BEYOND SG

The death of Calendars, Diaries and Greeting Cards and Long Live iPhone and iCare

This year, perhaps a reflection of my unpopularity, I managed to receive 3 Christmas Cards but an uncountable number of SMS, Emails and Facebook pokes during the festive season.

My dad used to work in Toppan Printing Company. He was one of the pioneer Singaporeans that was sent to Japan when Toppan decided to set up a printing firm in Singapore. As a kid, I was exposed to an unhealthy amount of calendars (don’t even ask what are they about), cookbooks and women's magazines. Remember the good old days when you get that thick tearable calendar from the provision shops. Remember how your insurance agent used to breathlessly explain how difficult it was to get you the pseudo leather diary during the year-end but for YOU, ad YOU only, she got you one and hey, how about adding a rider (add-on protection scheme) to your insurance policy?

These days they have been replaced by an amazing variety of digital devices- PDAs, Blackberries, cellphones and notebook computers. Even standalone PDA is passé. Dell has removed its Axim PDA line more than a year ago. Palm stayed alive with its Treo product line. Blackberry reigns in the corporate wireless space. There is a need for a single device that does it all – we saw the birth of convergence communication devices in the early 2000s and now the market has almost matured. It used to be cool brandishing your PDA in the street looking like some Wall Street wheeler dealer. Today, the school kids will mock you, "Cannot make calls one mei?" He will fish out the latest gizmo from his school bags and that little fangled thing from this brat has more features than your notebook PC and your Army Swiss knife combined!

Fret not. We, the original digital revolutionary rebels (those from late 20s onwards), still have a few tricks up our sleeves. Let's communicate the right way during this festive season. We make phone calls and connect with long lost friends. We speak and share our good and bad times over a bottle of wine or beer. We connect and contract, not over the SMS but in real time and real space. We show we care about what has happened to our friends and family members. We try how to help out a friend in need or connect him to a job or a babe (all the unmarried sisters.. ok, ignore that). Make that Herculean effort despite faceless communication is cheaper and more efficient. I think sparing a thought we care and love is more powerful than all the shiny new toys in the world.

Instead of iPhone, how about I Care? The latter is so priceless, you can't even buy the hacked versions at Sim Lim Square. That will be one of my New Year Resolutions in 2008.

Harold Fock

Have Arts will Prosper

Minister Yeo pointed out "As we become the London of a new Asia, the arts scene will become livelier." Not only that, the arts scene will become more profitable.

I was surprised by the number of art galleries that have sprung up all over Singapore. I was having coffee at Dempsey Road and found the Red Sea Gallery, full of contemporary pieces by Vietnamese and Chinese. Last week, I was at Ode to Art and they were having an art exhibition by China artist Zou Wei. His latest paintings feature "Small Flying People". Small human figures were free falling down and they look like they were oblivious to gravity - perhaps a reflection of New China, before they come crashing down hard?

Got a nice Vietnamese painting by Van Duc at a decent price. I was told his master's pieces were snapped up before the oil even dries. Reason? Apart from his great techniques, his paintings were sold to Bill Gates and former President Clinton and that IS reason enough to buy them for collectors. Street prices from US$50-100 has jumped to hundreds of thousands. The investment return in such paintings is better than my own investment firm's value portfolio returns! (Sorry Eric!)

"Reflections of Spring" by Van Duc from Ode to Art

Tonight I am going back to NAFA night class to complete my second still life piece titled "Reflections of a Vase and a Pot" or "The Vase Calling the Kettle Black". Just kidding. I googled for some art lessons in Singapore and was happy to find out many art courses for working adults and children are available here. The Nanyang Academy of Fine Art (NAFA) children art courses are so popular that "kiasu" parents start registering for 2009 intake. Amazing!

"The Vase Calling the Kettle Black" by Harold Fock

May the art scene flourishes in Singapore. We need both the merchant princes (and administrators) of Venice and the visionary artists like Da Vinci to succeed. Sponsors and Artists go hand in hand. That symbiotic relationship has not changed since Renaissance days and Singapore, positioning itself as London of Asia, will be no exception.

Harold Fock

National Arts Festival

1 Venka Purushothaman's recent book Making Visible the Invisible was written to mark the 30th anniversary of the National Arts Festival. The festival has come a long way since 1977, growing and developing with Singapore society. I was fortunate to be part of this in my nine years as MITA/MICA minister and got to know many of our local artists, writers and performers. Leafing through the book, my mind went back to the many battles that we had to fight. Getting money and sponsorship has never been easy. Winning official support for some of the projects was a constant struggle. But, as always, it is the journey, not the arrival, that makes us. Looking at the vibrant arts scene today, I can only conclude that the best is yet to be, and may this always be the case.

