Remarks
by
TEODORO L. LOCSIN, JR.
Secretary of Foreign Affairs
On the Occasion of the 54th National Day of the Republic of Singapore,
[07 August 2019]
His Excellency President Rodrigo Duterte conveys on behalf of the Filipino people their warmest greetings to the Government and people of Singapore on the occasion of its 54th National Day.
Singapore is every thinking and hardworking man and woman’s Shangri-La — every Asian’s City on a Hill — what Boston was long ago. It is a paragon of flawless modernity, innovation, and efficiency — and nothing was wasted or misspent on it.
When I first stayed in Singapore to set up a branch of the law firm I worked in, I landed in Changi Airport which was then a string of barracks — clean as whistles, and manned by little muscled men in blue with submachine guns slung over their necks. That was it. Yet it was already the worst kept secret: Changi is the best airport in the world because it worked better than any other more far more splendid airport. The present Changi was built as pure icing on the cake of total efficiency.
The people then were mostly dressed diametrically: in black and white. Most worked in government; and government was in almost everything — in both the public and the private sector which was indistinguishable from it.
And it all worked contrary to pure free enterprise doctrine. What is now taught as Chaos Theory — proven time and again in every great capitalist society always on the brink of falling to pieces. Not Singapore.
A time-lapse of Singapore would be awe-inspiring: from its origins as coastal settlements to its magnificent skyline and remarkable expanse of green urban spaces today. Contemporary Singapore represents the very vision and aspiration of many nations — prosperity for all who work for it; yet care too for those who can’t; and all built on honest, super-intelligent, determined and visionary leadership; and the instilled — not inborn — discipline of its multiethnic population. Nope, race theory doesn’t work there.
Singapore harnessed its strengths which were weaknesses elsewhere: the wide diversity of its people; the poverty and deprivation of their origin in Malay tin mining for the most part; and the animosity of near neighbors. It used what a lot of countries have: a strategic location at the crossroads of giant oceans and myriad of small seas.
But in Singapore’s case, it was too far from the Great Pacific in whose century it yet became — of all the cities and countries on the rim — the jewel in the crown. All other Southeast Asian countries have far better geographical advantages — but to not much avail.
About a month ago, I was honored to speak at Singapore’s re-inauguration of a fine Filipino artist’s gift to that great nation: the Alkoff Bridge — as Pacita Abad painted it in 55 colors, with 900 liters of paint — before she died. When I first laid eyes on it, I could think of only description: “My God,” I said turning to Vivian Balakrishnan, Singapore’s foreign minister, “it’s a happy bridge.”
“Standing before Pacita’s work of art and heart,” I said, “we are filled with renewed inspiration to continue our work of forging ever stronger ties with the most efficient state in the world: one that started with almost nothing except for a surfeit of leadership material far more than the rest of Asia combined. And so it became what it is today: the embodied Asian vision of what a country should be.
“Some will say,” I said, ‘Yes but that’s because Singapore’s small.’ As if that meant there’s little to do to make it work. Indeed, Singapore’s own officials begin their statements with feigned modesty by saying, ‘Singapore is small and it will always be small.’ But size has nothing to do with it. For “if big countries were reduced to small fractions of what they are, I doubt they’d become Singapores,” I said.
It is my honor to celebrate with you, the 50th anniversary of the establishment of Philippines-Singapore diplomatic relations. Since 1969, our countries have never wavered in our deep friendship and fruitful cooperation, through good and challenging times.
Next month’s visit of Her Excellency President Halimah Yacob to the Philippines, on the invitation of President Duterte, honors our deep friendship and pays tribute to its abiding strength and dynamism.
As we turn our eyes to the next half century and beyond, allow me to convey the vision of Minister Balakrishnan, which I share with as much optimism. All the conflicting claims in the South China Sea will not be resolved, he said. The attachments of each people to their ideas of what they are entitled to are too strong and will not weaken with time, I said. And yet, said Vivian, nothing will stand in the way of limitless progress, prosperity and, I dare say, peace for our region.
I offer a toast:
• To the good health of His Excellency Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Her Excellency President Halimah Yacob;
• To the happiness of the peoples of the Philippines and Singapore;
• And to our enduring friendship and partnership. Mabuhay! END