BEYOND SG

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

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

Youtube Links

David Marshall

1. Last week, the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, the National Library Board, the Academy of Law, the MFA Diplomatic Academny and the Jewish Welfare Board jointly organised a symposium to commemorate the 100th Birthday Anniversary of David Marshall.

2. It was a day of recollection and reflection which ended with a beautiful singing of Hebrew songs by the boys choir from the Maghain Aboth Synagogue. Marshall was a large man in every sense of the word - his face, his eyebrows, his shock of hair, his booming voice, his idea and ideals, the force of his arguments, his exaggerations. He lived life passionately. He was also a good man, a decent man, if somewhat naive politically. The Communists manipulated him.

3. Chan Heng Chee, who wrote a book on Marshall years ago called 'the Sensation of Independence" recalled his role in the history of Singapore. Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong spoke about his skills as a lawyer. Tommy Koh and Kishore Mahbubani also provided interesting perspectives. Harry Elias talked about Marshall's Jewishness with glowing pride. Janadas Deven narrated a kindness Marshall extended to Devan Nair's family after Devan Nair was arrested together with Lim Chin Siong and others under the ISA.
Knowing that, unlike the others, Devan Nair had a wife and two young children to support, he turned up at the door to give some money to Janadas' mother. Mrs Marshall told us things that only a wife would know. President Nathan described how Chief Minister Marshall summoned him from Punggol to take on an important job. Earlier, a piece by MM Lee Kuan Yew on Marshall was read out.

4. When I was in MITA, I got to know Marshall who at that time was our colourful ambassador to France. He always wore an orchid on his lapel. After he stepped down, he became very angry with Straits Times journalists for the way they reported (or misreported) him. I was Minister for Information then. Marshall wrote me a letter expressing his disgust, demanding that I tell off the editors. I could feel the heat in the
letter. After mulling for an hour, I replied to Marshall that I would of course mention his views to the editors the next time I met them but added that nothing the journalists wrote could add to or subtract from his mountainous reputation. A week later, I received his reply thanking me. His choler had subsided.

5. When he was dying, my wife and I went to see him one last time. Mrs Marshall, whom I sat next to during the symposium, told me that Marshall was happy I did. I felt so touched.

George Yeo

David Marshall

David Marshall Symposium

Minister Yeo with President and Mrs Marshall

Minister George Yeo at RJC Education Conference

Youtube.com Link:

A new tribe in Africa

1. The Foreign Minister of Cote d'Voire, Youssouf Bakayono, was in Singapore recently on a bilateral visit. After the long rule of President Houphouet-Boigny, the francophone country dissolved into civil war. A peace agreement was signed early last year which put the country back on the path of development again. To demonstrate a greater fairness to all groups in the country, the capital is being shifted to Yamoussoukro from Abidjan.

2. He updated me on the situation in Africa. We talked about many things including Zimbabwe, Sudan, Kosovo and the growing presence of China in Africa. The Chinese population in Cote d'Voire is growing. With a laugh, Minister Bakayono said that there are now so many Chinese in his country, they can be considered another tribe. I found that interesting and amusing. In recent years, large numbers of Chinese have left the Mainland in search of opportunities. The entire world has become their oyster. They are invariably hardworking and live modestly, preferring to keep a low profile. Former Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing told me that Chinese doctors have treated over 100 million patients in Africa! I don't know how many Chinese there are in the whole of Africa but for them now to be described as another tribe, half in jest, no doubt, is a fascinating new development. Some western countries are naturally unhappy to see China muscling into territory that they've long considered to be in their sphere. But Africa belongs to Africans and having many big countries compete for their favour can only be to their advantage.

George Yeo

Door stop interview with Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim

Minister Yeo: First I must say how delighted I am to receive an old friend,
Celso Amorim from Brazil to Singapore. We have been colleagues for many
years in the WTO, in the trenches of the WTO. Well, I got out of the
trenches but he's still belabouring away, making sure that the multilateral
trading system is in good repair. He's a leading player, and indeed, Brazil
is a leading player in the world by any measure in Singapore, for the UN.
For the reform of the UN Security Council, it has supported the inclusion
of Brazil as a permanent member. Bilaterally, our relations are expanding
rapidly and the future is very bright.