2. I was asked to pen a few words for the book some months ago. For the arts to flourish in Singapore, we must always be true to our conception, a city-state founded as a free port for the movement of goods, services, people and ideas.

"Singapore is the dew drop through which one can see the world around. There can be no Singapore art in a nationalistic sense. Any attempt to create one would be self-negating, cutting off the light that shines through us.

From the start, the Arts Festival was conceived in regional and international terms. Singapore art made sense only by being a part of larger movements and tendencies. By disavowing a narrow nationalism, we freed ourselves and became unique. Which of course is what makes Singapore what it is in a larger sense.

It has been 30 years since the first Arts Festival was launched. Initially, the Festival was held once every two years. When I was Minister for the Arts in the early 90's, we took a risk and made it an annual event. I remembered the arguments for and against. It all seems such a long time ago now.

As we become the London of a new Asia, the arts scene will become livelier. The lights in Asia have become brighter and more colourful. They will be reflected brilliantly in our Arts Festival provided we maintain the clarity of our position."

George Yeo

Best Investment Advice in 2008

One of the common themes around the world is that people get bad investment advice. You can be in London, Singapore, New York or Hong Kong, and the same bad advice on how to lose more money (while enriching the financial consultants and fund managers) is dished out the same way. They will ask you to invest in sure-win "black box" derivative instruments (the current complicated subprime crisis is just an example), hot exciting developing countries like China, India and Vietnam and some high commission fees financial products that increase your risks and lower your returns. The exact opposite of what they promise to achieve.

I have decided to fight this global stupidity while enriching my friends and myself.  I am starting a series of YouTube video talks explaining how you can be comfortably rich by taking less risk. It is written for the layman and I hope it will be fun and enriching for you.

Here is episode One. The video looks amateurish and shakey but hey, it can only get better! Enjoy and have a good year in 2008!

Harold Fock

Report of the Second Meeting of the Nalanda Mentor Group

REPORT OF THE SECOND MEETING OF THE
NALANDA MENTOR GROUP

1. The Nalanda Mentor Group held its second meeting, in Tokyo, Japan, from December 14 to 16, 2007. The list of members present at the meeting is given at Annexure to the Report.

2. The Mentor Group expressed its appreciation of the Government of Japan and of the Foreign Minister Masahiko Koumura for hosting the meeting in Tokyo.

3. The Mentor Group reviewed the positive developments since its first meeting in Singapore, including the understanding reflected in the Joint Statement of the East Asia Summit meeting in Singapore in November 2007 welcoming the revival of the Nalanda University, and the hosting of the Nalanda Exhibition in Singapore.

4. The Mentor Group felt that Nalanda should be a symbol of Asian renaissance and renewed its conviction that Nalanda University should be an international centre of excellence with emphasis on postgraduate studies. It should draw on the understanding of the past while remaining contemporary and emphasizing its relevance to the future.

5. The Mentor Group agreed that Nalanda University should be an international university enjoying academic autonomy. It would be a secular academic institution. It would be established through an inter-governmental treaty among the participating countries.

6. The text of a draft inter-governmental treaty for the establishment of the Nalanda University was presented to the Mentor Group. After discussions in the Mentor Group Meeting, it was decided that a revised draft would be expeditiously prepared, taking into account the views expressed.

7. The Mentor Group was very grateful to have received a number of valuable comments and suggestions from Members of the Advisory Council. Even though some of the suggestions were at variance with each other, it was extremely useful to be informed by the different perspectives.

8. The Mentor Group proposed that the University should have the following Schools upon its establishment:

(i) School of Buddhist Studies, Philosophy and Comparative Religion.

This School will give special emphasis to the study of Buddhist ideas and values in relation to other philosophical and religious traditions. This would include a variety of studies such as literary and philosophical texts, archeology, arts and architecture, among other disciplines.

(ii) School of Historical Studies.

This School will focus on comparisons and connections across the various regions and countries of Asia in a global context. The curriculum will combine ancient, medieval, and modern histories.

(iii) School of International Relations and Peace Studies.

