Japan disaster reminds Singapore to diversify its power sources: SM Goh

Maria Siow Channel NewsAsia 14 Apr 11;

SINGAPORE: Singapore Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong said the recent disaster in Japan is a reminder that the country needs to diversify its sources of power.

Even though there are no plans to move into nuclear energy, he said Singapore was "enquiring into its mileage" and looking at how best to use nuclear energy.

Mr Goh was speaking in a wide-ranging interview Thursday with China Central Television in the southern Chinese province of Hainan, where he is attending the Boao forum for Asia as a board director.

On attracting international talent to Singapore, Mr Goh said the island needs to remain open.

"Because if you are able to collect a pool of very able people, no matter what the challenges are, we are in a better position to overcome the challenges," Mr Goh said.

Even though rules have been tightened to make the process of acquiring Singaporean citizenship more "selective", he noted that those with good knowledge, skills and entrepreneurship will still be welcomed.

When asked about the legacies of both himself and Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, Mr Goh said, "We never talked about legacies. Lee Kuan Yew never talked about his legacy. I never talked about my legacy. There was a job to be done and somebody had to do it."

"[Lee Kuan Yew] has laid the foundations for Singapore, he has shaped the values for Singapore, and he therefore planned for his own exit because he believes that he should not be there forever and ever. I happened to be the man who succeeded him. So I have kept Singapore going and now, the third Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is now trying to do the same thing - to make Singapore more competitive, and give people a better life."

In response to whether he told Prime Minister Lee to do so, Mr Goh said: "No, I don't tell my successor what to do. But my successor should know what to do."

Turning to the building of casinos, Mr Goh reiterated that "from the moral standpoint, the government and most people in Singapore are against gaming."

However, in the end, the choice was made based on the need to create jobs, difficulty in relying on manufacturing and a few key industries in generating growth, and the lack of natural tourist attractions.

The government will, however, continue to keep a watchful eye on the social implications of the casinos, Mr Goh said.

On the use of new media, Mr Goh said these were powerful tools of communication, which cannot be underestimated. He warned that new media could "sometimes suffer from the danger of misuse by a small number of people, who hide behind anonymity, spread information, distort news", but added that "you have to live with it."

Even so, Mr Goh believes new media is a technological tool and a mega-trend that will take the world to the next level of economic development.

On China's opening up, Mr Goh said that China's successful economic development has led to problems, such as a growing income gap and inflationary pressures.

He said China's core strategy should be to become a market economy, a move which he believes will be made easier given the country's investment in its infrastructure, people and in relevant skills.

On the internationalization of the Chinese currency, Mr Goh said it has to be done gradually, and that China's exchange rate should be made more flexible to reflect the fundamentals of the Chinese economy.

On the BRICS summit being held in Sanya, Mr Goh said it is still too early to tell if the grouping of emerging economies will be institutionalized. But he believes it is good start for the BRICS nations - comprising of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - to be involved in a major forum such as the G20.

Mr Goh said apart from pushing for freer trade between nations, the G20 will also have to tackle global financial stability, inflation, and price volatility.

Mr Goh will take part in a panel discussion and hold bilateral meetings with other visiting foreign dignitaries Friday.

- CNA/cc

Singapore open selectively to international talent: SM
There's need for talent, but he adds becoming PR will be more difficult
Grace Ng Straits Times 15 Apr 11;

BOAO (HAINAN): Singapore has slowed the inflow of foreign immigrants, but it is still open selectively to 'entrepreneurial Chinese' and other international talent, Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong said yesterday.

In a wide-ranging interview with China's state-owned newscaster CCTV, he talked about how an open economy such as Singapore is staying competitive, from its human resources policy to its successful integrated resorts (IRs).

Asked whether Singapore is now paying more attention to Chinese, particularly wealthy ones, in its immigration policy, Mr Goh said Singapore is 'now open selectively to international talent'.

'Yes, we pay attention, I would say, not to the wealthy Chinese, but to the entrepreneurial Chinese. Those who are able, with the knowledge and the skills to make a contribution,' he said.

But as the number of mainland Chinese and other foreigners grows in Singapore, 'it does become more difficult for outsiders who want to come to Singapore to become permanent residents', Mr Goh said. 'There is no choice, otherwise the flow will be too big and we will be overwhelmed,' he explained. 'So we have slowed down the inflow into Singapore.'

On the other hand, for a small country like Singapore to compete against other nations, it must continue to develop a pool of very talented people, including those from China, India, Europe and the United States, he said. 'No matter what the challenges are, we are in a better position to overcome these challenges because we have able people.'

