Minister for Home Affairs and Law K Shanmugam is not media shy.

For instance, he spoke to local media twice within a week on the Preetipls rap saga.

But it is less common for a Minister with largely domestic portfolios to share his views on a non-local issue, and with a foreign publication, too.

Last Wednesday (Aug. 6), however, Shanmugam gave an interview about Hong Kong to Lianhe Zaobao and the South China Morning Post.

He later shared the transcript of his interview on the Ministry of Law's website on Aug 11.

Shanmugam: "No profit in seeing instability" in Hong Kong

As SCMP is a Hong Kong paper, one of the questions posed to Shanmugam was whether the instability of Hong Kong would impact Singapore positively.

The journalist asked Shanmugam if Singapore has "received more and more enquiries, express(ions) of interest of people moving assets to Singapore, moving headquarters to Singapore".

Shanmugam's reply to the ongoing problems in Hong Kong was plain and unequivocal — there was no schadenfreude among the Singapore establishment.

"There is some superficial talk 'Oh you know, Singapore benefits'. I don’t believe that. We benefit from stability across the region, including Hong Kong. If China does well, Hong Kong does well, the region does well, we do well.

There’s no profit in seeing instability. And if Hong Kong is at odds with China, it’s a problem for everyone, including us."

Shanmugam praising China

Contrary to some of the international publications he criticised (he said they presented a "very slanted picture, and have not been objective in analysing the issues"), Shanmugam gave a more measured view of the Chinese government.

Shanmugam asked people to look at facts, observing that the Chinese system "selects very competent, (the) best people in government".

He noted that over 35 years, China has "uplifted more than 500, 600 million people out of poverty", and no country has done that in history.

He lamented that "not enough credit is given" for the "huge achievement" for lifting so many people out of poverty.

He also praised Hong Kong

In his interview, Shanmugam concluded that he is still optimistic about Hong Kong.

And he gave a few reasons why.

1. Its financial system, its stock exchange, its valuable position as an outpost for China and the nearness to China are "incredible advantages" that any investor will take into account and consider.

2. He thinks that there is deep liquidity in the Hong Kong market.

3. Hong Kong’s geography hasn't changed. Hong Kong being part of China hasn’t changed. Hong Kong's utility as an outpost, as a significant financial centre for China, hasn't changed.

So why did Shanmugam speak about Hong Kong?

It is likely that the international media was in town to cover the first UN mediation treaty named after Singapore, and they took the opportunity to ask Shanmugam about Hong Kong.

And Shanmugam's comments have not gone unnoticed among the financial circles, as they appeared on international business news network Bloomberg ("Singapore Minister Sees ‘No Profit’ From Hong Kong Instability").

Guess his regular practice of sparring with local media has paid off in ensuring that Singapore's voice is heard beyond its shores.

If you are interested in a summary, you can read his Facebook post here: