[Book Launch] Kishore Mahbubani: Can Singapore Survive?

to welcome you to this book launch ceremony I must say looking at this room and seeing so many old and dear friends in this room I'm really very happy that all of you despite your busy schedules and many demands on your time you have come to for this book launched today and I'm truly grateful but I'm especially grateful to one man professor Tommy Cole who has agreed to be the guest of honor and it is truly a real honor to have Tommy as the guest of honor because he's truly one of Singapore's legendary figures now you you may have just discovered it but I discovered it 31 years ago when I had to step in his shoes as a Singapore ambassador to un I was then 35 years old and I thought that was really mission impossible because he had already by then completed this chairmanship of the law of the sea conference and frankly created a convention that has changed the course of world history we all as you know worry today about what's happening in the South China Sea we know that it's not going to be easy easy to resolve the South China Sea issue but can you imagine how difficult it would be if Tomiko had not succeeded with the law of the sea Convention as many years ago and after that of course he went on to become chairman of the Rio conference on the environment so Tommy has done amazing work in the course of his career and I can tell you that many years later when I saw mr. Goh chok Tong trying to step into the shoes of mr. Lee Kuan Yew I said I know what that is like I try to step into the shoes of Tommy ko so especially on the crosswalk guest of honor come on Tommy is both a friend and a guru and as a guru he taught me one very important rule in life it's just that when you stand up to speak only make three points so I'm going to answer three questions with my three points the first question is of course why did I why did I produce this book second question what is the answer to can Singapore survive and three what can we do in the future to actually help Singapore survive and I'll try to answer these three questions in ten minutes or so and that'll be followed by Tommy Cole saying some remarks and hopefully after that we will have a dialogue with you all they should be followed then by a small reception modest reception back there where you can also apply some books so let me answer the first question why why did I write this book the simple answer is that you know as you know Singapore celebrating its 50th anniversary this year and amazingly even though we have had 50 amazing years in Singapore when we should actually be having a happy celebration this year as you know the mood is not one of total celebration and many people in Singapore sadly do not understand one basic fundamental fact about Singapore which is that our first 50 years have been exceptional by any global standards in fact sometimes I say rather provocatively in a remark that upsets I can tell you my federal professors at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy I say not since human history began as any society improve its standard of living as comprehensively and as rapidly a Singapore has and I state this as a fact and I say if you think I'm wrong challenge me give me another example of any state since human history began that has had this amazing transformation and the answer is that no one has done it so what the it is wonderful that we've had this exceptional track record but the trouble with this exceptional track record is that it is exceptional an exceptional as you know is a deviation from the normal and the as a student of history I can tell you over time history removes the exceptional and brings you back to normal so Singapore in the next 50 years will not be cannot be an exceptional State Singapore will be and probably will like most other states their normal state and that the strange thing is that since the major transition is coming so few people are preparing for it I mean if you if you look her and you want to know what normal is look at every country around this region look at South Korea after very strong government you have political instability your presidents going to jail look at Japan you had an LDP party running for so many years and then boom that's gone look at Taiwan look at our region so it is so unusual to have such continuous political stability and economic growth you can see so we will go back to the normal naturally because normal is natural and the question is are we prepared for it so that's why I said maybe it's time to produce a book they will get Singaporeans to reflect on what it is like when we become a normal state so the second question is can Singapore survive and as you all know I did give a clue to what the answer is in the Straits Times article that came out on Saturday and of course the honest answer to the question can Singapore survive is nobody knows the future is always unpredictable but the probability clearly like the massive probability is that Singapore will survive and I give the reasons why I think Singapore will survive they're very easy to bear in mind firstly we have invested so much in Singapore not just in developing the physical infrastructure in Singapore Singapore have you invested so much in developing a human infrastructure in Singapore which is one of the strongest and most resilient in the world I mean the collection of talent that we have put together in key institutions is something that other countries are very envious of this is a remarkable thing we have done and in our region Saudis Asia which was regarded as the Balkans of Asia when Singapore became independent 1965 was a region of instability has now become calm and relative speaking peaceful so that's another way that Singapore will survive and the third reason why Singapore