SPEECH BY MR HAWAZI DAIPI, SENIOR PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY, MINISTRIES OF EDUCATION & MANPOWER, AT THE INTERNATIONAL FRIENDSHIP DAY’S EXHIBITION ON MIDDLE EASTERN COUNTRIES (SAUDI ARABIA AND UNITED ARAB EMIRATES) ON FRI 15 APR 2005, 10 AM, AT CHIJ ST THERESA’S CONVENT SCHOOL
H.E. Dr Amin Kurdi, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
H. E. Mr Asim Wirza Al-Rahman, Charge d’ Affairs of the United Arab Emirates
Mdm Mabel Boey, Superintendent of South 4 Cluster
Mrs Christine Anne Kong, Principal of CHIJ, St Theresa’s Convent
Mr James Soh, Executive Director, National Youth Achievement Awards Council
Principals, Teachers and Parents
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
Boys and Girls
Good morning
Introduction
1. It is my pleasure to be here, in conjunction with our schools’ commemoration of International Friendship Day today, to officiate at this morning’s official opening of ‘Harmony in Discovery Exhibition on the Middle East – specifically on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E). We are honoured to be able to have two of our Middle Eastern partners here with us today to share a little on the people and culture of Saudi Arabia and the U.A.E. We live in a globalised and inter-connected world and as such with globalisation, opportunities once too remote for Singapore are now open to us. Since the move by Singapore to consider the opportunities in the Middle East about two years ago, our links to that part of the world have grown rapidly.
Collaborative Efforts of Cluster Prototyping Schools – to commemorate International Friendship Day
2. Every year, schools in Singapore commemorate International Friendship Day. It is a day to help our pupils learn about and appreciate other cultures and to also nurture in them the spirit of friendship and collaboration among different peoples. Hence it is meaningful and appropriate for this collaborative effort of 17 schools in the different clusters – speared-headed by CHIJ St Theresa’s Convent, to jointly organise this Middle East Exhibition as a sort of Prototype NE effort for our students to commemorate International Friendship Day today.
3. This collaboration between the 17 schools (including 13 schools from South 4 Cluster)and the two countries in the Middle East, is an excellent example and a mirror of what our country is doing at the international level. Although it is important for Singapore to ensure development within the country, we must also continue to strengthen ties with old friends and build new bridges wherever and whenever possible.
4. Contacts between the Middle East and Singapore can be traced back to even before the founding of Singapore when traders from the Middle East were prominent in this region. Over many centuries, ships have sailed beneath the trade winds between Southeast Asia and the Middle East. Chinese records of the Tang Dynasty tell of Arab traders who regularly stopped at ports in India and along the Malacca Straits on their way to southern Chinese ports from the 7th century onwards. These trading links brought Islam to Southeast Asia during the centuries that followed. In the 15th century, huge fleets from Ming Dynasty China under the command of Muslim Admirals made seven voyages to the Indian Ocean and the Middle East all the way to Africa. After the Portuguese established trading posts in Hormuz in 1507, the British established a chain of naval stations from Suez and Aden all the way to Singapore from the 18th to the 20th century. The links between the Middle East and Singapore thus go back a very long time.
5. So close was the region then with the Middle East that vibrant traces of Arab culture can still be found in Singapore and the region. Prominent Arab personalities such Aljunied, a Hadhrami merchant from Yemen, came to Singapore at the time of Raffles. Merchants from the Yemen have been in Southeast Asia long before the Europeans came. They established mosques and madrasahs and their descendants are still prominent members of the Muslim community in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.
6. The importance of this relationship can be seen as Singapore seeks to further consolidate its ties with the Middle East. Indeed, the participation of Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong in the Jeddah Economic Forum this year is itself an indication that both sides wanted even closer economic and cultural relations beneficial to both the people of Singapore and those in the Middle East, namely that of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The Asia-Middle East Dialogue (AMED) which SM Goh initiated, builds another bridge between the Middle East and our part of the world.
7. Last year, the Middle East accounted for 5% of Singapore’s total trade with the world. More than four-fifths of this trade involved petroleum and refined petroleum products. Singapore companies have invested over S$4 billion in the Middle East – this is an indication of Singapore companies growing interest and it contributes to Singapore outward Foreign Direct Investment. We are now giving the Middle East region greater importance. The recent visits by Senior Minister, Mr Goh Chok Tong, and other Singapore ministers to countries in the Middle East are part of this new effort.
8. Closer economic ties with the Middle East will benefit Singaporeans. We understand that governments in the Middle East are increasingly moving away from models centred on dominant public sectors, often financed by petrodollars, towards a more outward-oriented market approach based on international trade and the development of the private sector. This will open up new opportunities for Singapore companies. There is a move among many countries in the Middle East to diversify into non-oil sectors by liberalising trade and investment. Many Middle East countries, including the UAE, are already WTO members while Saudi Arabia is working hard to gain early accession. Saudi Arabia, for example, now allows 100% foreign-owned companies in many sectors. With growing populations and income levels, the Middle Eastern markets are very significant. Huge investments in the countries’ infrastructure are being made, not only for oil and gas, but also in ports, airports, telecommunications, roads, healthcare and electricity generation. Many countries in the Middle East are thus now experimenting with economic liberalisation. Middle Eastern countries also realise that investment in modern education is of the utmost importance.
9. In a way, we are doing no more than revitalising old links. Middle Eastern countries are also increasingly looking eastwards and many will find Singapore a useful facility for trade, investment, financial services including Islamic financial services, education and healthcare. However, to make all this happen, we need to understand better each other’s culture and establish bonds of trust.
Strengthening Ties and Friendship with people in the Middle Eastern Countries
10. As our leaders have exemplified, we at the school level can also help build bridges of friendship through cultural awareness and exchanges. Today’s exhibition not only expose our pupils to the richness of the Middle Eastern heritage and culture but also marks a first for a collaboration between our schools and the two Middle Eastern embassies, namely, that of Saudi Arabia and U.A.E.
11. Today, we are indeed honoured to have the support of Saudi Aramco and the U.A.E Embassy in this exhibition and related events in the coming week. We hope that through this collaboration, our pupils will be able to better appreciate the cultures of others and through it, especially understand the significance of International Friendship Day.
Conclusion
12. I wish to thank Mrs Christine Anne Kong, the Principal of CHIJ St Theresa’s Convent, for not only hosting this event but also ably led the Organising Committee of Cluster Prototyping Schools; namely, Admiralty Primary, Greenridge Primary, Damai Sec and Evergreen Sec Schools, to mount the wonderful Exhibitions and related meaningful activities for our students on this International Friendship Day as well as for the rest of next week. In this, all the Principals and Schools have the support of their Cluster Superintendents, and especially of the encouragement and support of Mdm Mabel Boey, S4 Cluster Superintendent.
13. I also wish to thank Mr James Soh, Executive Secretary of the National Youth Achievement Awards Council (NYAA) for his support and collaboration with our schools in this project. The NYAA has a youth exchange programme with its counterparts in Egypt and Jordan.
14. Finally, I wish all participants an enjoyable time, and to our representatives from the Middle East, a pleasant stay in Singapore.
Thank you.
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