Singapore’s ASEAN Chair: Think New and Big

Posted by AsiaViews | Nov 27, 2017 | 0 |

By Kavi Chongkittavorn*

The Bangkok Post

Nov 21, 2017

Singapore’s chairmanship of ASEAN started long before the city state’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong received the baton from Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte last week in Manila. Singapore wants to ensure the external environment under its helm will be conducive to promoting ASEAN centrality and regional stability as well as prosperity.

Within the space of just a few weeks in September and October, Mr Lee visited Beijing and Washington and managed to instill a sense of calm and reinvigorate the power of small states due to Singapore’s extraordinary relations with the two superpowers. Unmistakably, this will serve as a template for ASEAN as well in dealing with the grouping’s two most important dialogue partners.

The island republic’s founding father Lee Kuan Yew taught all Singapore civil servants to think big. In Singapore, small is not beautiful — it is big and powerful. That’s what got the island republic where it is today.

Looking ahead, against this backdrop of confidence, is the year-long pathway for the new ASEAN chair. Although it officially takes over in January, Singapore has already laid out its agenda and ASEAN’s priorities. “Resilience and innovation” will be the theme, a far cry from the previous one during 2007-08 with the iconic theme of “One ASEAN in the heart of dynamic Asia”. This time, the theme reflects the hearts and minds of the new chair and the new environment in which it is operating.

More than officials like to admit, except the respectable Tommy Koh, the average Singaporean does not pay much attention to ASEAN. Mr Koh is a true believer in ASEAN without any pretensions, as he has never spoken ill of the group. He knows well that the region would be worse off without ASEAN.

However, in the past decade since the ASEAN Charter came into effect with law-abiding regulations and rule-based governance, Singaporeans are showing a more positive attitude toward ASEAN. When the citizens of the richest ASEAN member feel better about the bloc, that can only be a positive trend.

At the handover ceremony, Mr Lee told the group’s leaders that “ASEAN is a lifeboat for all 10 countries in Southeast Asia, to come together, to work together, to have our voice heard on the world stage, to be able to manage our own issues among ourselves, and to cooperate to improve the lives of the people in Southeast Asia.” His words reminded us of the island’s statesman, S Rajaratnam, who famously said that ASEAN members must hang together or hang separately at the founding of ASEAN five decades ago. This time around, the chair believes all 10 members are sharing the same lifeboat, and that it is unsinkable.

This paragraph aptly described what Singapore would do to overcome some of the challenges expected next year. He pointed out that terrorism, non-traditional and cyber security threats are issues that all member countries are confronting. He was confident that working together, “we can make ASEAN a more effective and valuable organization”.

The second part is innovation. It would be the easiest part to pursue as the ASEAN chair is already well ahead of the curve in all fields that are related to digitalization. Singapore can share its best policies and practices with the rest of ASEAN. The challenge will be how to do it — the Singaporean way or the ASEAN way. So far, the former has been the norm. There will be some soul-searching on both sides.

As in any chairmanship year, there are unexpected events and some disruptive developments that it has to deal with around the clock. The quality of the chair’s leadership will be judged on tangible applications of solutions and their moral influence. After all, the principle of non-interference and consensus still guide the group. Given political dynamism within ASEAN members these days, people’s voices and their concerns are being heard and contested. People-centered community building is no longer hollow but a real work in progress.

Back in 2007, when Singapore last served as ASEAN chair, the Silk Revolution in Myanmar was the major event that required the utmost diplomacy both regionally and internationally. On Sept 27 of that year at the special foreign ministerial meeting in New York, ASEAN jointly demanded Myanmar, which was still under military rule, to stop the use of violence against demonstrators. On the previous days, thousands of monks and students were attacked by the military. In addition, ASEAN, under the leadership of then-foreign minister George Yeo, called upon Myanmar to resume its efforts on national reconciliation.

In the coming days and months, the chair will have to deal with Myanmar again in response to the situation in Rakhine State. The difference now is that it is under a democratic government led by State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi. Again, the new chair has to walk a tightrope linking regional and international concerns.

In addition, Cambodia’s political development is getting tense as election day draws near. Hopefully political uncertainty there will not damage ASEAN solidarity. During the political upheaval in Cambodia in 1997, which delayed Cambodia’s membership by two years, Prime Minister Hun Sen had harsh words for the group.

Now as the leader of an active ASEAN member, Hun Sen, who is one of the group’s most senior leaders after the Sultan of Brunei Darussalam, will be even tougher given his latest rhetoric against the US. If need be, he could easily unplug or disconnect with the rest of ASEAN. The 2012 incident when ASEAN failed to issue its customary joint communiqué was a fresh reminder of what Cambodia can do. If there is any criticism openly from a member or the political situation worsens, it could trigger a crisis in ASEAN that could impact on Cambodia’s membership. When Malaysia attacked Myanmar over the Rakhine crisis recently, it took Ms Suu Kyi’s cool head to dilute the tension.

Finally, Singapore has to play a twin role leading ASEAN to engage China, as the country coordinator of ASEAN-China and the ASEAN chair, especially on the South China Sea dispute. A positive foundation has been laid by Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s statement on the South China Sea. As a non-conflicting member, Singapore hopes it can be a powerful broker in helping to move forward the process of drafting the code of conduct.

*Kavi Chongkittavorn is a veteran journalist on regional affairs.

(https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/1364235/singapores-asean-chair-think-new-and-big)

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Singapore’s ASEAN Chair: Think New and Big