50 Years Of Singapore And The United Nations (World Scientific Singapore's 50 Years of Nation-Building)

In 2015, Singapore marks the 50th anniversary of its independence, and the United Nations (Un) the 70th anniversary of its founding. This book celebrates 50 years of a mutually beneficial relationship between Singapore and the Un. In the early years of Singapore's independence, the Un system provided Singapore with many benefits which were helpful in Singapore's journey from the Third World to the First. As Singapore has made progress in its developmental journey, it is now able to give back to the international community through programmes such as the Singapore Cooperation Programme (Scp), under which officials from developing countries are offered training in areas which are beneficial to their countries. Singapore has actively contributed to improving global governance and strengthening institutions that are important to the management of global issues at the Un, Imf, World Bank, Imo, etc. The Singapore Government has also sent its soldiers and police officers to participate in Un's peace-keeping and peace-making operations. This volume brings together 45 essays by Singaporeans who have made or are making important contributions to the work of the Un system. The reader will be able to learn about the Un as seen through the eyes of Singaporeans who have served as Ambassadors to the United Nations in New York and Geneva, the World Trade Organization, or as professional staff in the various specialised agencies, programmes and funds that are part of the Un. We hope that the life stories and experiences shared by the essayists will remind readers that although Singapore is a very small country, we are a good global citizen and have tried to make this a better world. Solving a messy business at the UN : a little known Singapore initiative / S Jayakumar Singapore and the Security Council / Kishore Mahbubani The UN at the end of the cold war / Chan Heng Chee This ain't Kansas, Toto : some personal and eccentric reflections on the UN / Bilahari Kausikan A history of the forum of small states / Chew Tai Soo Singapore and the Global Governance Group (3G) / Vanu Gopala Menon Small states at the United Nations / Albert Chua World toilet day / Karen Tan Singapore's role in multilateral trade negotiations / See Chak Mun Singapore and the World Trade Organization / K Kesevapany Who owns the UN? / Tan York Chor Merits of multilateralism / Burhan Gafoor WTO : keep the faith / Kwok Fook Seng Doing stuff; doing good / Foo Kok Jwee Singapore's contribution to the WTO dispute mechanism : reflections of a Singapore negotiator / Margaret Liang The Singapore-IAEA story / Chin Siew Fei Singapore and ICAO / The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore The world's first independent war crimes court : reminiscenes and reflections / Amarjeet Singh Singapore and the International Labour Organisation / Halimah Yacob Singapore and the IMF / Chia Der Jiun Singapore in the International Maritime Organization (IMO) / Mary Seet-Cheng Singapore and the International Telecommunication Union, 1965-2015 / Leong Keng Thai Singapore and UNCITRAL / Jeffrey Wah Teck Chan, SC Singapore and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) : working with the global environment steward / Hazri Hassan and Miak Aw Hui Min More than a garden : Singapore's bid to list the Singapore Botanic Gardens as a UNESCO world heritage site / Jean Wee Helping the refugees of the world / Janet Lim Singapore's rise to prosperity, and its evolving relationship with the World Bank Group / Janamitra Devan Infodev@world bank : alleviating poverty through sustainable businesses / Valerie D'Costa Sharing Singapore's achievements in education with Africa / Tan Jee Peng Little red specks in the United Nations / Andrew Toh Global health in action : from Singapore to Indonesia and Geneva / Vernon Lee A sojourn in diplomacy : working with the WHO in Geneva / David Ho Intellectual property and Singapore : a model of cooperation with a United Nations institution / Geoffrey Yu Monitoring and predicting weather and climate : the Singapore-WMO story / The Meteorological Service Singapore The SAF and UN peace operation / The Singapore Armed Forces Policing in a foreign land / Singapore Police Force Advancing global statistical and geospatial information : contributions of the United Nations and Singapore / Paul Cheung "Saving humanity from Hell" : a personal perspective from UNHQ / Chew Beng Yong Financial administration at the UN : an insight into the United Nations Secretariat (1972-2005) / Cecil K.Y. Ee My UNDP story / Shirin Hamid A United Nations-Singapore story : the courage to transform / Noeleen Heyzer The United Nations and social development / Thelma Kay My experiences with the United Nations sanctions system / Christine Lee Navigating the (UN) United Nations / Dileep Nair The United Nations : a personal experience / Yeo Bock Cheng.