Brazil is a remarkably well-endowed country. It is an agricultural
superpower and if you look at our markets today, the frozen meats market is
increasingly being dominated by Brazil. But there is so much more that we
can import in terms of agricultural products, in terms of dairy products,
in terms of juices, in terms of frozen pork; and if we can expand links in
those areas, it may help dampen price increases in Singapore, because we're
all suffering from the inflation in food prices. We talked about how we can
expand the framework for trade. There is a tax haven issue which we have
discussed and Minister Amorim is helping us navigate the Brazilian
bureaucracy because the finance ministry is naturally afraid that revenue
will be lost. But the result of tax haven status is that our investments in
Brazil and Brazil's investments in Singapore end up having to make
acrobatic manoeuvres through third countries, which is in fact a revenue
loss for both countries, so we're trying to think of ways and means to
overcome this.

Prime Minister will be visiting Brazil, dates have been arranged in
November this year, and we have an invitation to President Lula to visit
Singapore. He is very busy but we're hoping that when he's in Asia this
year or next year, he can visit us, and there are many other things we are
working together on. We're also promoting Singapore's links with Mercosur.
When I was in New York at the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, I
signed an agreement for greater exchange between Singapore and Mercosur
countries. When we were in Brasilia for the Forum for East Asia-Latin
America Cooperation (FEALAC), we had on the sidelines, a breakfast hosted
by Minister Amorim between ASEAN Ministers and Mercosur Ministers; and he's
proposing to host a meeting between the ministers of both sides in Brazil
at the end of the year. It's a proposal which we fully support. So it is a
good relationship, an expanding relationship, and we're delighted to have
Minister Amorim here to give it a strong push forward. Celso?

Minister Amorim: Well, I want first of all to thank my friend and colleague
George Yeo for the magnificent arrangements for my visit. I was happy to be
here. I promised you I would come here. I have to tell you I am not on a
big tour of the region. I came just for two countries - Vietnam and
Singapore, and his invitation has always been one big attraction to be
here. I was happy today to also meet the other ministers including the
Prime Minister and we also had a business seminar, so things are happening
also in the field of business which of course is very important.

Our trade is expanding very quickly. I know that Singapore is a giant when
it comes to trade and Brazil probably still has a long way to go, although
we are a big country. We have a very large economy, one of the largest of
the developing world, but there's a lot to be done. In any case, in the
last few years, our trade has increased four-fold which is already very
significant. There are investments coming into Brazil, of course there are
also investments from Brazilian companies coming to Singapore. Brazilian
companies are internationalising themselves, so on the whole, it has been a
very productive visit.

I am very grateful to my friend George Yeo not only for the words he said
now, but for the active support that we have had from Singapore in terms of
the UN reform. I think it's not only an aspiration of Brazil, it's a
necessity of the system itself. And of course in the WTO, I'm still trying
to complete the job that he left unfinished because he was our great
leader, especially in the agricultural committee, but we are now trying to
finish and I am sure that we will be able to honour this heritage and
conclude this round which is so important. So I want once again to thank
George for receiving me here. We have had this long friendship, and of
course relations between countries are also relations between people, and
this good friendship of ours I think, is helping Singapore and Brazil to
get nearer to each other.

Minister Yeo: I should add that we have two shipyards in Brazil and they
employ over 20,000 Brazilian workers. They do huge contracts converting old
super tankers into floating platforms for storage and all operations, they
build rigs... they do wonderful things. And there are little communities
there working very well, and sometimes intermarrying Brazilians, and making
their contributions to the local economy. We have investments in cellulose
pulp. Temasek is establishing an office there. A few Brazilian companies
are establishing themselves here - Embraer, which is a very important
aircraft company in the mid-range. They have established their regional
headquarters in Singapore, they have simulators here, they train people
here, they store and distribute spare parts here; so it is going to be a
big story for the future and we're just opening the book.
Minister Amorim: One area may be, since Minister George Yeo mentioned
Embraer, is actually very important, which I think is now the third largest
aircraft builder in the world after Boeing and Airbus. I think we just
overtook Bombardier of Canada and we had fights in WTO, but the two
companies are now in good understanding; but the best proof was when Air
Canada bought many, many planes from Embraer. I think what we have to work
together on a lot, is air links. I mean it's now a little bit better but it
doesn't make sense that our two countries are on the equator, but I have to
go all the way to the North Pole to come back to Singapore and vice versa;
so this is something, and also maritime transportation. I must say Brazil
is very interested in cooperation from Singapore in terms of port
administration, and also airport administration - the control of air
traffic, because these are the problems that we face and we don't have an
enormous amount of experience in. But there are areas like science and
technology, and many other areas that we can cooperate, and I think we are
just discovering ourselves, and the companies are also discovering
themselves.

Minister Yeo: Thank you very much.

Minister Amorim: Thank you.