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In an otherwise excellent article (Soft power: S & P can afford to be more ambitious, July 25), Mr. Jonathan McClory has omitted or overlooked the knowledge / skill sharing that Singapore has done. Is engaged in the last 50 years.
Benefiting from the assistance provided by developed countries and international organizations, the Government of Singapore felt that it was normal for its development experiences to be at the service of developing countries wanting to improve the lot of their people.
A Department of Technical Assistance was created at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to render this service
This has evolved into the Singapore Cooperation Program of today.
Thousands of trainees came to Singapore for training, some of them
In collaboration with the Japan International Cooperation Agency, the program was strengthened to attract more trainees.
The positive effects of the transfer of technical know-how can be observed in the case of China
After his visit to Singapore in 1979, Supreme Leader Deng Xiaoping issued a saying to his people "Go south and learn. "As a result, several thousand trainees came to Singapore and were trained at Nanyang Technological University and other training centers.
Upon their return, these trainees contributed to the rapid progress from China to an impoverished country 19659002] While this process of transfer of expertise was taking place from government to government, a quasi-governmental body, the Singapore International Foundation (SIF) was set up to interact with developed and developing countries to share values and expertise
Over the last 25 years, SIF has deployed numerous programs in areas such as Water for Life, Health and Nutrition.
At the non-governmental level, organizations like Mercy Relief, the Red Cross and the Rotary Movement help others to help themselves and make this world a better place to live. [19659002] I hope that Mr. McClory will be able to include the above elements in his calculation of Singapore "soft power", which I personally prefer to call a "sharing of experiences"
K. Kesavapany
Governor
International Foundation of Singapore
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