back in Egypt to attend this second meeting of the Asia-Middle East Dialogue (AMED). On behalf of the Singapore delegation, I thank and congratulate Minister Aboul Gheit and the good officers of the Egyptian Foreign Ministry for the excellent arrangements. Singapore treasures its friendship with Egypt which goes back to the days of President Gamal Abdel Nasser and Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. The strong support of President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, King Abdullah of Jordan and Prime Minister Shaikh Khalifa of Bahrain in February 2004 convinced Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong that the idea of AMED was worth pursuing.

2 AMED has made good progress since our inaugural meeting in Singapore in 2005. It is helping to revive the historical relationship between two ancient regions once linked by the overland and maritime silk routes. With the centre of gravity of the world economy returning to Asia in this century, the connections between the Middle East and Asia will multiply in the coming years. They will not only be economic but political and cultural as well.

3 This re-encounter of Asia and the Middle East is of historic significance. In a new age of globalisation, countries and regions once belonging to different European empires are re-discovering one another. I remember how the ice quickly broke once we got to know one another during the first AMED meeting in Singapore. By the time we bade each other farewell at a dinner in Singapore’s Arab quarter, the sense of closeness and camaraderie was felt by everybody.

4 At the Singapore meeting, we established three working groups based on the three pillars of AMED as a first step forward. Among the number of projects that have been started, let me highlight two. The Economic Working Group co-chaired by Egypt and Thailand is working on the standardisation of halal food certification across Asia and the Middle East. Such standardisation would facilitate trade and investment in halal foodstuff, an industry which is worth billions of dollars. The Social, Educational, Scientific, Cultural, Environmental and Media (SESCEM) Working Group co-chaired by Jordan and Singapore has established two Regional Training Centres in Amman and Doha focusing on vocational training and public administration respectively. Both training centres are up and running and already conducting courses on a regular basis. These are simple but practical projects which bring immediate benefits to our people.

5 Singapore will organise, specially for AMED members, three new training courses on aviation security, port management and intellectual property protection under the Singapore Cooperation Programme (SCP). Singapore will also organise an AMED Media Roundtable in 2009 bringing together senior Asian and Middle Eastern editors for a discussion on how our media organisations can work better together. For too long, we have depended too much on the Western media for news about each other’s regions. It will be good for our editors and journalists to establish direct links with one another. Since the first AMED meeting, we have invited groups of journalists from the Middle East to visit Singapore and other parts of Southeast Asia.

6 The interactions between Asia and the Middle East are growing rapidly. It was significant that King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia chose to make his first overseas visit to four Asian countries in 2006 after ascending the throne. This sent a clear signal of Asia’s rising importance to the Middle East which is increasingly reflected in the economic numbers. Propelled by the re-emergence of China and India on the global stage, Asia has become the fastest growing region in the world. Asia’s energy needs have raised the prices of oil and gas ushering in a new era of prosperity for hydrocarbon-rich countries. Direct and portfolio investments by countries in the Middle East in Asia have grown dramatically in recent years, including those by sovereign wealth funds. Islamic finance and banking have become more important in Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Hong Kong.

7 The Middle East has also become a huge opportunity for Asian companies. Trillions of dollars are being spent on infrastructure creating an unprecedented construction boom. Some of the most remarkable cities of the future are being built in the Gulf. In all sectors and professions, Asians are contributing to this amazing transformation. Asian companies from Japan, Korea, China, India and ASEAN are involved in all kinds of projects. South Asians play a big role providing essential manpower from high-level managers and professionals down to manual workers.

8 The Middle East has become more and more important to the Singapore economy. From 2004 to 2007, our bilateral trade with the Middle East shot up by over 50% to reach some US$35 billion last year. Two-way trade and investment will receive a further boost when the recently-negotiated GCC-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (GSFTA) comes into force. We hope that this will be followed by a Free Trade Agreement between ASEAN and the GCC. In fact, both the countries of ASEAN and the GCC have agreed to hold the first meeting of Foreign Ministers this year.

9 We are fortunate that in developing closer ties between Asia and the Middle East, there is little historical baggage. In fact, the more we know one another, the more we appreciate the things we share in common.

10 As our two regions grow, there will be more opportunities for cooperation. I would like to suggest three areas that AMED can focus on. First, AMED can serve as a platform for Asia and the Middle East to share knowledge about each other’s development experiences. In the field of public education, for example, many Middle Eastern countries are evaluating the relevance of Asian models to their own needs. Singapore has recently established a Middle East Institute to help us know the region better. We are also promoting the teaching of the Arabic language.

