Singaporeans do not need to be "discouraged by the clouds hanging over the world, but to know that even a small city state like Singapore does have agency", said Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan.

"We do have autonomy, we do have choices", said Vivian.

It means preparing Singaporeans with education and skills to face the future with confidence, and to work with its neighbours, especially in ASEAN, to act as a convening centre for powers, rather than make Southeast Asia an arena for superpower contestation.

Vivian also expressed how proud he was with Singaporeans who are making their mark on the global stage.

This shows that "Singapore and Singaporeans are capable of building bridges, or being constructive partners, and in our own small but hopefully significant ways, contributing to global solutions", he said.

He was speaking to the media at a virtual doorstop on Sep. 23 (Singapore time) at the conclusion of his visit to the 78th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.

'Realistic eyes, with hope & optimism in heart': Vivian

Opening the doorstop, Vivian noted that the mood during the UNGA was "somewhat sombre".

This was due to ongoing global issues including superpower rivalry, the war in Europe, global long-term impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, and a lack of global achievement on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In addressing a question from local media, he said,

"I approached this with realistic eyes, but always trying to maintain that sense of hope and optimism in [my] heart. And then try to to infect others with that."

He added that what makes him most proud is the contribution of so many Singaporeans to the United Nations and to the process of multilateralism.

He also encouraged fellow Singaporeans to not be discouraged by these crises, but to focus on building Singapore's future with confidence. He also said,

"We also need Singaporeans not to be discouraged by the [grey] clouds hanging over the world, but also to know that even a small city state like us does have agency, we do have autonomy. We do have choices."

And, Vivian said, we can choose to focus on ourselves, education, training, and SkillsFuture to prepare ourselves for the future.

Confident of building bridges with constructive partners: Vivian

Vivian mentioned several notable Singaporeans working on the global stage.

These individuals, he said, have shown that Singapore can build bridges of being constructive partners, even if these involve small but significant ways to tackle global issues.

They include:

• Rena Lee, Singapore’s Ambassador for Oceans and Law of the Sea Issues and Special

  Envoy of the Minister for Foreign Affairs

• Professor Winston Chow, Co-chair of a working group of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
• Choy Sauw Kook, Director-General of Enterprise Singaporem who was elected to the International Organization for standards (International Organization for Standardization), the ISO Council.

Vivian also said that Singapore is working with its fellow Asean members on a common cause,

"We could collectively develop a stake in Southeast Asia's progress and peace and prosperity rather than make Southeast Asia... a power station."

Global competition in AI to cause confrontation or creativity: Vivian

Noting the benefits of artificial intelligence (AI) through deep learning and machine learning, Vivian said that it was an issue which also "captured attention this time around".

Vivan said that AI presents both opportunities and risks, with a need for standards and norms, rules and regulations, best developed in a multilateral context, with negotiations done at the United Nations.

If AI is used rightly, the competition and innovation will lead to a global "single shared ecosystem of technologies and applications", he said.

However, if misused, AI is also dangerous, especially if there is "intense competition, particularly viewed in zero-sum games".

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="1125"] Image via Pexels.[/caption]

For example, AI-enabled weapons systems can be deployed and triggered almost immediately.

This means that military commanders and world leaders now have a "dramatically" reduced time to make strategic decisions, upending "the concept of strategic deterrence".

He said,

"One impact this has is that it reduces dramatically the decision time for not just military commanders in the field, but even for commanders-in-chief, presidents and prime ministers to determine the appropriate strategic response."

Vivian said that with transparency and safety precautions in place, this would "accidental wars or unnecessary escalations."

Promoting the concept of a "somewhat safer" world, he drew an analogy with the Cold War era, when countries were deterred and restrained from using nuclear weapons due to the horrendous idea of mutually assured destruction. However, he noted that there were a few close shaves in the last 50 years.

Vivian said that the next two to five years will be critical, and "we will get a clearer indication of which way the world is going – towards a more dangerous use of these frontier technologies, or towards a more collaborative, productive and safer use of these new technologies".

In a "world beset with problems", Singapore should continue to work with other countries on multilateralism.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="2048"] Image via MINDEF/Facebook.[/caption]

And this can be done through achieving treaties with other countries on the use of AI, as well as enforcing appropriate local and global laws and regulations on AI.

"We need global leadership" including the UN to tackle these challenges, he said.

For a more effective global leadership, Vivian expressed his hope that global leaders will meet together have more "direct human to human interaction", especially during the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in November 2023.

They should also have discussions, he said, to build trust and enforce safety guidelines on the use of AI, among other issues.

Vivian at UNGA

Amid escalating tensions between China and the U.S., Vivian gave a national address to the UNGA on Sep. 23 (Singapore time) before the media doorstop.

The current situation, he said, is a "perfect storm" of global dysfunction. Hence, countries need mutual understanding to avoid further large-scale conflicts. He explained,

"No winner who can take it all."

He also spoke at a fireside chat the Global Emerging Tech Summit on Sep. 22 during the UNGA. He said that Singapore focuses on competitiveness, not competition, in the field of AI. 

Top image from Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Singapore.

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