BEYOND SG

A Landmark Fatwa

1. The Fatwa Committee's recent decision allowing Muslims to be included under the Human Organs Transplant Act (HOTA) was reported internationally. Like other Singaporeans, Muslims will have ample opportunity to opt out. The Mufti, Syed Isa Semait, and the other members of the committee did not come to this position lightly. When HOTA was first enacted, Muslims were excluded because some thought that it was against their religion. There were many viewpoints. I remember launching a book about kidney donation at Jamiyah more than ten years ago. Haji Abu Bakar Maidin felt then that this was an important topic which needed careful reflection. On matters of such importance, it is more prudent to be patient and deliberate. From the Government's perspective, this is a matter entirely for Muslims to decide.

2. With this fatwa, lives will be saved. I think many non-Muslim Singaporeans join Muslim Singaporeans in applauding the decision.

George Yeo

Minister George Yeo's visit to Yemen (on Youtube)

Below are three clips from my recent trip to the ancestral homeland of most of the Arabs in Southeast Asia. The first clip was a rapturous welcome for me by tribal members who re-enacted a dance they did for their unification day. The second clip was a cultural event hosted by the Deputy Governor of Hadhramaut who is the grandson of Omar Aljunied, the Hadhrami merchant invited by Raffles from Palembang to Singapore, and the man who gave Aljunied GRC its name. The third clip is of the Manhattan in the wadi, 'skyscrapers' made of mud bricks.

George Yeo

Minister Yeo greeted by tribal dance for Unification Day in Yemen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQM5j8BHk_w

Minister Yeo watching a Yemeni dance under the stars
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWCzaO1Nv7M

Minister George Yeo's visit to Shibam
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKG9Krvqeuw

Multi-lingual in a New New World

I took a trip back from Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) to Singapore on a Japanese AirLine (JAL) flight. In the plane, I looked up at the LCD panel that displayed the flight information - destination, expected time to arrival, speed, height and temperature outside the plane (in case you are Superman or Fantastic Four who can exit the plane midflight). To my surprise, I realized that the characters on the information panel were in Chinese, not Kranji. This is a Japanese plane, packed with 3/4 Japanese on a flight to Singapore, en route to Osaka and the screen was displaying in Mandarin. Perhaps the screen was displayed in Mandarin because the flight came from Beijing or Shanghai. Never mind. But it speaks of a new global mindset. In the new world, business comes first - making the customers feel at home (and informed) comes first.

In KL airport, announcements are made in three languages recently - Malay, English and Mandarin. Asia, and perhaps the world, has to cater to the new expanding group of Chinese tourists and businessmen.

Remember purchasing a household appliances in the past. As a nerd, I love to set up the appliances, electronics or systems without reading the manual. We use the "Force", guided by our nerdy techno-centric brains. Manuals are for wimps. After the appliance or gismo is set up (if it does not explode), then we read the manual. In the past, there is hardly any Mandarin instruction. You have German, French, Italian, English, Arabic (i think),Malay, Japanese etc but no Mandarin. These days, you certainly will get Mandarin instructions.

Thanks to globalisation, they insert customised instructions inside the packaging. For example, if the product is sold in Singapore, they include instructions in English, Mandarin, Malay and Tamil.

Thanks to the new economic power of China, some global manufacturers just print the Chinese instruction together with the other languages. The instructions would end up like a booklet.

Thanks to the manufacturing power of China, hey, for goodness sake, that appliance is made in China anyway! You will be lucky to get other instructions other than Mandarin.

This is the new, new world. Even the Pet Shop Boys sang,"I am Single and Bilingual..."

I am picking up Arabic soon.

Harold Fock

Minister George Yeo's speech in Parliament on Youtube.com

Attach is the link to the Youtube containing video footage of Minister George Yeo's speech in Parliament.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbdemHTvubk

Replies by Minister George Yeo to Questions in Parliament

Transcript of reply by Minister George Yeo to Questions in Parliament on 16 July 2007

PARLIAMENTARY QUESTION

Ms Irene Ng Phek Hoong: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs in light of the rejection of the Defence Cooperation Agreement (DCA) between Indonesia and Singapore by the Indonesian Parliamentary Commission for International Affairs and Defence, what are the implications on both the extradition treaty and the DCA.