11 Second, AMED can be a vehicle bringing Asia and the Middle East together in new areas of partnership. An area of current interest is renewable energy resources. Abu Dhabi’s Masdar Initiative, the world’s first attempt to create a zero-carbon, zero-waste city, has attracted global attention. Similarly, Singapore is working with China to develop an Eco-city in the Chinese city of Tianjin, a project Qatar is participating in as a partner in the Singapore consortium. There are many sectors where public institutions and private companies can collaborate for mutual benefit. In Singapore, an Arab cultural centre will be established to catalyse greater contact between Asia and the Middle East. There is a substantial Arab community in Southeast Asia which provides us a ready network. When I visited Yemen in May last year, the Vice Governor of the Hadramaut who hosted me was the great great great grand-nephew of one of Singapore’s pioneers, Syed Omar Aljunied, who gave the name to Singapore’s oldest mosque and to indeed my own electoral constituency.

12 Third, AMED can become a new partnership of Asian and Middle Eastern countries working together to overcome trans-boundary challenges like energy security, climate change, religious conflict, international terrorism, maritime security and pandemics. These are issues that cannot be handled by a single country or region. We must give some priority to inter-faith understanding. Just a fortnight ago, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia proposed a new inter-faith dialogue that will bring together Islam, Christianity and Judaism to promote inter-religious harmony. This is an idea that we strongly support. The recent agreement between Muslim leaders led by Prince Ghazi of Jordan and the Vatican to establish a permanent forum for Muslim-Catholic dialogue is another positive development. The first meeting will be held in Rome at the end of this year and the next will be held in a Muslim country in 2010. I hope that Singapore, one day, can also be a venue for the forum.

13 What AMED should try to bring about as a long-term goal is a dense network of connections linking governments, companies, NGOs and private individuals. More than ever before, we have a mutual stake in each other’s stability, prosperity and security. And, together, we can enhance the prospects for peace and development for 60% of mankind.

14 A few years ago, a 9th century Arab dhow which sank 350 nautical miles south of Singapore was salvaged. Carrying about 60,000 artifacts of Chinese Tang Dynasty ceramics and a small collection of gold and silver ornaments, the dhow was probably headed towards the Western Indian Ocean. On many pieces, the motifs were either Buddhist or Islamic. Laboratory tests showed that the wood used for the construction of the dhow came from the Middle East and Africa except for some teak beams which originated from India’s Malabar coast. The wooden planks were stitched together in a pattern identical to that used today for modern dhow construction in Oman. Scholars believe that the 9th century dhow was probably built on the Omani coast. Last year, to our great joy, Sultan Qaboos of Oman agreed to build a replica of the dhow and present it to Singapore so that the Chinese Tang dynasty cargo can be exhibited in its full glory. The symbolism is a beautiful one for us.

15 And, not far from Sharm El Sheikh, near Egypt’s border with Sudan, recent excavations at the archaeological site of Berenike showed that it was once a thriving port, successively used by Egyptians, Greeks and Romans for trade with Arabia, Persia, Africa, India and Southeast Asia. At least eleven languages were used in Berenike including Greek, Hebrew, Coptic, Latin and Sanskrit. When, once upon a time, camel caravans travelling through Central Asia and Arab dhows sailing the Indian Ocean connected us, today, we have jet aircraft, container ships, highways, railroads, pipelines and broadband. But it is the same regions which are being re-connected, and descendants of the same peoples all the way from the Pacific to the Atlantic meeting again, trading and exchanging ideas. Our meeting today epitomises this exchange. I look forward to a meaningful dialogue that will help build us all a better future.

George Yeo

Youtube Link:

Minister George Yeo's interview with Astro Awani TV

Interview Link

http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=-2437202056609197114&hl=en

(The interview was recorded on 4 Feb 2008 and Astro Awani TV decided
to broadcast it after the Malaysian GE.)

US Democracy

1 No other country can afford American democracy. The race to the White House is one long marathon unmatched anywhere else in the world. If stamina is what is required, the US system sets the highest standards.

2. But will such a system throw up the best leaders? Watching the race between Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama, a large part of the contest is about crafting speeches and sound bites, and endless spinning of one's position. The system of analysing and targeting voters is extremely sophisticated. Out of the cacophony, the American voter is supposed to be able to sense the core of a candidate and then decide in his own best interest. Ordinary people may not understand all the issues debated but, given enough time, they have the instinct to figure out who is the right man or woman to become President. That at least is the hope.

