The first two volumes of The Little Red Dot series covered a wide range of views about Singapore's diplomacy by Singaporean diplomats. This new addition to the series offers a complementary perspective of Singapore and its bilateral relations, through the eyes of past heads of missions from foreign countries who have served as ambassadors to Singapore. The reader will be able to glean insights from the foreign diplomats who took an active role in getting to know Singapore, and at the same time, also worked hard to promote their respective countries' interests. As seen from their perspectives, the reader can learn more about what was unique about Singapore, what they learnt and what made their postings to Singapore memorable. These candid reflections will allow Singaporean readers to understand how different elements of our country are often seen as a whole, and how that in turn contributes to the impressions that our foreign friends have of Singapore. Often cited by the contributors are the success of Singapore's economic development, our cohesive multi-cultural and multi-religious society, our good governance, our education system and opportunities for the young. These aspects that are highlighted, among others, are what makes Singapore unique and they are also important to Singapore's future. There were, of course, some critical comments on some aspects of our culture and political arrangements. We should evaluate them with an open mind, always willing to learn from our friends.
Sample Chapter(s)
Foreword (116 KB)
Memories of Singapore (212 KB)
Contents:
- Australia:
- Memories of Singapore (Ted Delofski)
- Bangladesh:
- My Experience as High Commissioner in Singapore (Kamrul Ahsan)
- Belgium:
- How do I See Singapore Fifteen Years after Serving as Ambassador of Belgium (Patrick Van Haute)
- Brunei:
- The Singapore Experience (Dato Paduka Haji Mohd Yunos bin Haji Mohd Hussein)
- Cambodia:
- Singapore–Cambodia: A Growing Partnership (Roland Eng)
- Canada:
- The Resilience of a Nation (Doreen Steidle)
- Chile:
- Memories of Singapore (Juan Martabit)
- China:
- Lasting Impressions of Singapore (Yang Wenchang)
- A Country Always on the Move (Chen Baoliu)
- Costa Rica:
- Singapore, How to Fly High and Straight (Juan F Cordero A)
- Denmark:
- Singapore, A Posting that became a Home (Joergen Oerstroem Moeller)
- Egypt:
- The Miracle Known as Singapore (Mohamed Abdel Rehim El-Zorkany)
- European Union:
- Geography and Destiny (Holger Standertskjöld)
- Finland:
- Singapore on My Mind... (Satu Mattila)
- France:
- Some of My Best Years as Ambassador (Bernard de Montferrand)
- Germany:
- My Impressions of Singapore (Volker Schlegel)
- The Singapore Experience — Love at Second Sight (Folkmar Stoecker)
- Singapore and Globalisation: Benchmarks Set (Jörg Ranau)
- India:
- My Days in Singapore — Looking East and Loving It (Prabhat Prakash Shukla)
- Singapore (T C A Raghavan)
- Indonesia:
- My Assignment in Singapore (Soedibyo Rahardjo)
- Israel:
- My Life in Singapore — Reminiscences (Amira Arnon)
- Japan:
- Building Foundations for Japan and Singapore Relations (Hiroshi Hashimoto)
- My Experience as Ambassador of Japan to Singapore (Takaaki Kojima)
- Singapore, What Kind of a Little Red Dot? (Yoichi Suzuki)
- Kazakhstan:
- In Celebration of a Kazakhstan–Singapore Partnership (Nurlan Yermekbayev)
- Kuwait:
- Thoughts, Reflections, and Experiences of the Little Red Dot (Abdulaziz Ahmed Aladwani)
- Laos:
- My Career in the Lao Foreign Affairs Ministry (Thouane Vorasarn)
- Malaysia:
- Sustaining Malaysia–Singapore Relations — People of Goodwill on Both Sides (Dato' N Parameswaran)
- Mexico:
- The Best for Singapore is Yet to Be (Eduardo Ramos-Gómez)
- Myanmar:
- Brand Name Singapore (U Hla Thann)
- New Zealand:
- Recollections of a Singapore Posting (Timothy Hannah)
- Pakistan:
- Manicured and Choreographed: The Story of Effervescent Singapore (Sajjad Ashraf)
- The Philippines:
- My Easiest Diplomatic Posting (Alberto A Encomienda)
- Reflections (Minda Calaguian-Cruz)
- Poland:
- Singapore Matters, Indeed! (Boguslaw Marcin Majewski)
- Chopin, Football and Diplomacy (Waldemar Dubaniowski)
- Russia:
- What Does Singapore Mean to Me?: Memories of a Former Student of the Nanyang University who then became a Russian Ambassador to the Republic of Singapore (Mikhail M Bely)
- Saudi Arabia:
- From Riyadh to Singapore (Mohamad Amin Kurdi)
- South Africa:
- Singapore — From "Red Dot" to "Shining Star" (Stefanus Johannes Schoeman)
- South Korea:
- Singapore as a Little Giant (Park Sang-seek)
- My Reflections on Singapore (Ryu Kwang-sok)
- Sri Lanka:
- Reflections on Singapore: Three Years and Five Months on the Little Red Dot (Shehan Ratnavale)
- Sweden:
- The Increasingly Important Role of Diplomats in Trade and Investment Promotion — Swedish Experiences in Singapore (Pär Ahlberger)