REPLY

Minister: Mr Speaker Sir, it is true that a number of Indonesian DPR members have rejected the Defence Cooperation Agreement (or DCA) even before the Indonesian Government has officially submitted it to the DPR for ratification. Some claimed that the DCA infringed on Indonesia's sovereignty. Others denounced the Extradition Treaty (ET) and DCA agreements as an unfair deal for Indonesia. Many strange allegations were made against the DCA and against Singapore during hearings in the DPR.

Sir, please allow me to reiterate some key points about the ET and DCA. The two leaders, Prime Minister Lee and President Yudhoyono, agreed in October 2005 that the ET and DCA would be negotiated as a package with a balance of benefits for both sides. Their intention was for the conclusion of these two agreements to elevate relations between Indonesia and Singapore to a higher plane. It was in this spirit that Singapore negotiated the ET and DCA with Indonesia.

As to be expected, the negotiations were complex and took many rounds. It was important for both countries to benefit from each of the two agreements, taking into account each country's sovereignty and core interests. After nearly two years of negotiations, with both sides showing goodwill and making compromises along the way, we eventually agreed on a package of agreements on 23 April 2007. This package comprised the ET, the DCA and four Implementing Arrangements or IAs. The four IAs were the Military Training Area IA and three other IAs on specific joint projects involving the three Services. The final round of negotiations was carried out by the Foreign Ministers, Defence Ministers and Defence Chiefs in Singapore. All the main documents, namely the ET, DCA and the Military Training Area IA, were initialled that evening in an atmosphere of relief and celebration which was well covered by the international media. It was agreed that the main agreements would be signed in a formal signing ceremony in Bali on 27 April 2007, by the Foreign Ministers, Defence Ministers and the Defence Chiefs respectively, and witnessed by PM Lee and President Yudhoyono. We would have signed the other three Implementing Arrangements on that same day, but at the Indonesians’ request, purely for administrative and logistical reasons because they were not able to get all three of their Service Chiefs together for the Bali signing, we agreed that they could be signed in a separate ceremony by the Service Chiefs of both countries in Jakarta on 7 May 2007, to be witnessed by the two Defence Chiefs.

As the whole package of agreements had been agreed to by both sides, we were therefore most surprised when Indonesia asked Singapore to make substantive changes to the IAs after the main agreements had been signed. There were also arguments from the Indonesian side that the agreements were incomplete.

Sir, as I have pointed out, the ET, the DCA and the four IAs were negotiated and concluded as parts of a carefully balanced package. Insisting on substantive changes or introducing new elements afterwards means that there was no agreement in the first place. In effect, the entire package would be unravelled. This would make future negotiations with Indonesia, or with any other country for that matter, difficult if not impossible because there would be no finality even after an agreement had been reached.

Some DPR members have asked the Indonesian Government to accept the ET but reject the DCA. This is not possible as both agreements were negotiated and concluded as a package, a point which has been publicly acknowledged by both Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda and Defence Minister Juwono Sudarsono.

Singapore's position is a clear and simple one. We have to abide by the sanctity of agreements once they are concluded. While maintaining this principle, we have nevertheless tried our best to be helpful to the Indonesian Government without reopening settled agreements. We have therefore conveyed a proposal to Indonesia on 22 May 2007 suggesting a way forward. We are still waiting for Indonesia’s response to our specific proposals. At a breakfast meeting on 12 June 2007 in Singapore, Foreign Minister Hassan assured me that there is no intention by the Indonesian side to reduce the substance of what has already been agreed. He said, however, that Indonesia needed some clarification of details to facilitate the implementation of the DCA.

