Singapore wants to restore link to UK

SINGAPORE IS keen to restore old colonial ties with Britain and yesterday urged the British government to use the island state as an outpost for its east Asian activities.

This surprising call for a turning back of the historical clock came yesterday in a statement on the government-controlled Singapore television by George Yeo, the Information and Arts Minister. Brigadier General Yeo is one of the most influential members of the Singapore government and widely regarded as a possible successor to Goh Chok Tong, the present Prime Minister.

Mr Yeo was speaking after returning from a visit to Hong Kong. He said that now the former British colony had returned to China, the British needed to think about Singapore as a centre for its activities. "Singapore is probably Britain's most important outpost in the region", he said.

However, it is not clear whether he was really proposing a restoration of former colonial and post-colonial ties. Even after Singapore gained independence, Britain maintained extensive military co-operation with its former colony. Ties of trade and investment also remained strong.

Mr Yeo said that while Hong Kong was busy shedding its colonial links with Britain, Singapore was keen on preserving them. Singaporean leaders often, for example, point to the fact that they have not replaced old colonial symbols or place names. Indeed, the name of Sir Stamford Raffles, the founder of the colony, is ubiquitous. Many roads still bear the names of British governors and many old colonial government buildings have been preserved.

Nevertheless Lee Kuan-yew, the former prime minister of Singapore, who still exercises a considerable degree of influence over the government, made strenuous efforts to pull his tiny nation away from British influence. He greatly diversified its foreign ties and put greater emphasis on an Asian orientation.

Recently, however, Singapore has shown more interest in Britain again. This has been encouraged by the evident enthusiasm of Tony Blair, the Prime Minister, for some of Singapore's social and economic policies. Mr Blair lavished considerable praise on Singapore during a recent visit. Unlike the Americans, the British are not vocal critics of Singapore's intol- erance of domestic political opposition.

In part the Singaporeans are motivated by their almost obsessive sense of competition with Hong Kong. Both are vying for a central role as east Asia's financial, trade and tourism centre.

Mr Lee was a vocal critic of Britain's attempts to bring greater democracy to Hong Kong in the last years of British rule. Singapore regularly supported the Chinese government's stand in controversies over the future of Hong Kong and declared itself to be an enthusiastic supporter of the former colony's reintegration into China.

Yesterday, Mr Yeo spoke of how Hong Kong would lose its distinctiveness and become increasingly absorbed into the Chinese mainland. Meanwhile, the Singapore government has been doing its best to lure Hong Kong's more qualified people to live in the island state. It has also stepped up efforts to persuade multi-national companies to shift their regional headquarters from Hong Kong to Singapore.