3. For a non-American, all the campaigning makes for drama and entertainment, if it were not such a serious matter affecting our lives. The US is the world's only superpower and has by far the world's largest economy. What it does affects everyone. Unfortunately, non-Americans don't have the vote. But that's the real world. We have no influence on China's or India's politics either.

4. A newspaper cartoon made a funny point the other day. If you vote for Clinton, you must be racist. If you vote for Obama, you must be sexist. And if you vote for McCain, you are both racist and sexist.

George Yeo

Happy Easter

. This year, Easter comes unusually early. In the church calendar, Easter is the first Sunday following the first full moon on or after the Vernal Equinox. The Equinox was on 21 Mar. Yesterday was the 15th day of the lunar calendar, a full moon.

2. Last night, I attended the Easter Vigil Mass at the Carmelite Monastary near Mount Faber with my family. As we cross the Benjamin Sheares Bridge, the full moon encircled by the Singapore Flyer looked as if it had a blue halo. Since the monastary is not a parish church, there was no baptism which kept the service relatively short. Easter is the most important day in the church calendar. The choir from St Theresa Church sang the 'alleluias' with gusto. I was surprised that the choir mistress and the organist were my nieces.

3. After the Vigil, we went to the Lagoon hawker centre for supper at our favourite 'cher char' stall. It was still crowded. By the time we went home, it was past midnight which was not too late as we could sleep late the following morning.

4. To all Christian readers of Ephraim's and Harold's blogsites, here's wishing you a Happy and Holy Easter!

George Yeo

The Future of Education

The future of E-Learning

In the latest book by London Business School Professor Gary Hamel, he recounted an interesting story about the US Space program. A little boy asked a simple question, “Who was flying the spaceship?” Astronaut Bill Anders replied, “I think Sir Isaac Newton is doing most of the driving now.” He was paying homage to the Newtonian laws that enabled spaceships to travel all the way to the moon and back. No matter how technology has evolved, the fundamentals of science stay.

Similarly in E-learning, I see such parallelism at work. No matter how technology evolves and progresses, the fundamental of education stay unchanged and rightly so. At its core level, education is about developing the abilities to read, speak, write, do mathematics and possess a curious mind and more importantly, developing a moral ethical framework. Education is having a child guided by an inspiring (and often tireless) teacher and mentor on his learning journey and ultimately progresses to a point of self-discovery. The tools of education can evolve from the quill pen to the digital tablet, but the pedagogy does not change much. Just like the Newtonian laws that govern this physical universe, the way humans learn and teach has not changed much except for perhaps three startling differences: - we learn faster, smarter and in a more fun way.
All over the world, educators are now grasping the new dawn of incorporating technology into the classroom and yet fearful of the problem inherent in them. You want to teach a class without the children tapping SMS messages under the table. The simplest solution is to ban SMS or cell phone in schools. Yet, if we think out of the box, we can imagine a cell phone broadcasting a Learn a New Word Per Day. In 6 year, a student would have learnt an additional 2190 new words. The cell phone is transformed into a portable learning device. Unlike a textbook, a student has to read the messages.

Is Facebook bad for students? The answer is yes if it is abused. But under the right conditions, it is a powerful tool that connects, collaborates and cooperates. How do we know it is a good thing? Because adults, as managers, consultants, professionals and specialists, we use such IT tools to empower ourselves in the business and personal worlds. To deny them to our children would be simplistically naive and yet to use them blindly is equally myopic.

The answers to balance IT empowerment versus its moral and safe usage will not be found here. But I believe the answers will be found among the readers reading this newsletter. It will be the educators, parents and the students that will discover the sweet spot how we deal with this wonderful tool.
In that same conference, the attendees were challenged to think out of the box. Think about a future world in which the speed of computer processing is beyond our needs. Think about a future in which storage of digital information and content is limitless. Think about a future in which you have unlimited broadband access. Think about a future in which software – freeware, shareware and licensed ware compete aggressively to win consumer’s acceptance. Think about a future where education content is abundant and the cost of acquiring good quality content is low due to global competition. It will be an exciting world for educators and E-learning providers to experiment, learn from each other and improve our teaching methodologies. Ultimately, our goal converges – to enable the students to learn faster and smarter.

As the American astronauts are fond of saying before blast off, “A-OK. All systems go go go!” Let us begin. The future will not wait for us.

Harold Fock

Minister Yeo at the Peace Lecture at the First Youth for Peace Interfaith

Youtube Links