Mr Speaker, Sir, we are aware that the dynamics of Indonesia's domestic debate are complicated and that the Indonesian Government may need more time before tabling the ET and DCA to the DPR for ratification. In the meantime, it is in the interest of both countries to continue strengthening bilateral cooperation in other areas. We are after all close neighbours with a high degree of inter-dependence.

Sir, Mr Michael Palmer has also submitted a question on the DCA to the Minister for Defence. Details on the DCA will be covered by the Minister for Defence.

______________________________________________________________
SUPPLEMENTARY QUESTION

Ms Irene Ng: Thank you, Minister, for a comprehensive reply. I would like to ask the Minister, when the agreements were signed in Bali, it was hoped that it would bode better relations between Indonesia and Singapore, but given the opposition from the legislature in Indonesia - even the governors from Riau and the Riau islands have various allegations to make - I wonder whether the Minister can give us an assessment whether these two agreements would indeed spell better relations or give us new areas of dispute and friction. I would also like to ask the Minister whether he thinks there is political will at various levels to move forward on this and to make sure that at the end of the day, both sides would have a balance of benefits.

REPLY

Minister: Mr Speaker, Sir, there was hope when we entered the negotiations... there was certainly a lot of hope when we signed the agreements... and we continue to be hopeful that we will be able to work through the remaining problems, and have these agreements ratified by both sides and come into effect. On our side, there is no lack of will. On the part of President Yudhoyono, there is no lack of will, but we recognise at the same time that the politics of Indonesia are complicated and that sometimes, we may need a certain passage of time before some of these things can be done. But we remain hopeful and patient.

Nalanda Mentor Group

1. Last weekend, the Nalanda Mentor Group chaired by Amartya Sen met in
Singapore. This was the first of four meetings which Singapore was honoured to host. We had very good discussions. For readers who are interested, I've included below the list of members appointed by the Government of India and the statement put out on Saturday evening. The other three meetings will be in Japan, China and India.

2. Reviving Nalanda is of course not a new idea. But is is an idea
whose time has come because of the re-emergence of Asia on the global stage. As India looks east, it discovers a new East Asia starting to look west. In this new tryst with history, it is natural that there should be a rekindling of interest in earlier trysts. The Buddhist connection becomes an obvious area of study for the 21st century and Nalanda is an icon of it.
At the individual level, we will find millions of Chinese, Korean, Japanese and Southeast Asia Buddhists wanting to visit the holy places of Buddhism - Lumbini, Kavilapastu, Bodh Gaya, Sarnath, Rajgir, Vaishali, Kushinagar, among others. The Indian Tourism Ministry has already drawn up a Buddhism tourism circuit and there are plans to improve roads, railroads and airports. The Buddhist Lodge has put up a request for a piece of land at Bodh Gaya to build a centre for Southeast Asian pilgrims which I've conveyed to the Bihar Government.

George Yeo

Statement by Government of India

Ministry of External Affairs
(Southern Division)

Sub : NALANDA MENTOR GROUP.

Government of India have decided to revive the Nalanda University as a Centre for Buddhist and Secular Learning with the active participation of countries within the East Asia Summit which share a common interest in the Buddhist heritage with India.

2. Nalanda was a great ancient centre of learning which attracted
scholars from all Southeast Asian countries as well as China, Japan and
Korea. Gautama Buddha is believed to have visited Nalanda and given
sermons near the “Mango grove of Pavarika”. Sariputta, the disciple of Buddha was born and died at Nalanda. The great Emperor Ashoka is believed to have built a temple there. According to Tibetan sources, Nagarjuna
taught at Nalanda. Historical sources indicate that the University was
established around 450 A.D. and during its days of glory had 10000 students and 1500 teachers. Its library was located in a 9th storey building. The subjects taught at Nalanda covered every field of learning. It was known for its depth of expertise in Buddhist philosophy as well as achievements in science and mathematics. The Tang dynasty pilgrim, Xuan Zhang has left detailed accounts of the University in the 7th century A.D.

