SENIOR CIVIL SERVANT TALK

Pre-Talk Briefing Notes

Guest Speaker: 2nd Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs BG (NS) Chee Wee Kiong

2PS BG Chee has had a distinguished career in the Singapore Armed Forces. He was commissioned as an officer in the Republic of Singapore Air Force, rising to Chief of Staff (Air Staff) in 2001 and Director Joint Operations and Planning Directorate in 2003. He has also held directorships in many public organisations including the Public Utilities Board, Defence Science and Technology Agency, and Jurong Town Corporation.

BG Wee was awarded the Singapore Armed Forces Overseas Scholarship in 1982 and holds a Master in Business Administration from NUS and a Master in Public Administration from Harvard, having graduated with 1st Class Honours in Mechanical Engineering from the University of London.

BG Wee will engage us on global and regional opportunities, giving us insights on how NYJCians might prepare ourselves for the opportunities and threats in a multi-polar world. This brief summarizes 2 key issues facing our region and presents some broad directions for questions that we could ask 2PS so as to glean better insights and showcase the analytical and inquisitive nature of NYJCians.

OPPORTUNITIES

Opening up of Myanmar:

The orderly conduct of Myanmar’s April 1 elections this year and the easing of Western sanctions in the wake of Pro-democracy prisoner-of-conscience Ms Aung San Suu Kyii’s release from prison indicate that Myanmar is seeking to open up to the outside world in a bid to modernize itself. With abundant natural resources and a vastly undeveloped economy and infrastructure, this presents investment and employment opportunities, especially for those in the region who are well-positioned to leverage these developments. Will Singaporean (and NYJCian) job-seekers and investors have a share the country’s growth? Be sure to ask BG Wee about opportunities for us in Indo-China and Indonesia / Malaysia, whose economies and burgeoning.

FLASHPOINTS

South China Sea:

The Paracel and Spratly islands are at the centre of conflicting maritime claims in the South China Sea. Key claimants includeJapan, China, and Vietnam. At stake are potentially huge oil reservesand control of strategic sea-lanes. With recent confrontationsbetween Chinese and Japanese fishermen and coast guard units,the disputes have the potential to erupt into violent conflict,which will undoubtedly serious repercussions on internationaleconomies and of course Singapore, which is geographically a shorthop away from the disputed areas.