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Singapore in damage control
Insight Down South
By SEAH CHIANG NEE
While Singaporeans largely blame WikiLeaks, a minority is attributing the underlying cause of recent problems to a “condescending attitude” towards friends and neighbours less successful than them.
A WORLD where diplomatic secrets can become tomorrow’s Page One news is posing special problems for any country but more so for small city-states like Singapore.
The reason is that being vulnerable, they often depend on give-and-take negotiations to navigate through a complex, threatening world.
The smaller their size, the greater their need to rely on international diplomacy to survive.
Singapore, obviously, is – and always will be – a ready example.
When I was a wet-behind-the-ears reporter covering Singapore in the 60s as it set up compulsory national service, I remembered being told by leaders that the army would not by itself deter attacks.
“It has to go hand-in-hand with maintaining good relations with all, especially our neighbours,” proclaimed a cabinet minister.
It wasn’t always easy in those early days.
Government bureaucrats and journalists were regularly told to be sensitive when talking about shortcomings of neighbours.
So with this cornerstone of foreign policy long in place, how did the Republic’s diplomats get caught making so many allegedly “arrogant and rude” remarks about friends, even as cocktail gossiping.
No one apparently ever anticipated that these private talks with US representatives by three senior Singaporean representatives would ever leak out.
Malaysia was described as run by incompetent politicians on a dangerous decline, India as being stupid, Japan a big fat loser and Thailand as being corrupted.
There were others – Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam, China, Taiwan and the two Koreas – with some receiving harsher pronouncements than others.
Most of the details had already been widely reported, so I will not repeat them, the exposure may not have ended.
How are Singaporean citizens reacting?
Generally, they take a low interest in foreign affairs, preferring to leave it to the Foreign Affairs Ministry.
This dependency on the government largely means, the majority blames Singapore’s plight not on “loose lips” but on WikiLeaks’ “irresponsible action.”
“These are confidential exchanges. Every country has right to express their frank views,” said a retired police officer.
“In fact, we are the victims alongside many other countries.”
During the past few days, I was asked by several Singaporeans whether I thought the controversy would damage our relationship with our neighbours – and how serious it can be.
A friend even asked me if it was safe for his family to drive to Malaysia.
While Singaporeans largely blame WikiLeaks, a minority is attributing the underlying cause to a “condescending attitude” towards friends and neighbours less successful than them.
So far, this nose-in-the-air attitude has been prevalent among visitors abroad making rude comparisons to “things back home”.
The Singaporean diplomats had allegedly resorted to words like stupid, corrupt, incompetent and “a big fat loser” to describe some of its friends and neighbours.
“The trouble is when they are strung together they actually can be taken to imply that these countries were inferior to Singapore.
Realising this, Foreign Minister George Yeo has urged people not to “over-interpret” the leaked cables.
“In the nature of cocktail talk ... people say things in a blunt forthright way,” he added.
The leaked files have undoubtedly become an embarrassment to Singapore, and if it had happened a decade or two earlier, the diplomatic fallout could have been worse, especially in Asean.
Since then, the region’s ties have grown stronger and will survive the mini-storm.
The Foreign Affairs Ministry here said it believed the revelations would not harm the ‘robust’ ties.
It added: “Countries base relationships on their own interests and not hearsay or gossip.”
But the way Singaporeans conduct their diplomacy may come under review.
There will probably be less back-slapping, free talking with greater emphasis on formal talks and proper note-taking.
The biggest blow is struck against Singapore’s collective image, making it appear as an arrogant, insensitive society so different from the polite Indonesians and sweet-talking Thais.
“It smacks of national arrogance,” said a businessman.
“Our leaders and citizens should be more humble and less cocky to countries which have done less well than us.”
The saga has brought out government critics by the hundreds.
One surfer wrote: “Our leaders are used to speaking arrogantly against its own citizens, why not foreigners?”
A critical website compiled some of the recent unendearing terms its leader had used against Singaporeans: daft, ignorant, quitters, complacent, lacking drive and hard-work requiring “spurs stuck on their hide.”
At any rate, once the hard-hitting MM Lee Kuan Yew is out of the political scene, none of his successors will possess his charisma or propensity for straight talk that can stir up the diplomatic world.
Once criticising Singaporeans for demanding more opposition voices, Lee warned the result could be “a good dose of incompetent government and ... and our women will become maids in other people’s countries...”
