Reaction Paper to Singapore

In this week’s ASEAN Country Report, group 1 presented their assigned country,
Singapore. Their report consisted of three parts – An introduction to why people choose
Singapore and its Interesting Facts, History, and Culture; How the country adheres to the 3
ASEAN Community Pillars; and How the nation follows the ASEAN way.

One of the leading nations in Southeast Asia is Singapore. Despite being one of the
smallest countries in Southeast Asia, Singapore has a lot to offer other than its diverse cuisine
and landmarks. As highlighted by the reporters, it is notable for its world-class structures,
efficient transportation system, progressive business environment, diversity, and vast lands. Even
though the group agrees that Singapore is now known for a plethora of things, we identified
some information gaps in their report, which raised the following questions: How is Singapore so
successful despite the lack of natural resources?; What makes Singapore extremely competitive?;
and What caused its economic growth? The reporters were able to emphasize its achievements
but lacked an explanation regarding the factors behind its success and prosperity. With that being
said, our group wonders how this nation, once a third-world country, became one of the world's
wealthiest countries and most developed economies globally. Singapore has come a long way
since gaining its independence in 1965, and the reporters could have given the audience a brief
overview of how Singapore was able to compete with the rest of the world in order for us to gain
a better understanding.

With regard to how Singapore adheres to the 3 ASEAN Community Pillars: the
Political-Security Community, Economic Community, and Socio-Cultural Community, the
reporters state that the country has made several efforts to adhere to the three pillars since its
inception. First, how is Singapore adhering to the Political-Security Community? Based on their
report, it seems like Singapore is more heavily involved in non-traditional security issues, such
as Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance, than traditional security issues, which
allows Singapore to live in harmony and peace with other ASEAN countries. Second, how is
Singapore adhering to the Economic Community? Our group shares the same sentiment on how
Singapore was able to establish significant trade linkages throughout the years because of
ASEAN accords on wide trade and investment, which heavily contributed to their economic
development. Even The World Economic Forum has placed Singapore's economy as the most
open, the third-least corrupt, and the most pro-business in the world (Charlton, 2019). Lastly,
how is Singapore adhering to the Socio-Cultural Community? Similar to the reporters' remarks,
our group also agrees that Singapore has embodied the ASEAN motto by providing career and
education opportunities to students belonging to the ASEAN countries as well as providing
assistance and aid to ASEAN countries in times of crisis. To illustrate, in 2021, Singapore
donated $82,000 to those affected by Typhoon Rai in the Philippines and Malaysia (Hermes
Auto, 2021).

When it comes to following the ASEAN Way, Singapore was able to maintain its
“non-interference” principle in the 2017 Rohingya Crisis but broke that policy in the 2021
Myanmar crisis. While our group was not surely familiar with the 2021 Myanmar crisis, we
found the reporters' points convincing as they were able to support their statements. Our group
also stands in opposition to the Myanmar military. Despite breaking the ASEAN
“non-interference” policy, our group thinks that it was only right for Singapore to express its
concerns about the situation in order to stop the ongoing violence from happening. As members
of the ASEAN community, it is also their responsibility to take further action to alleviate the
suffering of Myanmar’s people.

All in all, group 1 made excellent points in their report, especially in highlighting the
strengths and uniqueness of Singapore, namely the country’s diversity and achievements. The
reporters were also able to discuss how Singapore adheres to the 3 ASEAN Community Pillars
and how Singapore follows the ASEAN way.
 References

Charlton, E. (2019, October 11). Singapore crowned world’s most open and competitive

economy. World Economic Forum.

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/10/competitiveness-economy-best-top-first-s

ingapore-secret-consistency/

Hermes Auto. (2021, December 22). S’pore to give $82k to help those affected by floods

in Malaysia and typhoon in Philippines. The Straits Times.

https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/singapore-offers-help-for-those-aff

ected-by-floods-in-malaysia-and-typhoon-in-the-philippines