The conflict between Israel and Hamas is a multifaceted situation with a long history, and together with the Russia-Ukraine war, Singaporeans are being confronted with “very harsh and brutal” conflict for the first time in decades, says Minister for Education Chan Chun Sing.
Speaking at a Jan 22 event organised by the Singapore Institute of International Affairs (SIIA), Chan says this is perhaps the first time that younger Singaporeans are witnessing a major conflict. “If you recall, the last major situation where we had a loss of life was perhaps the Iraq War and, maybe to some extent, 9/11.”
Unlike in the 2000s, however, “anyone with a handphone” today will be confronted with images of the conflict, says Chan, who was Singapore’s chief of army before entering politics in 2011. “We have an entire generation of people, who have grown up in relative peace, but [are] now confronted with these images, every day of their lives. With the kinds of algorithms that many of these new media have, if we’re not careful, we get into an echo chamber; we form views that are perhaps not as discerning as we wish it to be.”
Chan says there are two “wars” happening concurrently. “There’s a military operation going on, [and] there’s also [an] information war going on at the same time. How do we help our people distil this? Because we don’t want to be other people’s proxies for their information.”
There are parties in the Israel-Hamas conflict that want to “conflate many other things” with the military operations, says Chan. “Race, religion and so forth — all these confront our people in a very different way; it tugs at the heartstrings. It questions their identity, their association and so forth. So, this is why we have to deal with this sensitively, empathetically and across different dimensions.”
Singapore’s interests
These concerns are not limited to just younger Singaporeans. Instead, there are many “teachable moments” from taking an “age-agnostic position”, says Chan. “Some people jump into the conflict trying to adjudicate who is right and who is wrong. I always caution this, because this conflict has a long history… I think that’s not the starting point.”
Chan says he has spoken to Singapore’s 400 school principals and more than 500 educators about how to discuss such issues with the younger generation. Instead of telling students how to think about the conflicts in Israel and Ukraine, the education ministry aims to equip them with tools to approach such issues, he adds.
See also: Israel and Hezbollah reach ceasefire agreement for Lebanon
“There are some basic tools, which I call higher-order analysis, that will be applicable regardless of the specific issue. It’s not so much just the content that’s important, but the method,” says Chan.
Singaporeans must look beyond their initial feelings, he adds. “When I talk to some students, and even some members of the public, they say: ‘Oh, I feel like this, I feel that way. Why doesn’t the government do it because I feel like that?’ We all have feelings, but feelings alone don’t make foreign policy. You need to go beyond the feelings to say, what does it mean for us and how do we take a hard-nosed position? How do we consider the interests and the different perspectives, with a sense of history? That’s where we try to equip our people, and it is a never-ending journey.”
Rules-based order no more
Chan calls these conflicts “immediate risks” of today; but there are deeper, “more fundamental” issues that are greater cause for concern.
“Number one: Going forward, will we still live in a world where there are rules? Will this be a rules-based order? This applies not just on the security front, but also economically… Will we continue to live in a world where there are institutions, and enough countries that will believe in these international norms?”
Chan cites the “breakdown” of dispute settlement within the World Trade Organization (WTO). “The dispute settlement mechanism has been paralysed,” adds Chan, who served as Minister for Trade and Industry between 2018 and 2021.
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The dispute settlement system has been paralysed since the end of 2019, when the Trump administration blocked reappointments of US Appellate Body members. The standing body of seven persons, which was designed to hear appeals regarding disputes brought by WTO members, has been unable to review appeals given its ongoing vacancies. The term of the last sitting Appellate Body member expired on Nov 30, 2020.
On the other hand, Chan says Singapore is equally concerned about whether countries are creating “new rules” for emerging areas like digitalisation and green energy.
“From Singapore’s perspective… we do not assume that the next 50 years will be the same as the last 50, where you had a rules-based order, by and large, [and] dominant powers generally agreed on what to do, and how to resolve conflicts or contestations.”
Leadership is about taking a broader, more global perspective, says Chan. “But this [has] become increasingly difficult… If you want to do this on the international stage, your domestic situation must be alright.”
Chan adds: “Without domestic cohesion, there can be no international coherence. You are only able to agree on something if your domestic situation is alright; if you have settled your own issues. But if you are always subject to the vagaries of your own domestic tensions, then you certainly cannot expect that party to have the confidence, the coherence or the continuity to keep doing things in a certain way.”
The ‘dustbin of history’
Chan, widely seen as a core member of Singapore’s so-called 4G leadership, says Singapore’s leaders “have never taken for granted that we will always be around effortlessly”. “We hope that in your various capacities, if you see that there are blind spots that we are experiencing, let us know you have a better idea on how you think Singapore can entrench [and] strengthen our relevance in this interesting world.”
As a small country, Singapore must stay vigilant about how to remain relevant in a world of flux, he adds. “If we are no longer relevant, then the consequences for us are quite dire. First, we are going into the dustbin of history quite [quickly]. Small, irrelevant countries are usually the first ones to go into the dustbin of history. But if we are relevant, if we are nimble, then I think we have every chance, every opportunity to defy the odds of history.”
It is “always tough” for small cities to not be “held ransom by geography and history”, says Chan. “The last 58 years have been good for us; we have every intention to keep it going. But to keep it going requires us to have a keen sense of what’s happening around the world.”
Compared to the “conventional dimensions” of air, land and sea connectivity, Singapore can defy the odds of history through the “new dimensions of connectivity”, says Chan. These include data, finance, rules and technology.
“If we can do that, together with your help, then I think we will have a much better chance.”
Photo: Jovi Ho/The Edge Singapore, SIIA
Read Minister Chan’s other comments from the Jan 22 event:
