Comments on: The tao of spiderman : lessons for Singapore defence and diplomacy http://theonlinecitizen.com/2007/06/the-tao-of-spiderman-lessons-for-singapore-defence-and-diplomacy/ a community of Singaporeans Fri, 10 Feb 2012 08:36:44 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: theonlinecitizen http://theonlinecitizen.com/2007/06/the-tao-of-spiderman-lessons-for-singapore-defence-and-diplomacy/comment-page-1/#comment-967 theonlinecitizen Sat, 09 Jun 2007 10:44:08 +0000 http://theonlinecitizen.com/2007/06/08/the-tao-of-spiderman-lessons-for-singapore-defence-and-diplomacy/#comment-967 Well said, Gerald. Although we may be upset with some of our neighbours' reactions to certain issues, at the end of the day the region as a whole will either sink or swim together. Perhaps Singapore has more to lose than our neighbours - as we are smaller (both in population and physical size) and without natural resources. So, we will have to 'swallow' whatever "nonsense" (or so we feel) which our neighbours might throw at us. (Diplomacy behind closed doors, if you will.) Joint-projects will be the way to go, in my opinion. We don't want to be the rich neighbour in a poor neighbourhood. We should (and must) help our neighbours progress and prosper as well. And we should start with Burma! Well said, Gerald. Although we may be upset with some of our neighbours’ reactions to certain issues, at the end of the day the region as a whole will either sink or swim together.

Perhaps Singapore has more to lose than our neighbours – as we are smaller (both in population and physical size) and without natural resources. So, we will have to ‘swallow’ whatever “nonsense” (or so we feel) which our neighbours might throw at us. (Diplomacy behind closed doors, if you will.)

Joint-projects will be the way to go, in my opinion.

We don’t want to be the rich neighbour in a poor neighbourhood. We should (and must) help our neighbours progress and prosper as well.

And we should start with Burma!

]]> By: Lifeslikethat http://theonlinecitizen.com/2007/06/the-tao-of-spiderman-lessons-for-singapore-defence-and-diplomacy/comment-page-1/#comment-962 Lifeslikethat Sat, 09 Jun 2007 00:46:42 +0000 http://theonlinecitizen.com/2007/06/08/the-tao-of-spiderman-lessons-for-singapore-defence-and-diplomacy/#comment-962 Gerald, Maybe we need more projects like the IDR, to make our relationships more intertwined? Gerald,

Maybe we need more projects like the IDR, to make our relationships more intertwined?

]]> By: Gerald http://theonlinecitizen.com/2007/06/the-tao-of-spiderman-lessons-for-singapore-defence-and-diplomacy/comment-page-1/#comment-968 Gerald Fri, 08 Jun 2007 17:37:19 +0000 http://theonlinecitizen.com/2007/06/08/the-tao-of-spiderman-lessons-for-singapore-defence-and-diplomacy/#comment-968 I notice that our govt leaders and officials too readily subscribe to the dogma that there's no point being generous with our neighbours because they will never be grateful and will always turn around and bite our backsides. So they sneer at the prospect of giving aid to our neighbours, beyond just "technical assistance" (which really costs us nothing compared to the overall size of our budget). Even after Singapore (rightly) rendered so much assistance to Indonesia after the tsunami, and the Indons started pressing us on other issues like the Extradition Treaty, people were quick to jump and point out "See, what's the point of giving them so much?" Extending our "soft power" is not just a "try once and sure work" experiment. It is a long term endeavour which we need to persist at. Look at how much aid Japan has given China since WWII. Yet at a drop of a hat, the Chinese start pulling out the nationalist card against Japan. But can you imagine how much worse the Sino-Japanese relationship would be if Japan did not give all that aid to China? Our future lies in our region, I'm convinced. If our neighbours don't do well, it impacts not only on our economy, but also our security. We need to do our part to help our neighbours in a big and effective way, not just with token assistance. Perhaps we may not see results in our generation, but it may be for future generations of Singaporeans to benefit from. I notice that our govt leaders and officials too readily subscribe to the dogma that there’s no point being generous with our neighbours because they will never be grateful and will always turn around and bite our backsides. So they sneer at the prospect of giving aid to our neighbours, beyond just “technical assistance” (which really costs us nothing compared to the overall size of our budget). Even after Singapore (rightly) rendered so much assistance to Indonesia after the tsunami, and the Indons started pressing us on other issues like the Extradition Treaty, people were quick to jump and point out “See, what’s the point of giving them so much?”

Extending our “soft power” is not just a “try once and sure work” experiment. It is a long term endeavour which we need to persist at. Look at how much aid Japan has given China since WWII. Yet at a drop of a hat, the Chinese start pulling out the nationalist card against Japan. But can you imagine how much worse the Sino-Japanese relationship would be if Japan did not give all that aid to China?

Our future lies in our region, I’m convinced. If our neighbours don’t do well, it impacts not only on our economy, but also our security. We need to do our part to help our neighbours in a big and effective way, not just with token assistance. Perhaps we may not see results in our generation, but it may be for future generations of Singaporeans to benefit from.

]]> By: celluloidrealitys http://theonlinecitizen.com/2007/06/the-tao-of-spiderman-lessons-for-singapore-defence-and-diplomacy/comment-page-1/#comment-966 celluloidrealitys Fri, 08 Jun 2007 14:31:34 +0000 http://theonlinecitizen.com/2007/06/08/the-tao-of-spiderman-lessons-for-singapore-defence-and-diplomacy/#comment-966 I agree. I would also like to point out that when we engage in HADR efforts, they actually strengthen our non-traditional security fronts because the relative trust that our neighbours' peoples have in us is increased. I agree.

I would also like to point out that when we engage in HADR efforts, they actually strengthen our non-traditional security fronts because the relative trust that our neighbours’ peoples have in us is increased.

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