Back when I was still a student, many moons ago, we had a joke about some of the foreign students that came to Singapore for an exchange programme.

Many of them would jet off to hip places like Bali or Krabi or Hanoi on the weekends, making sure all their social media followers knew how much fun they were having. But they were still based in Singapore. The red dot was a useful "home base" of sorts for them to come back to after a wild weekend of revelry.

Singapore a safe option

Why? The advantages were obvious.

For those hailing from Anglophone countries, Singaporeans speak their mother tongue.

Low in crime and politically stable, there was little chance of their personal safety being threatened. Singapore had reliable internet and banking services for them to keep in touch with their families, and get money easily. And where one can drink water from the tap, there was little to fear in the way of mysterious Eastern ailments that trouble the tummy.

Singapore, in other words, is Asia For Beginners.

Now our politicians may not have expressed this sentiment in such stark terms publicly, but the idea of Singapore as a "gateway" between East and West has been spoken about many times. Is Asia too complicated for a newcomer to handle?

Why, there just so happens to be a former British colony with familiar institutions for the Westerner. Well, two of them. But unlike Hong Kong, Singapore is also multi-cultural city with significant Indian and Malay communities, who are prominent in other parts of Asia too.

Singapore, the implication seems to be, is an ideal place to get your toes wet if you're not too familiar with Asia.

Economic ties

And it's not as if the U.S. has zero strategic interests in Singapore either.

Economic cooperation between the U.S. and Singapore  is dynamic and flourishing.

Our FTA with the US, signed in 2004, was the U.S’s first with an Asian country. Since then our bilateral trade, which is well balanced and mutually beneficial, has more than doubled.

Singapore is also the second largest Asian investor in the U.S., with direct investment stock of US$65 billion. Our investments in the US together with American exports to Singapore,  support over a quarter million American jobs.

Today, Singapore is home to nearly 5,500 US companies. US is Singapore’s largest foreign direct investor. FDI stock of the US in Singapore is US$315 billion – more than US investments in China, India and South Korea combined.

So were any of us surprised that the Vice President of the United States visited Singapore as her first Asian destination?

Kamala Harris: No beginner to foreign policy

But let me make something clear -- Kamala Harris is not a beginner when it comes to trips abroad or foreign policy.

While her training was in the legal system, as a presidential candidate in 2020, Harris cited her experience as a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee in debates and on the campaign trail, including a feisty debate with VP Mike Pence.

A little over a month after the Inauguration, the Washington Post reported that Harris had taken an outsize role in Biden's foreign policy agenda, speaking independently to world leaders like France's Emmanuel Macron and Australia's Scott Morison.

Harris also travelled to Guatemala and Mexico in June, meeting with leaders there.

However, until Aug. 22, she had not visited an Asian country as Vice President.

Ask not what you can do for Singapore, but what Singapore can do for you

Many dating experts say the same thing -- you only get one chance to make a good first impression. And Singapore was on its best behaviour, turning up the diplomatic charm. Even traffic was halted to ensure a smooth ride.

Harris had a one-on-one with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, had an orchid named after her, and met with President Halimah Yacob.

Harris fielded a press conference, where the topic of Afghanistan was brought up several times by combative American journalists.

Harris also visited countrymen serving on board a US ship, underscoring American interests in the country and region. She also made a speech at the Gardens by the Bay to speak up against China's claims in the South China Sea, useful for burnishing her credentials for another presidential run.

Even the delay before her trip to Vietnam didn't put a dampener on things. It's to be hoped that a woman who may one day become President of the United States has fond memories of this little island. Judging by the headlines back home, the VP won mostly favourable press coverage of her maiden trip to Asia.

Previous American vice presidents have faced dicier assignments. Richard Nixon's motorcade was stoned by protesters in Peru, back when Eisenhower was president. Hubert Humphrey, Lyndon Johnson's VP, had rotten eggs and fruit hurled at him while on a trip to Italy.

In contrast Joe Biden, back when he was Barack Obama's VP, enjoyed a refreshing drink of lime juice at Adam Road hawker centre.

Singapore has been a welcoming port-of-call for foreign leaders in general, and US vice presidents in particular.

Top image from MCI.