This School will concentrate on links among Asian countries as well as relations between Asia and other regions of the world. Themes of special interest will include forms of regional cooperation, conflict resolution and globalism in historical and contemporary contexts.

(iv) School of Business Management and Development Studies.

This School will emphasize training in business management and its relation with development studies. The study of development will include access to education and health care in a comparative Asian framework.

(v) School of Languages and Literatures.

This School will give special emphasis to the study of Asian languages and literatures, both classical and modern, as well as linguistics and philology.

(vi) School of Ecology and Environmental Studies.

This School will concentrate on the study of science and philosophy of environmental values including harmony between nature and human beings.

9. The Mentor Group emphasized the importance of attracting high quality faculty and students from around the world, particularly from different countries in Asia.

10. The Mentor Group suggested that the Ministry of External Affairs of India should prepare a financing plan for Nalanda University.

11. The Mentor Group also deliberated on issues pertaining to governance and interim arrangements for the Nalanda University. It is envisaged that the University will be headed by a Rector, who would be assisted by an Executive Council. There should be an International Board of Trustees to guide the Rector in the governance of the University. There should be an Academic Council consisting of the senior professoriate. The day-to-day administration should be handled by the Registrar. There will also be a Visitor of international eminence with some adjudicating role in case of differences.

12. The Mentor Group strongly recommended the constitution of a Search Committee as soon as possible, which could be drawn from the membership of the Mentor Group, to identify a suitable candidate for the Rectorship.

13. The Mentor Group considered and strongly endorsed the proposal to establish a research and teaching entity in Singapore to be called the Srivijaya Centre, and it would work in tandem with Nalanda University.

14. The Mentor Group will continue its deliberations in meetings to be held next year, perhaps in China in the first half of 2008 and later in India. Convenient dates and venue will be confirmed in due course.

*****

Annexure
Nalanda Mentor Group Members

1. Amartya Sen, Chairman
2. George Yeo, Member
3. Ikuo Hirayama, Member
4. Sugata Bose, Member
5. Wang Bangwei, Member
6. NK Singh, Member
7. Meghnad Desai, Member
8. Tansen Sen, Member
9. N. Ravi, Member-Secretary
10. Wang Gungwu, Alternate Member
11. Susumu Nakanishi, Alternate Member
12. YS Rajan, Special Invitee

Japan

1. I spent a week in Japan attending a meeting chaired by Amartya Sen on the Nalanda project and spending a few days with my family at a hot spring near Tokyo.

2. The Nalanda project is making good progress. Amartya Sen is a fascinating man with a clear sense of history and a fine sense of humour. I am learning a lot serving as a member in his mentors' group. Reviving the old university in Bihar state will be a challenge but the moment is opportune and the political will is there. In life, timing is everything. Ten years ago, such an idea would have been fantastical. Today, it is an idea whose time has come. Nalanda will be part of a much larger Asian renaissance drawing inspiration from the past. For centuries, the east-west trade route aided by the monsoons has connected the peoples of the two oceans through Southeast Asia,, waxing and waning with the rise and fall of empires. A new resurgence is underway which will define Asia in this century. I am looking forward to the next meeting of the mentors' group in China.

3. I arrived in Tokyo a day earlier to make calls on Japanese leaders. Japanese politics is now going through a difficult phase and it may be some years before the situation clarifies. The re-emergence of China, the first time in a modern incarnation, poses a whole new challenge.

4. Out in the countryside, Japanese society is visibly ageing. Unless a deliberate policy to in-migrate foreigners in large numbers is made, the Japanese population will shrink because of low birth rates. Young people move to Tokyo and other major cities for opportunities and the bright lights. But Japan remains a high civilization. Elderly Japanese will volunteer to help take family pictures so that no member is excluded.
Public areas are spotlessly clean even though rubbish bins are hardly available. For any activity requiring high discipline and tight coordination, the Japanese are unbeatable.

George Yeo

The value of Digital Asset and the Price of Luxury and Uniqueness

Dear Friends,

An apology for the long absence as I have been busy but then again if Minister Yeo has time to contribute in this blog, it truly reflects badly on my time management skills. :-)

Last Friday I had lunch with Minister Yeo at UE Square nearby's Bak Kut Teh store and the issue of valuation cropped up. We lamented the high price of property and Minister commented that luxury items have been on a rise globally. He felt that it was due to backward demand - the trend setters and truly reach start buying expensive condos, unqiue time pieces (for plebians like me, we call them watches :-), sports cars and other luxurious items. I added by saying that in modern times, human realise two things:

1. Digital assets are cheap because anything that can be digitied can be replicated at a low cost. Hence movies, books, software and anything that can be burnt in your CD-ROM drive will be near worthless in years to come. Remember how expensive a DVD movie was. These days, you could get a new minted movie DVD (original) at S$14-$18 dollars. It was not like this in the past. Look at software, even the "must-have" ones like Microsoft Operating systems and Office. You could technically get the OEM softwares or the students' editions without much verification from the sellers. Sure, it is bordering on the grey areas but with the onslaught of free operating systems like Linux and Star Office, you can practically start a computer with full application without paying a cent. That's why Microsoft is moving into web-based services, buying up facebook, trying out MP3 players like Zune and selling you Halo 3 on your Xbox 360. Your first day copy of Harry Potter is expensive (S$30?) because you just MUST KNOW how He Must Not Be Named's ass is kicked by the bespectacled hero. However, if you can wait a few weeks, copies of it is everywhere at discount bookstores. Information wants to be free as Steward Brand said. Actually, digital assets want to be cheap, as Harold Fock says.

2. Even physical objects are cheaper. Anything that can be duplicated in China and India, whom I wrote many years ago, as countries possessing 3-D photocopy machines, will be cheap. An amazing gizmo like iPhone is selling at S$600-800 (parallel import, again grey area) but even if you buy it from the US Apple Store, it wont break the bank because the parts are made in China. Your iPod is made in China. Coach bags are made in China. All your cool computer mouse, cute cute accessories and almost every darn thing is made in China. I always fantasized this story playing out in front of us someday. In Singapore, companies like to host annual dinner and dance celebration events. In such company events, we like the DJ to play table games in which they ask the table participants to collect 10 unique items. One cent coin, a tie, a paper clip, a ring, one curly white hair (dont ask why) and you see the servants.. I mean staff scrambling to collect the items to win a small table price.(While the senior management and their diamond-decked wives watch bemusedly and if they participate, they are known as "sporting"). I alway feel that it is the ultimate insult to workers because not only do managers torture their staff during workdays, they make them act like happy fools even on their days of fun! And I disgress... Imagine this one day - the DJ or MC will ask "Collect me 10 non-China/non-India/non-Vietnam made items and win a fabulous prize and the audience would start laughing because it cant be done! It is happening.

Think about it. It used to be a big deal if you drive a Continental car (BMWs, AUDIs and Mercs). These days, it is really no big deal. If you are willing to be saddled with huge debts, you can walk out with the car keys at S$1000 or less. So we move to Porsches and Ferraris. But these days, a Porsche Boxster does not even turn heads. (Ok, Mr Borat's infamous pussy magnet wont work here..) You need a Ferrari. Now project 10 years in the future.. what if China start building sports cars and make them look exactly like the Ferraris and Boxsters (but perform poorly), what price is a sports car? Do you think the Chinese manufacturers will stop at making cheap cars, USB drives and leather bags?

You play golf. I used to see the wannabe used to swing their stupid umbrellas in the street or at Shenton Way's car parks and bus stations. Not anymore. His 5 year old kid is already attending Tiger Woods' classes at the country clubs. The Ah Bengs are bragging about their post golfing activitie in Thailand (again, don't ask). It is so yesterday. I remembered the horrid interview I had in MAS with this head of department in 2001. He was talking about hobbies and of course did his usual "In Golf, you challenge yourself.. and you can spot a person's character by watching how he plays". He said it with near Zen spirituality. I told him it is a game and every sport is a challenge to yourself. And most golfers play so badly - you cant read between his golf strokes and spare me all that Sun Tzu's mumbo jumbo in the golf courses. I did not get into his department obviously and hey, Mr Yesterday, golf is a game. Period. (For the record, most of my MAS ex-bosses and mentors are great intelligent people but you cant avoid slipping a few oxymorons in, sometimes.)

You just bought the latest flashiest Nokia cellphone that costs your entire monthly salary (with a lock-in period with the Telcos). Your pals will take a look at it over lunch and explain to you with a bored tone that CNET Asia just announced a newer version will be sold next month. Your cool factor diminishes immediately because items that can be mass-manufactured is, just that, cheap. (For those who really need to be cool this Christmas, apart from bragging your en-bloc sale and your 12-months bonus, try showing off your iPhone. It is an elegant piece of gizmo and not everyone has it. For now.)