3. A Nalanda Mentor Group is being established which will comprise of
eminent persons in the educational field. The task of the Mentor Group would be to examine the framework of international cooperation and the structure of partnership which would govern the establishment of the
University. The Mentor Group will also make proposals for the revival of
Nalanda University, the governance structure of the University and the
modalities for its funding. The University itself will be established
under an Inter-Governmental Agreement signed by Member States of the East Asia Summit.

COMPOSITION OF THE NALANDA MENTOR GROUP

4. Government of India have invited the following experts and eminent
persons from the educational field to contribute their valuable time and expertise as members of the Nalanda Mentor Group.

(i) Professor Amartya Sen – Chairman
(ii) Mr. George Yeo, Foreign Minister of Singapore or alternate Prof. Wang Gungwu
(iii) Mr. Ikuo Hirayama or alternate Mr. Nakanishi Susumu
(iv) Professor Wang Bengwei, Beijing University
(v) Professor Sugata Bose, Harvard University
(vi) Lord Meghnad Desai, Professor Emeritus, London School of Economics
(vii) Shri N.K. Singh, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, Government of Bihar
(viii) Professor Tansen Sen, City University of New York and
(ix) Mr. N. Ravi, Secretary (East), Ministry of External Affairs – Member Secretary

SPECIAL INVITEES

5. Professor Y.S. Rajan has been requested to assist the Nalanda Mentor
Group as a Special Invitee.

TERMS OF REFERENCE

6. The terms of reference of the Nalanda Mentor Group would be as
follows :

1) To examine alternative options for setting up the Nalanda
International University and whether it will focus on teaching or research or both.

2) To make proposals which would facilitate the revival of Nalanda as a
Centre for Cultural Exchange between East Asia and South Asia reflecting in some measure the role played by the Nalanda University in ancient times.

3) To examine the framework and structure of international cooperation
and partnership which would govern the establishment of the University.

4) To suggest the governance structure of the University which would
facilitate continued international support and engagement.

5) To examine the modalities for finance for the establishment of the
University and its long term financial needs.

6) To consider proposals for the development of the area contiguous to
the proposed Nalanda University and its re-development as an academic, cultural, tourist and religious circuit.

7) The Nalanda Mentor Group shall at its first sitting, nominate an
Advisory Group of Scholars from all countries of the East Asia Summit who will be participating in the Nalanda University project.

8) To make final recommendations in a report which would be submitted to
the Government of India within a period of nine months from the date of constitution of the Mentor Group. The Mentor Group would be free to issue Interim Reports if it so desires, prior to the completion of its work.

DISCUSSION PAPER

7. The Ministry of External Affairs will be circulating a Discussion
Paper for consideration of the Members of the Mentor Group prior to the meeting.

MEETINGS OF THE NALANDA MENTOR GROUP

8. The Nalanda Mentor Group will hold four meetings in Singapore,
Beijing, Tokyo and Delhi. The first meeting of the Group will be held in Singapore from July 13-15, 2007.

Statement Issued by Nalanda Mentor Group

NALANDA MENTOR GROUP MEETING
PRESS STATEMENT

We began by expressing our thanks to the Singapore Government and Foreign Minister George Yeo for hosting the first meeting of the Nalanda Mentor Group.

2 Nalanda was a great centre for intellectual activity in Buddhist
philosophy as well as other disciplines including mathematics and medicine.
The Group agreed that the revival of Nalanda is an idea whose time has come. In a period which is witnessing the re-emergence of Asia as an economic hub, Nalanda has the potential of becoming a beacon of global understanding and world peace.

3 Nalanda should focus on becoming a centre of excellence for
research and teaching with a focus on postgraduate studies. It would draw on the understanding of the past while emphasising its relevance to the future. Its vision would be based on global philosophy while maintaining local relevance. It would be a public institution and also seek engagement and participation of the private sector and non-governmental organisations.

4 The Mentor Group welcomed the support of the East Asia Summit
for the establishment of the Nalanda University and invited the participation of countries of the region in its endeavour.

5 The Mentor Group decided to appoint an "Advisory Council" of
scholars who would be consulted on matters related to the curriculum and academic structure of the University.

