Beating the Odds Together

The following sections are included:

• About the Editor
• Contents
• Foreword
• Preface
• Introduction

In the 1960s and 1970s, and up to the 1980s, our neighbours never tired of referring to Singapore as “the Israel of Southeast Asia”. It was not meant to be a compliment…

Singapore and Israel share a special relationship, initially born of necessity. As a newly-independent state with limited resources other than our people and sheer grit to rely on, Singapore needed Israel’s help to build up our armed forces. As it turned out, Israel also sought a friend in the region. This unlikely friendship of two countries from disparate regions has since developed into one founded on mutual understanding and respect, shared values and a forward-thinking outlook. While our ties are strong, this special relationship has its trials, too. But reinforcing our bonds is the shared determination to thrive and build a brighter future for our peoples amid challenging circumstances. Ultimately, the mutual trust and respect that undergirds our relationship cannot be taken for granted…

In 2019, Israel and Singapore celebrate 50 years of diplomatic relations, friendship and collaboration that go back to the days when Israel and Singapore were two young countries. The bilateral relations are rooted in the shared values and challenges of the two young nations facing similar challenges — geo-strategic as well as economic, such as the lack of natural resources. For many years, it was a widely known, yet unspoken, secret that the beginning of our close relations was the Israeli response to Singapore’s request for assistance and advice in building the Singapore Armed Forces. It was only in the year 2000, when the biography of founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, From Third World to First: The Singapore Story 1965–2000, was published that the 30-year-old secret was made public: Israel helped to develop the Singapore Armed Forces. Late Brigadier-General Yaakov (Jack) Elazari, then a colonel in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), headed the secret Israeli military mission sent to train and build up the Singapore army, and is remembered in the book Not Born in Singapore: Fifty Personalities who Shaped the Nation…

As a Secondary One student, looking at the Time magazine map comparing the military forces of Israel with those of the surrounding Arab countries in early 1967, I feared for Israel’s ability to defend itself. Egyptian President Gamal Nasser had blockaded the Straits of Tiran, which was casus belli. War was inevitable. As it happened, the Six Day War saw the mighty Israel Defense Forces (IDF) vanquishing Arab military forces with seeming ease. I followed the battles day by day and became familiar with exotic places like Sharm el-Sheikh, el-Arish and Quneitra. Golda Meir, Moshe Dayan, Abba Eban, Ezer Weizman and Israel Tal became legends in my mind…

The following sections are included:

• Introduction
• The Beginning
• Seeking Help
• First Contact
• The Brown Book
• A Running Start
• Tough Training
• A Secret No More
• Building Deterrence
• Equipping the SAF
• Beyond a Poisonous Shrimp
• The Future of the Mexican Fandango

In Jewish teachings, we have a concept called tikkun olam, which literally means “repairing the world”. The origin of this expression goes back to Rabbi Isaac Luria (1534–1572), who was regarded as the father of Kabbalah, a term used to describe Jewish mystical activity or school of thought. Luria, who was leader of a community of mystics in Safed, Galilee, in northern Israel during the 16th century, created his own distinctive form of Kabbalah. In this form of Kabbalah, the Hebrew word tikkun first had a spiritual meaning, but in a different context. According to Luria, the idea of tikkun olam was based on the notion that during creation, G-d created 10 vessels, which contained the divine “sparks of holiness” or perceptible world of divinity. Sin caused the vessels to shatter, scattering the sparks all over the world and bringing evil into the world. It was the task of Jews to wander and gather the scattered sparks. In The Biblical Source for Tikkun Olam, Rabbi Benjamin Blech wrote: “The broken vessels required repair, and this would become the greatest mission of humanity”…

Newly founded by the British in 1819, Singapore was intended to be a trading post for both international and regional commerce. Among the earliest to arrive were the Jews, who settled at the mouth of the Singapore River. For them, the entirely new settlement of 19th century Singapore represented a new opportunity and a completely fresh start. Jewish merchants from India and Persia had been actively trading in the region for centuries. However, around 1817, a new wave of Jewish migrants fled to India to escape persecutions by the Ottomans in Persia, joining a local community that had been established earlier…

The history of Jewish synagogues in Singapore is closely intertwined with the history of the Jewish community. In the various places where the Jews have settled, they would want to build synagogues, their houses of worship. This was also the case in Singapore. For many in the Jewish community, the synagogue was a place to pray, worship, study the Torah, and meet their brethren…

My first visit to Singapore was originally planned for October 1973. Singapore was then eight years old, and I was invited by Israel’s attaché, Brigadier-General Ephrain Poran, who suggested I meet with the Minister for National Development. Singapore, he said, had planned a major housing programme for its population, and the minister might be interested in the experimental modular housing concepts we had evolved for Habitat 67 six years earlier. This trip did not to come to pass; it was interrupted by the Six Day War…

In the summer of 1966, just after I turned nine years old, my father, older brother and I landed in Singapore, less than a year after the expulsion of Singapore from the Malaysian Federation. Singapore was an independent state…

The following sections are included:

• Introduction
• Snapshot Statistics of Israeli and Singaporean VC Markets
• Israel: VC Policy to Become the Start-up Nation
• Singapore: Innovating Policy Based upon Learning from Global Leaders
• Conclusion
• Bibliography

Ask anyone about Israel today and “innovation” would be cited by many people as one of the first things that come to mind. This tiny country has managed to produce numerous innovative products, from cherry tomatoes to flash drives, instant messaging software ICQ and GPS navigation software Waze to internet firewalls. These inventions were non-conventional and, over a short period of time, they have proven to be globally competitive and commercially successful…

The following sections are included:

• Mikanna
• Synagogue Inspiration
• We Love Singapore
• Beginners’ Luck
• From Fair Winds into a Rough Sea
• A Unicorn in the Making
• Live with Creativity, Kindness, Determination and a Sprinkle of Luck