SM Goh was speaking on the sidelines of the Boao Forum for Asia, a three-day summit attended by several hundred top political and business leaders on the tropical Chinese island of Hainan.

He is in China for a nine-day visit which ends on Tuesday.

Mr Goh told CCTV that human resource development is an area where Singapore can share some of its experience with China, which faces the challenge of upgrading the knowledge of its people.

In the past, the world's second largest economy had emphasised so-called 'classical learning', such as immersion in the Chinese classics, he noted. But now its people are acquiring 'skills which are relevant to the economy'.

Chinese cities are competing not just among themselves but also against international cities including Singapore.

'China will not worry Singapore,' Mr Goh said, because 'competition is never a zero-sum game'.

'Economic growth results in a larger and larger pie, (and) we would just get our fair share of the pie.'

To cope with increasing international competition, Singapore has had to think deeply about where next to diversify its economy after the manufacturing, pharmaceutical and finance sectors.

Mr Goh said that during the economic crisis several years ago, when 'we looked forward into the future, we asked ourselves: how do we create jobs?'

The answer, he said, was that Singapore needed to boost tourism, going beyond man-made attractions such as the Night Safari to develop IRs that would draw not just gamblers but also tourists.

'So far it has succeeded, we have managed to attract many tourists to Singapore because it's new, it's fresh, it's well regulated,' he said.

At the same time, Singapore has been very careful that developing the IRs does not become a negative: that is, Singapore benefits from the tourist revenue but the country suffers socially because of it.

Singapore is also reportedly looking to boost economic growth by becoming an offshore yuan trading hub - a prospect broached by CCTV when asking Mr Goh for his views on the Chinese currency.

He sidestepped the topic, focusing on the need for the yuan to become more international and flexible to facilitate China's growing international trade and reflect the fundamentals of its economy.

China has begun to internationalise its yuan 'by having an offshore centre in Hong Kong', he said. 'I believe the government will look for other ways to expand the use of the renminbi,' he added.

SM Goh on:

NUCLEAR ENERGY

Asked about Singapore's experience in energy security given the nuclear crisis sparked by the quake and tsunami disaster in Japan, Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong said the Republic is researching the safe use of nuclear energy.

Singapore has been trying to diversify its energy sources, but is unable to harness large-scale use of green energy such as solar or wind, he explained.

Mr Goh also cautioned against dismissing the use of nuclear energy as there are few alternatives to replace oil and gas.

So Singapore 'is trying to see how nuclear energy can be used in a very safe way in the long(-term) future', he said.

But 'there are no plans whatsoever for Singapore to move into nuclear energy', he added.

NEW SOCIAL MEDIA

Mr Goh highlighted the rise of new media such as Facebook and blogs - as a mega-trend.

Noting that 'it is a very powerful tool of communication' that connects people wherever they are, he said that the new media will take the world to a new level of economic development and socialising.

But he cautioned that the tool could be used for good or evil.

Likening it to a knife that can be used to cut fruits or kill people, Mr Goh said: 'New media can sometimes suffer from the danger of being used by a small number of people... who are hiding beyond anonymity (to) spread misinformation, distort news and so on.

'But we have to live with it.'

'No talk of legacy, just get the job done'

BOAO (HAINAN): Singapore's top leaders never talk about their legacies.

Instead, they just focus on getting the job done, that is, keep Singapore going.

Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong stressed this during an interview yesterday with Chinese state media, which asked him to comment on the view that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had inherited his legacy in the same way that Mr Goh had inherited that of Mr Lee Kuan Yew.

'In fact we never talk about legacies, Lee Kuan Yew never talked about his legacy and I never talk about my legacy. There was a job to be done and someone had to do it,' he said.

The elder Mr Lee had 'planned for his own exit, because he believed that he should not be there forever and ever', Mr Goh noted.

'I happened to be the man who succeeded him.'

Mr Goh's own goal, when he took over as PM in 1990, was 'to keep Singapore going and going, just as simple as that'.

'In other words, to make sure that values remain sound, economy is competitive and people live harmoniously,' he told state broadcaster CCTV.

The Singapore leader was speaking on the sidelines of the three-day Boao Forum for Asia, a summit for top political and economic leaders.

Asked whether he told the younger Mr Lee, who succeeded him in 2004, to keep Singapore going, Mr Goh replied: 'No, I didn't have to tell him.'

Mr Goh noted that he had built on what Minister Mentor Lee had done, which was to set Singapore's foundation and shape its values.

In the same way, PM Lee is now building on Mr Goh's work.

'Mr Lee Hsien Loong is now trying to do the same thing: make Singapore more competitive, give people a better life. That is our job,' Mr Goh said.