You carry LV bags. I met the copyright lawyer based in China and his job is to hunt for fake LV bags manufacturers. He said that some of the fakes are so good that even the experts fail to spot them sometimes or would take a long, long time to spot them. And you cant do spectral analysis or carbon dating on leather bags, could you?

We live in a cheapening world where there is too much money chasing too few non-digitiseable, non-duplicable goods.

Only things that cant be duplicated is worth something in the future. I was at Ode to Arts (Westin) yesterday and the retailor explained that business has been great. Singaporeans are collecting art - paintings and sculptures. For many well to do Singaporeans, they HAVE RUN OUT OF THINGS TO BUY AND IMPRESS THEIR FRIENDS.

A good friend who works in the luxury watch industry has a S$1 million sales target a MONTH!

What does that leave normal folks like you and me?

Here is one way. Create your own non-duplicable piece. Be a good cook. Learn to do arts and craft. Be creative. Film a movie ( a bunch of civil servants just did a mock video clip about themselves and that clip is now a proof of innovation and creativity. In months to come, I bet all the bosses will have a sudden interest in movie making and rap songs.) Write a song. Sing like Connie Talbots (see youtube.com) I have started taking lessons in Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts on oil paining. Here is a bit of self promotion:

The above is my first oil painting (under proper supervision) and it is so bad you cant duplicate it :-) It will be unqiue. Well, not really true. In China and Vietnam, there are copyist artists who mass paint paintings like a conveyor belt. You paint the people. I paint the sky. You use blue and I use green. But since I am not famous, hence, it is the ONLY piece in the world. And to me, it is priceless.

Harold Fock

ARTICLE BY THE MINSTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS, MR GEORGE YEO, FOR THE EC DELEGATION IN SINGAPORE’S COMMEMORATIVE BOOKLET TO MARK THE 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF EU-ASEAN RELATIONS

Europe in 21st Century Asia

This is a special year during which we celebrate 50 years of the EU, 40 years of ASEAN and 30 years of EU-ASEAN partnership. A strong EU-ASEAN partnership will not only benefit both regions, it will add to stability in Asia and the world.

A Re-Emergent Asia

Asia is re-emerging on the global stage and the manner in which it re-emerges will affect the whole world. Indeed, this will be a major theme in global politics and economics in the 21st century.
After a few centuries bringing modernity to Asia, often by force but also by ideas, the European powers retreated from Asia as empires were dismantled after the end of the Second World War. While European companies remained behind and continued to increase their presence, Europe's political role in Asia diminished. It was the US which became the key player, fighting wars in Korea and Indo-China, and policing the peace during the Cold War.

With the end of the Cold War and the rise of China and India, a new global landscape is appearing. During the Cold War, we had the simplicity of bipolarity. After it ended, during the transitional phase, the US was the sole hyperpower but we are now seeing the limits of hard power. Slowly but inexorably, a multi-polar reality is breaking through. It will be a more complicated world with states taking more nuanced positions and non-state players playing bigger roles.

Asia, with more than half the world's population, is on the move. Once the per capita income of China reaches that of Taiwan today, its economy will be considerably bigger than that of the US or the EU. This is likely to be achieved by the middle of the century. The relationship between the US and China is the single most important relationship in the world today. Upon it is determined the larger question of war and peace. That relationship has improved with the problem of cross strait relations under control and the Chinese playing a helpful role in North Korea. As the links binding these two countries multiply, the risk of a rupture between them should decrease.

India is also taking off. Although India's political and social structures make it more difficult for India's growth rate to match that of China's, India as a democracy is arguably more stable in the long term. It is now on a secular growth trend and can achieve 8% to 9% growth a year, if not more, on a sustained basis. India's infrastructure should improve year by year. India's population is relatively young and will outstrip that of China after 2030.

ASEAN’s Role in the Asian Architecture

In between China and India are the ten countries of ASEAN with a combined population of over 500 million people. This is a region of islands and peninsulas which has been influenced by the great civilizations of East Asia and South Asia over the centuries. Although the ten countries are diverse in their religious beliefs and political systems, we have been moving closer together in the last 40 years. After the interruption of the Asian Financial Crisis, the region is growing smartly again. Vietnam, in particular, is making rapid strides in the footsteps of China.

