MICHAEL A B
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Do you mean that you have to present Singapore's position on human rights violations in Burma? If so, good luck.
Singapore is a trading nation, and therefore profitable relations with other countries will always outweigh moral ones. Singapore is, in fact, one of Burma's principal investors, trade partners, and source of weaponry for the Burmese Tatmadaw (Army). This close economic relationship predates the current human rights crackdown in Burma, and in fact even the previous one in 1988.
Singapore's position is somewhat delicate, however, since major western powers are calling for strict economic measures against Burma, and Singapore does not want to run seriously afoul of its western friends who clearly have more economic and political clout than Burma. For this reason Singapore has chosen to hide behind its ASEAN affiliation and follow the ASEAN line of officially tsk-tsking while making plaintive but ineffective calls for political reform in Burma.
In sum, Singapore's position vis-a-vis the human rights situation in Burma is essentially non-existent. Whatever type of government exists in that country is the one Singapore will deal with -- as long as there is profit in it.
One should note in fairness to Singapore and ASEAN, however, that the organization from its inception has been reluctant to interfere in the internal affairs of member states, a natural and understandable legacy of the area's colonial past. |
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