joining the global stage

At this time, between the National Day and the PM's National Day Rally, it is an opportune time to reflect on our beginnings as a global citizen and the struggles that faced our first foreign minister.

Our first Minister for Foreign Affairs was the late Mr S Rajaratnam who

"set out to make friends for Singapore

and to avoid making enemies.

His integrity and polite idsposition won the respect

of many leaders he worked with."

He "accepted Singapore's vulnerabilities as a geopolitical fact.

But he maximised Singapore's assets

as a small but resolute and principled member of the UN."

- Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, Nov 06,

in a foreword in A Tribute as part of the fundraising

for the Endowment Fund for the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies

in NTU