The rise of China and India is a huge challenge to us in ASEAN. Either we become more integrated and united or we will be at a severe disadvantage relative to them. In response to this, the Leaders of ASEAN formed an Eminent Persons Group more than a year ago to make recommendations on the drafting of an ASEAN Charter which will become a Constitution for our political, economic and cultural integration. In January this year, the Leaders endorsed the recommendations of the Eminent Persons and the Charter is now being drafted as a legal document. We expect the Leaders to sign it in November this year at their next
Summit in Singapore.

ASEAN plays an important role in the stability of Asia. It is a strategic region with abundant natural resources through which some of the most important waterways in the world pass. An ASEAN which is neutral and friendly to all the major powers is in everyone’s interest. In recent years, ASEAN has played an active role in building a regional architecture drawing in all the major powers through concentric and overlapping circles of political and economic cooperation such as the East Asia Summit.

The Strategic Presence of the United States

The role of the US in Asia will remain critical for decades to come. Any sudden reduction in the US presence in the Pacific and Indian Oceans will have an immediate destabilizing effect. For this reason, no major initiative is undertaken in Asia today without the US being an explicit or an implicit consideration.
Every year, easily over a hundred thousand Asian students go to the US to study. Many stay on to work in the US. Not a few become Americans and Asian-Americans already make a major contribution to the US economy. The result of all this is an intricate web of relations holding the two sides of the Pacific together. Although the cultural links across the Pacific are not and will never be as strong as those across the Atlantic, the trade volume across the Pacific overtook that across the Atlantic many years ago.

Need for Greater European Involvement

Europe does not enter the strategic calculation of countries in Asia to the same degree as that of the US even though Europe’s overall economic weight is not less than that of the US. The political under-representation of Europe is a loss to us in ASEAN. ASEAN will enjoy more options and greater manoeuvring space if Europe is also a major political player in our region. We will be better diversified in a strategic sense.

Europe's interest in ASEAN has tended to be narrow and episodic. When the Boxing Day tsunami hit Indonesia and Thailand, the European countries responded with heartwarming generosity. On the peace process in Aceh, Europe played a major role. Concerns about human rights in Myanmar have become a domestic political issue in some European countries. What is lacking is a long-term strategic view of ASEAN as a key piece in the Asian puzzle.

In the last year, the European Union has made some important moves in engaging ASEAN. Negotiations for an EU-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement have begun but I hope that the problem of Myanmar will not prove an insuperable obstacle. If Europe pursues the FTA with a strategic objective in mind, we can find a way around the problem of Myanmar. The EU has also indicated an interest in acceding to ASEAN's Treaty of Amity and Cooperation which we warmly welcome. This year, ASEAN and the EU will be celebrating the 30th Anniversary of its Dialogue Partnership with a Commemorative Summit Meeting.

Europe's engagement of ASEAN should go much deeper. Historically, except for Thailand, the countries of Southeast Asia were all colonies of European powers. The European heritage throughout Southeast Asia is profound and is an asset for the development of our future relationship. Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei, for example, benefited greatly from the institutional inheritance we received from the British. The European colonial legacy is partly the reason why ASEAN countries find in European integration an inspiration for our own integration. Some members of the High Level Task Force drafting our ASEAN Charter have visited Berlin and Brussels, precisely to learn from the EU experience. I don't think our integration will ever go as far as Europe’s but your footsteps, including your missteps, are a guide to us in our journey. The European Commission has been most helpful to us. Last year, the Eminent Persons appointed by the ASEAN Leaders received excellent briefings on the European Union in Brussels which influenced them in the way they crafted their recommendations.

The greatest achievement of European integration is the peace which it has brought upon this continent, a period of peace never seen before in its entire history. ASEAN has a similar mission of peace in Southeast Asia. If we can keep our peace for another generation, and we in turn helping to keep the larger peace in Asia, the world will be transformed. Some two billion people will be brought out of the depths of poverty. The European idea, of sovereign nations surrendering some of their prerogatives in order to achieve a higher common good, has universal applicability. Without the underlying respect for diversity which is at the heart of the European construction, we can never live in peace with one another anywhere in the world.
The rise of Asia will be a challenge to Europe in this century. How Europe engages an adolescent Asia and influences it will be of utmost importance. There was a time in the past when Europe set for itself a missionary role in Asia. The result was not an Asia which looked like Europe but a modern Asia which is becoming both a friend and a competitor. What is important is for the friendship to be deepened and for the competition to be set within a framework of political and economic rules so that conflicts and disagreements are kept within civilized boundaries. Asia is still in a malleable phase of its development. The way Europe and the US manage Asia in the coming years will have a major effect on how Asia itself evolves. It is crucial for the G7 or G8 countries to engage China and India much more as their economies become more intertwined with those of the advanced economies. For example, energy security, the global environment, climate change, sustainable development, pandemics and jihadi terrorism are important common concerns.