6 It was suggested that the University could sensibly have the
following schools or departments, among others, that could be considered:

(i) philosophy & Buddhist studies;
(ii) regional history (focusing on comparisons and connections
among Asian countries fostered through culture and trade);
(iii) business & management studies;
(iv) international relations & peace studies; &
(v) study of languages including Asian languages, both
classical and modern, as well as linguistics.

7 The Mentor Group also discussed ways and means of expanding the
curriculum to include subjects at the cutting edge of scientific research.

8 The members of the Mentor Group agreed that the Nalanda
University should benefit the local people and encourage the participation of local communities.

9 The Mentor Group urged UNESCO to initiate early action for
declaring Nalanda as a world heritage site.
........

14 July 2007

Ruins of Nalanda

Minister with Amartya Sen at the Meeting

Press Conference of Nalanda Mentor

Minister with Members of the Nalanda Mentor

Nalanda Mentor Group meeting in progress

Fighting for the Future of Pakistan

1. The Pakistani army assault of the Red Mosque in Islamabad was as
portentous as it was dramatic. On the BBC this morning, it was described as a battle for the future of Pakistan. Perhaps more than that. Musharraf has crossed the Rubicon. There is no turning back now. Either his will prevails or that of the extremists.

2. After September 11 when he helped the US in Afghanistan, he showed
the same decisiveness despite the protests of the extremists. I asked one of his ministers, a friend, how his boss was faring under pressure. He said that Musharraf was completely calm and serene. At a time like this, the quality of the metal is put to the test.

3. When I met a senior member of the Indian establishment recently, I
remarked wryly that India would now be rooting for Musharraf. He did not disagree. He was troubled that India too has produced suicide bombers.
The cancer in Islam has yet to run its course and all of us are at risk.

George Yeo

A Swift Execution

1. China's swift execution of its former food and drug regulator must be
sending a chill down the spine of many corrupt officials in that vast country. That is the intended effect. In China, the courts openly declare themselves to be under the leadership of the Communist Party. It is not a Western country where due process can result in a protracted trial and a less-than-conclusive outcome. Here the overriding need is to send an unequivocal signal to the entire country that closing one eye (or both) to food and drug safety is a heinous crime.

2. According to the IHT this morning, 'China carries out more
court-ordered executions than the rest of the world combined'. Harvard historian John Fairbanks once cautioned against too quickly condemning China's method of public executions. The rest of the world might find the annual autumn culling in China sick and distasteful when condemned prisoners are paraded around for ordinary citizens to see before they are executed with accompanying posters listing out their crimes. Fairbanks asked whether that was not a more effective way to achieve a public purpose. After all, if the state has to take an individual's life, is it not better to extract the greatest public utility from that act? And thereby minimize the number of executions that are necessary? While executing in private might be more humane for relatives and friends, it would not have the same deterrent effect. When Saddam Hussein was hanged, many who were opposed to the death penalty kept quiet because of the enormity of his crimes. But that execution has brought neither peace nor closure to Iraq.

3. The death penalty is a recurrent issue on the international agenda.
The positions are sharply polarised. The Europeans campaign against it stridently as do other countries like Australia. So too the Catholic Church. The US, China, Singapore and almost all Muslim countries fall in the other camp. We take the position that each country must decide for itself. In the case of Zheng Xiaoyu, most people will agree that justice has been done even though the problem of poor food and drug regulation in China is a systemic one.

George Yeo

A pictorial request

A few reader and overseas friends wrote to me about posting a picture of Natalie, my precocious space-faring daughter. Well, Beyond SG is all about business and connectivity. But I think I will make this an exception as connectivity is about loved ones and family too. I hope my co-blogger wont mind :-)

Harold Fock

A Night at the Observatory

Stars like dust

Issac Asimov once wrote a book titled "Stars, like dust." I have loved the night sky and its mysterious celestial bodies since I was a kid. My parent's home is at Bukit Batok West Ave 6 and it is about 15-minute run away from the Singapore Science Centre/Omni-Theatre. During my university days, I would run all the way to the science centre at midnight and stare at the night sky and run back to study again. That's how I got my Batman "night life" habit. Today, I still sleep about 5 hours a day on average and I am still the most creative and receptive during the night. As I grew older, I was fascinated about stars, planets, spaceships, space robots and astronauts. After watching Carl Sagan, I always dreamt of doing a TV series wearing a professorial turtle-neck sweater. Perhaps, it is not too late. Instead of stars, I can talk about the mechanics of mergers and acquisitions.