survived is that by good fortune the center of gravity of world history is moving towards East Asia so the 21st century will be the Asian century and when it becomes the Asian century you will need to have an Asian City that will serve like London in a sense the capital of the European century or New York the capital of the American Century and the only city that can realistically serve as the capital of the patient century is Singapore so that a tremendous opportunity that Singapore has so for all these reasons as I say the massive probability is that Singapore won't survive but there is always a possibility that it may not survive - so that - we can expect and there will be all kinds of challenges coming our way in the years to come just to give you one example of a geopolitical challenge that is coming I should be normal is of course the relations within the world's number one power and the world's number one emerging power the world's number one power is the United States of America the world's number one emerging power is China and last year China surpassed the United States in PPP terms now when that happens traditionally you should be seeing rising levels of tension but in US and China but we're not seeing it I'm seeing a geopolitical miracle unfolding before our eyes so this is again abnormal the abnormal will revert back to normal we may have an enhanced geopolitical competition within US and China and the one sit in one country that will have the hardest time dealing with geopolitical competition but in US and China will be Singapore why because on the one hand be a very good friend of America indeed have been a solid friend of the United States working the United States in in defense and trade and investment in so many areas probably also have close ties with China and we have a population that is 75% Chinese so if there is a split but in US and China the hardest thing for Singapore will be to make a choice so that's why we need to worry about these things happening and the question is are we resilient enough to handle that situation when it comes that's why I say we must have doubts but whether or not Singapore can survive but I of course I conclude by saying maybe Singapore can survive and with that I basically give a series of prescriptions of what we can do to make Singapore survive better and probably the most controversial suggestion I make and that maybe scenarios is that if we want to ensure that Singapore survives what we need to do is to create a big tent approach and Singapore have a more inclusive society not just an inclusive society in economic terms but also a more inclusive society in political terms and this is what the founding fathers of Singapore did in fact I give examples from this book of to my famous colleagues one whom I succeeded Tommy Cole one who succeeded me Channing G Tommy Cole and Channing she was very strong critics of the Singapore government and so was ice III actually reprint in this book an essay which I wrote as a young man in 1969 called a question of decorum and frankly when I read it now I'm amazed that I wrote it so one reason for buying the book is to read that essay but we have to now I mean as Singapore changes as a more middle-class society emerges it's natural for the political environment the change and the best way to handle this new political environment is to make it as inclusive as possible and bringing people like the old Tommy Coles and hang cheese or even people like Minister Vivienne Balakrishna nada Raymond Lim who were critical of the government bring them in and make them part of the governing process of Singapore and that's a concrete recommendation I have in the book too so finally just to conclude because I realize I'm exceeding my time I also believe that all of us you know a small individual ways can make individual contributions to making sure that Singapore survives over the long run so from my point of view what we've tried to do at the Lee Kuan Yew School is to launch something called the Singapore futures project and the goal of the Singapore futures projects is to write a series of policy briefs on some of the challenges that Singapore is going to face discussed them discuss what we should do about them the different approaches and hopefully then as a result of that of producing those policy briefs you will then have a citizenry that is psychologically prepared for new challenges that are coming Singapore's way and we'll then see that they have had their disposal policy briefs that analyze and dissect the problems that may be coming Singapore's way but I also mentioned this Singapore futures project for a very important reason because I'm some of you may know that in my day job I'm sometimes known as a professional beggar so since the Singapore futures project is a project eminently worth supporting I hope that some of you tonight will also support it so thank you very much and with that can I invite Tommy Cole I wanted Thank You Shaw for his generous words and for giving me the privilege and honor of launching his fifth book can Singapore survive I have no one Kishore since his student days he was a brilliant student he was also a student leader and I might add quite fearless too he was the editor the student newspaper the undergrad I was then the legal adviser of the Student Union and one of my Jobs was to keep Kishore and his fellow student leaders out of trouble with the government in in a funny way I can say that I've been trying to keep him out of trouble ever since Keisha is a poster child of Singapore's meritocracy she life and career is an eloquent testimony that meritocracy works and a Singapore dream can be achieved she was dealt a very tough cut when he was young he was born into a very humble family and his father was some addicted involved