In ASEAN, you will find a friend and a partner on all these issues.

George Yeo

Message for 8th Asia Pacific La Sallian Youth

Dear Delegates to APLYC 8

Welcome to Singapore!

I address you not so much as Foreign Minister but as a fellow Lasallian, having received 12 years of education in Lasallian schools.

All over the world, we sing the same school anthem ‘proclaiming our watchword to all’. More than 300 years ago, our Founder, St John Baptist de La Salle, began a movement to educate children from poorer families. Today there are Lasallian schools in more than 80 countries. You yourselves come from some 13 countries stretching from Pakistan to Indonesia, from Japan to New Zealand.

Every human life is precious and unique. To be human is to be diverse. As Pope John Paul II put it, we are one because we are many. The theme, “Many Lives - One Mission” expresses aptly the unity of our diversity which is at the heart of the Lasallian Mission.

With globalization, we are united as never before. Many of the challenges confronting us in the world today are global in nature like climate change, pandemics, terrorism, trade liberalization and stability of financial markets, and can only be overcome by our working together. It is good that you, as young people, should dedicate yourselves to causes larger than yourselves. It is right that we help look after the least among us so that no group will be left behind. Few of us can become heroes, but everyone can do a little every day to make the world around him a little better.

We in Singapore are honoured to host your Congress. The Lasallian schools have helped to educate successive generations of Singaporeans including leaders in different walks of life. In more ways than we are conscious of, we have been influenced by the good work of our teachers, by what they taught us, by the example they set. Singapore is a little social experiment of how a multi-ethnic and multi-religious society goes about solving its problems, maintaining harmony and making a living in the world. I hope we can learn from each other in our exchanges during the Congress.

Each of us by himself can only make a modest contribution. But when we work together, fired by a common cause, we can accomplish big things. Your movement can help make this a better world.

I congratulate the La Salle Brothers and the organising committee of Singapore Lasallians for hosting this Congress and creating opportunities for greater networking in our region. May you continue to do good. God bless!

George Yeo
Minister for Foreign Affairs
Republic of Singapore

St. Patrick School Venue for La Salle Youth Congress

Minister Yeo joining the chorus

Minister Yeo talking to Congress participants

Group Photo

Minister George Yeo's response to Blog's comments on Myanmar

Myanmar

1. I thank readers of my postings on Myanmar for their comments especially those by Myanmarese themselves. During the ASEAN Summit, we tried to get everyone to unite behind the Gambari UN mission so that the process of national reconciliation would receive full regional support. But the Myanmar PM was adamant that ASEAN had no special role. Despite pleas by other ASEAN leaders, he insisted that Myanmar could manage its own domestic problems. As for the UN good offices, it was enough for Gambari to report direct to the UN Security Council. When PM read out his statement after the family dinner, it was significant that all the other ASEAN leaders stood beside him to express our common position.

2. According to Gambari, his time in Singapore was 'extremely worthwhile' despite the cancellation of his briefing to EAS/ASEAN leaders. He met many leaders and ministers. Syed Hamid suggested that the Foreign Ministers of the old ASEAN (Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Brunei and Singapore)organise a special session with him, which we did. It was necessary to show our collective interest. After Singapore, Gambari went on to visit the three Indo-Chinese countries. China kept a calibrated distance preferring to be helpful behind the scenes. But China's role is key.

3. Gambari also met European leaders and ministers who were also here for the ASEAN-EU Summit. We were able to agree on comments about Myanmar in the joint statement.

4. With Gambari's help, the talks between SPDC and ASSK are inching forward. The process will be long and difficult. ASSK has been responding positively which put pressure on SPDC also to reciprocate. The
criticisms of ASSK for claiming that she represents ethnic groups are part of the SPDC negotiating stance. On whose side is time? Unless the Myanmar Government relaxes control and opens up the economy, life for
ordinary Myanmarese will get worse with world energy and food prices going up. But the military has to be as much a part of the solution as it is now a part of the problem. If the Gambari mission fails, if there is no
national reconciliation, the future will be troubled and the Myanmar people will suffer the most. As MM said, this is a time bomb.

George Yeo