Singapore & ASEAN: Some thoughts

We had a very interesting and knowledgeable speaker today for International Organisations class: Mr Joergen Oerstroem Moeller, a former Danish Ambassador to Singapore who is now working as an adjunct professor at SMU.

A strong advocate of the European Union integration project, Mr Moeller has obviously spent years selling the idea of a more integrated EU as a stronger entity that is better for Europeans and the world. It shows in his persuasive arguments and suave choice of words - regardless of his audience, be they Euro-sceptics, protectionistic Americans, or unpolished university undergraduates like myself.

His polished and restrained manner contrasts with another memorable character that I met at a dinner at MFA: Mr Tony Siddique, our current Non-Resident Ambassador to Denmark. A funny man with an overgrown dose of slapstick humour who spent 2 hours entertaining our group of bemused interns, Mr Siddique spent years travelling Europe and making Singapore relevant to countries within the EU at a time when the EU was inward-looking and overly-focused on the integration agenda.

Despite the different personalities of both men, they are similar in one aspect: both are in the high-end, high-stakes business of persuasion in diplomacy. What kind of person does it take to "sell" a country to an international audience? Amidst the chorus of voice fighting to be heard on the international stage, how can a single country stand out from the rest to attract much-needed investments and attention from the rest of the world?

And now let's look at Singapore. I have never ceased to be amazed at how a little country like ours can stand up on its own two feet, stare down our huge neighbours to the north and south, and play a pioneering position in the creation of organisations like ASEAN and APEC. The list of our achievements goes on of course.

Our politicians, both past and present, have the insight to understand the importance of power projection on the international arena: Given our size and geographical positions, we could easily be swallowed up and become irrelevant as the world passes by us. The only way today where Singapore can make its voice heard in this globalised world is to project that voice together with other like-minded countries in Southeast Asia via organisations like ASEAN.

As one united entity, we are formidable. Like the EU project that has virtually enhanced Europe's status as a important player in international relations, ASEAN has attracted the attention of the world given our ability to speak as one voice, and negotiate with third parties as a bloc.

But the constant challenge for us of course is to continue to plug into the region and the world. By constantly reinventing ourselves and making our country relevant to the world and the region, Singapore will continue to become prosperous and strong.

Of course, what does it mean for the average person on the street like us? Our national psyche of perseverance and hard work filters down to the grassroots, causing people like you and me to work from 9 am to 9 pm (or beyond) or study through the night just to ace that certain module. Because we know in our heart that if we do not work hard, we may become irrelevant to the market place.

We all live in competitive times today. It is not in our destiny to ask for a much lenient and slower life. Just like Singapore, let's not rest on our laurels just because we have made a name for ourselves as a backwater-state-turned-developed nation.