alcohol and to gambling and it was the mother who raised the four children against all these odds Kishore was a brilliant student and won the most prestigious scholarship of Singapore President's Scholarship I don't know whether those of you who are non-indians know that Kishore is a Cindy and see the Cindy's are famous for their business acumen somehow Kishore didn't inherit this gene he decided to study philosophy which as you know and very little market value but but he did very well he graduated with first-class honours in philosophy and he joined a Singapore Foreign Service he performed brilliantly as a diplomat and rose through the ranks to achieve the highest position achievable for a foreign service officer that of the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in his second incarnation he has been the outstanding demon of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in a very short space of time he and his colleagues have put the school on the world map as one of the most respected schools of public policy he is even outperformed the legendary konnichiwa in fundraising as a result under his able leadership the school is financially rich and intellectually solid I think I am NOT wrong in saying that after Lee Kuan Yew Kishore Babu Bonnie Singapore's most famous and influential public intellectual Heath has been selected brought by foreign policy and prospect as one of the world's leading thinkers and I should say that it always amazes me she's so eloquent that American audiences actually paying to listen to him schooling the country and pronouncing that America is in terminal decline it's amazing the title the book can Singapore survive is meant to be provocative however as the former foreign minister George Yeo said in his blood despite his seeming pessimism to show us in fact more optimistic underlying his questions and doubts one can detect a certain faith in ordinary Singaporean beyond politics despite its title this collection of essays gives a hopeful view of Singapore's future and code I agree with Giorgio casual loves Singapore and he believes in Singapore however like many thoughtful Singaporeans he worried he's worried about our future she wonders whether success has made us complacent and we will suffer the fate of the great American company codec she worries that our success has made us so conservative and rigid that we are unwilling to slay any of our sacred cows such as the 3/4 tang rule or to embrace the name such as the Tesla electric car she worries that our policymakers we have lost the valve and daring of our founding fathers in one of his provocative essays he showed us and echoed how many of the assumptions in our minds still influenced by the Reagan Thatcher Revolution and if we find some how do we scrub them out and code I have a question for you Keisha do you think our decision to corporatize and privatize our public transport system is a legacy of the reagan-thatcher revolution and if it is how would you Ryoga NIH's our public transport system kishore likes to describe himself as a marxist well whether Marxist or not he's clearly a man who won Singapore to be more egalitarian one of his essays to be kinder and to be more philanthropic I think most of us if not all of us share those aspirations as for the question can Singapore survive I'm more optimistic than Kishore and I should explain that this is deal to a different genetic heritage shisho is a born pessimist and I'm a bond optimist I do not agree with some older Singaporeans who feel that our golden age is behind us and that the next 50 years will not be as brilliant at the last 50 years and I would respectfully point out the key shoulders there's no natural law that Singapore exceptionalism will only last for 50 years why am I'm optimistic and Keesha and yeah I'm afraid I'm going to give you four points and not three I believe that our world-class human capital our good governance our multiculturalism and our livability four foundations which will ensure our continued success and if I had to pick one of the four I think the most important competitive factor in the new century is human capital also I have faith in younger Singaporeans it's normal throughout history for all the people to not have faith in the younger people and this has been true since Aristotle but I have faith in younger Singaporeans this may be due to my happy interactions with a 600 students who belong to the tombow Sioux College of which I'm director I form very positive and favorable impressions of our next generation and based on this I do not believe that the next generation of Singaporeans were squander the legacy which the pioneering generation had bequeathed to them on the country I want to believe that they were tech Singapore to an even higher piripi I believe that the next 50 years can be ex accessible as the last 50 years and it is not inevitable that Singapore will leave behind the exceptional progress of the last 50 years and we received to the normal so on that optimistic note and very happy to launch key shows fifth book and I also urge you to buy them and teach I look forward to attending your well launch for your six book thank you

Channel: Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy

Views: 10,611

Rating: 4.7037039 out of 5

Keywords: Kishore Mahbubani (Author), Singapore (Country), Politics (TV Genre), Book, Public Policy (Field Of Study), National University Of Singapore (College/University), Lee Kuan Yew School Of Public Policy (Educational Institution), book launch, Tommy Koh, Can singapore survive, LKY School, Can asians think, beyond the age of innocence, The new asian hemisphere, The great convergence, top 50 global thinkers

Id: CWMwAbkJb54

Length: 26min 13sec (1573 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 17 2015