I know some Indonesians and Filipinos were a little annoyed
Insight Down South
By SEAH CHIANG NEE
While Singaporeans largely blame WikiLeaks, a minority is attributing the underlying cause of recent problems to a “condescending attitude” towards friends and neighbours less successful than them.
A WORLD where diplomatic secrets can become tomorrow’s Page One news is posing special problems for any country but more so for small city-states like Singapore.
The reason is that being vulnerable, they often depend on give-and-take negotiations to navigate through a complex, threatening world.
The smaller their size, the greater their need to rely on international diplomacy to survive.
Singapore, obviously, is – and always will be – a ready example.
When I was a wet-behind-the-ears reporter covering Singapore in the 60s as it set up compulsory national service, I remembered being told by leaders that the army would not by itself deter attacks.
“It has to go hand-in-hand with maintaining good relations with all, especially our neighbours,” proclaimed a cabinet minister.
It wasn’t always easy in those early days.
Government bureaucrats and journalists were regularly told to be sensitive when talking about shortcomings of neighbours.
So with this cornerstone of foreign policy long in place, how did the Republic’s diplomats get caught making so many allegedly “arrogant and rude” remarks about friends, even as cocktail gossiping.
No one apparently ever anticipated that these private talks with US representatives by three senior Singaporean representatives would ever leak out.
Malaysia was described as run by incompetent politicians on a dangerous decline, India as being stupid, Japan a big fat loser and Thailand as being corrupted.
There were others – Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam, China, Taiwan and the two Koreas – with some receiving harsher pronouncements than others.
Most of the details had already been widely reported, so I will not repeat them, the exposure may not have ended.
How are Singaporean citizens reacting?
Generally, they take a low interest in foreign affairs, preferring to leave it to the Foreign Affairs Ministry.
This dependency on the government largely means, the majority blames Singapore’s plight not on “loose lips” but on WikiLeaks’ “irresponsible action.”
“These are confidential exchanges. Every country has right to express their frank views,” said a retired police officer.
“In fact, we are the victims alongside many other countries.”
During the past few days, I was asked by several Singaporeans whether I thought the controversy would damage our relationship with our neighbours – and how serious it can be.
A friend even asked me if it was safe for his family to drive to Malaysia.
While Singaporeans largely blame WikiLeaks, a minority is attributing the underlying cause to a “condescending attitude” towards friends and neighbours less successful than them.
So far, this nose-in-the-air attitude has been prevalent among visitors abroad making rude comparisons to “things back home”.
The Singaporean diplomats had allegedly resorted to words like stupid, corrupt, incompetent and “a big fat loser” to describe some of its friends and neighbours.
“The trouble is when they are strung together they actually can be taken to imply that these countries were inferior to Singapore.
Realising this, Foreign Minister George Yeo has urged people not to “over-interpret” the leaked cables.
“In the nature of cocktail talk ... people say things in a blunt forthright way,” he added.
The leaked files have undoubtedly become an embarrassment to Singapore, and if it had happened a decade or two earlier, the diplomatic fallout could have been worse, especially in Asean.
Since then, the region’s ties have grown stronger and will survive the mini-storm.
The Foreign Affairs Ministry here said it believed the revelations would not harm the ‘robust’ ties.
It added: “Countries base relationships on their own interests and not hearsay or gossip.”
But the way Singaporeans conduct their diplomacy may come under review.
There will probably be less back-slapping, free talking with greater emphasis on formal talks and proper note-taking.
The biggest blow is struck against Singapore’s collective image, making it appear as an arrogant, insensitive society so different from the polite Indonesians and sweet-talking Thais.
“It smacks of national arrogance,” said a businessman.
“Our leaders and citizens should be more humble and less cocky to countries which have done less well than us.”
The saga has brought out government critics by the hundreds.
One surfer wrote: “Our leaders are used to speaking arrogantly against its own citizens, why not foreigners?”
A critical website compiled some of the recent unendearing terms its leader had used against Singaporeans: daft, ignorant, quitters, complacent, lacking drive and hard-work requiring “spurs stuck on their hide.”
At any rate, once the hard-hitting MM Lee Kuan Yew is out of the political scene, none of his successors will possess his charisma or propensity for straight talk that can stir up the diplomatic world.
Once criticising Singaporeans for demanding more opposition voices, Lee warned the result could be “a good dose of incompetent government and ... and our women will become maids in other people’s countries...”
I know some Indonesians and Filipinos were a little annoyed