Every Friday, the Omnitheatre allows visitors to access its observatory to see the planets and the stars between 7pm-10pm. (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore_Omni-Theatre) It is free and a perfect outing for the family. It was my first visit to the observatory despite running there all the time. I brought my dad and my daughter along. Ivy joined us later. My daughter Natalie, at a grand old age of 3 years old, is improbably crazy about planets and spaceships. And she gets excited watching Dr. Carl Sagan on DVD travel in his "Spaceship of the Imagination" around the solar system. I suppose it is much better than being obsessed with Barbie dolls and Barney the purple dinosaur. Or she got my genetic memory (this is from scifi writer Frank Herbert, not a real science).

The observatory was not as big as those huge monstrous telescopes you see in the movies like Jodie Foster's Contact or documentaries like Cosmos. But it was functional, neat and still awe-inspiring despite its small size. The Ominitheatre staff were also very helpful in explaining astronomy to a newbie like me.

   

The Observatory's Telescope and the opened dome

When our turn came to peep at the eyepiece, the telescope was focused on the planet Saturn. It was a historic moment for me. I was seeing Saturn with my own eyes, aided by magnifying optics. When I looked into the eyepiece longer, I saw a small bright light with a horizontal line cut across. It was the rings of Saturn. I was trembling with excitement. My dad later remarked that Saturn is no longer just a scientific fact, it seems like a destination now.

After the observatory sighting, I came down to the ground floor and met a fascinating group of amateur astronomers. One had a refractor telescope (the long tubular type in which any laymen can immediately recognise as a telescope), the other had a more sophisticated computer controlled Maksutov-Cassegrain Telescope. They were very friendly and allowed me to use their equipment to see the planet Venus.

Venus! This is our playful attempt at using a conventional camera to take a snapshot of the eyepiece of the telescope. The actual image is actually like a crescent moon and much much clearer. A US spaceship once took a picture of Earth while leaving the solar system and Earth looks like "a pale blue dot".

Many Singaporeans including myself believed that astronomy is only possible in the northern hemisphere like US. Our skies have too much cloud cover, faces the "wrong direction" and suffer light pollution (street lighting). I was wrong. There is a growing group of budding astronomers in Singapore. All you need is to Google "astronomy and Singapore" and you will see many educational websites and jaw dropping pictures of planetary bodies.

The young astronomers and their telescopes

The young but very knowleagable gentleman was kind enough to give me a 10 minute primer on how to choose a telescope. His enthusiasm was infectious. Had the telescope shop been opened, I would have made a purchase. (Sorry folks, none of you pass me your cellphone numbers or name card, hence I do not have your names.)

I recalled reading somewhere that any society that has interest in the stars (not astrology) will prosper because a scientific/technology culture is in place. When Star Trek - The Next Generation (the one that featured Captain Piccard) was first aired in US Networks, some of my nerd friends from MIT told me the dorms and the campus (engineering) were suddenly quiet, they were all watching Star Trek. A society that succeed in the future must be curious, creative and inventive. By and large, they should love technology, the sciences and the arts.

Watching the stars and the planets, I had a very down-to-earth thought - our children in Singapore will succeed and prosper. The young generation is not just about music download, MMOG, SMS and trigger-happy counterstrike, many of them are excited about things beyond their textbooks. Their curiosity quotient is high. The stars, although like dust, is a good place to start. And they will find their own nuggets of gold, wisdom and happiness in the years to come.

Not to late for me to join them.

Harold Fock