- Switzerland:
- The Rewarding Years in Singapore (Kurt Otto Wyss)
- Singapore and Switzerland — From Inspiration to Inspiration (Raymond Loretan)
- Singapore — In Search of the Body and the Soul (Daniel Woker)
- Deep Mutual Respect: Policies and Personalities Make a Difference (Jörg Alois Reding)
- Thailand:
- Singapore: An Enriching Experience Professionally and Personally (Somkiati Ariyapruchya)
- Timor-Leste:
- Fostering Everlasting Friendship and Relations Between Timor-Leste and Singapore (Roberto Soares)
- Turkey:
- Turkey and Singapore — A Long and Good Relationship (Ahmet Bülent Meriç)
- Ukraine:
- Singapore — A Special Place in My Heart (Olexander Horin)
- United Kingdom:
- Two Singapores, Twenty-Five Years Apart (Michael Pike)
- Singapore at the Turn of the Century: A Personal View (Alan Hunt)
- Raffles' Legacy — Where East Meets West (Paul Madden)
- United States of America:
- A Remarkable Red Dot: An American View (J Stapleton Roy)
- Building US–Singapore Ties through Trade and Investment (Steven Jay Green)
- Singapore Diplomacy — A View from the Other Side (Frank Lavin)
- A Multi-Faceted Career (Patricia Herbold)
- Vietnam:
- Singapore Island State — Asia's "European" Metropolis (Nguyen Duc Hung)
- Building a New Singapore–Vietnam Partnership (Duong Van Quang)
Readership: General readers interested in Singapore and Southeast Asian affairs, diplomacy. Civil servants. Students of international relations, political science. Universities, polytechnics, junior colleges and secondary schools.
Professor Tommy KOH is currently Ambassador-at-Large at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Special Adviser of the Institute of Policy Studies and Chairman of the Centre for International Law, National University of Singapore. He is the Chairman of the SymAsia Foundation of Credit Suisse. He is also the Rector of Tembusu College at the University Town of the National University of Singapore. Professor Koh was the Dean of the Faculty of Law of the University of Singapore from 1971 to 1974.
In his distinguished career, he has served as Singapore's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, New York (1968–1971) (concurrently accredited as High Commissioner to Canada) and again from 1974 to 1984 (concurrently accredited as High Commissioner to Canada and Ambassador to Mexico); Ambassador to the United States of America (1984–1990); President of the Third UN Conference on the Law of the Sea (1981–1982); and Chairman of the Preparatory Committee for and the Main Committee of the UN Conference on Environment and Development (1990–1992). He was the founding Chairman of the National Arts Council (1991–1996), Director of the Institute of Policy Studies (1990–1997) and (2000–2004). He served as the founding Executive Director of the Asia–Europe Foundation (1997–2000). He was also Singapore's Chief Negotiator for the US-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (2000–2003). He is currently the agent of Singapore in two legal disputes between Singapore and Malaysia.
Professor Koh received a First Class Honours degree in Law from the National University of Singapore, has a Masters degree in Law from Harvard University and a post-graduate Diploma in Criminology from Cambridge University. He was conferred a full professorship in 1977 by the National University of Singapore. Professor Koh was awarded Honorary Degrees of Doctor of Laws by Yale University and Monash University. He has also received awards from Ivy League Universities in the United States.
For his service to the nation, Professor Koh was awarded the Public Service Star in 1971, the Meritorious Service Medal in 1979, the Distinguished Service Order Award in 1990, and the Order of Nila Utama (First Class) in 2008. He has received many awards from other countries too.
Ms Li Lin CHANG is the Press Secretary to the Prime Minister. She is also the co-editor of The Little Red Dot Series, and other publications. She has written on Singapore's international relations and domestic issues. Prior to her current appointment, she was the Deputy Director (Public Affairs), Institute of Policy Studies, at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore. She spent more than 15 years at IPS, as an administrator and researcher. She has a Masters in International Relations from University of Kent at Canterbury, and a BA in Sociology and International Relations from University of Reading.
Ms Joanna KOH is an Executive at the Institute of Policy Studies. Ms Koh supports the Public Affairs team, handles general administrative duties and project co-ordination at the Institute. She has led a number of major projects at the IPS. She holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) with a major in Sociology from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.