What is soft power?
According to Alan Chong, soft power refers to the ability for states to “get others to want what you want through cooptation or appeal,” and this power can be nurtured. Since small states are easily drawn towards bigger states by their centripetal communitarian forces and overshadowed by the political will of bigger states, they rely on soft power to overcome these vulnerabilities.
Chong argues that soft power is necessary for “attaining small state goals…for a number of reasons that are also characteristics itself”:
- “Intermestic condition” in national government
- Government policies react or anticipate changes in the international system
- Government requires control over or ability to influence civil societies and businesses to act in unison
- “Ability to circulate omnidirectionally”
- Able to achieve long term and widespread influence (not targeting one part of society)
- Social cohesion
- Perception of “consistency and credibility”
- E.g. Propaganda
What is Singapore’s soft power strategy?
- Origins of soft power
- Strategic geographic location & an emporium of British colonialism
- Singapore as an “export outlet of the hinterland of Malay Peninsula”
- Japanese occupation, Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere & anti-colonial sentiments
- Emergence of “socialist, democratic, multi-racial and pragmatic” identity from early elite’s push for making government positions the basis of meritocracy
- Developmental strategy of PAP: “authoritarian corporatism engineered towards building an export oriented industrialised economy.” (Business & investment friendly policies and unions) –> purpose: attracting foreign capital
- Singapore Model of Development (SMD): Credibility (programs and politicians promote anti-corruption, talent…), Cohesion (teamwork, harmony….), Confidence (paternalistic leadership, law & order…)
- Diplomats and ministers: “LKY, S. Rajaratnam, Wong Kan Seng, Goh Chok Tong, Kishore Mahbubani, and Tommy Koh served as veritable delivery vehicles for soft power.”
- Asian Values Debate
- Issues: Strict media control, Internal Security Act, human rights, illiberal economic practices
- “Careful calibrated responses”: firm control with accountability to its people
- Elements of the discourse:
- “A credible wall against perceived western sermonising on political liberalism in development prognoses”
- “Galvanising an Asian countries’ political equality with the West after the division of the Cold War”
- “Assert normatively Asian countries’ political equality wth the West after the divisions of the Cold War”
- Caning of Michael Fay in 1994
- Michael Fay stole street signs and vandalised cars
- Sentenced to a fine of $3500 and 6 strokes of the cane
- Clinton plead for clemency
- Singapore Cabinet reduced the number of stroke to 4
- US denied Singapore for hosting first WTO ministerial meeting in 1996
- Later US admited that SMD had its merits
- Export of Singapore Model of Development
- Trained “53000 officials from 168 countries” under the Singapore Cooperation Programme (SCP)
- Transfer of ideas (, skills, bureaucratic practices…)
- Transfer and influence in ideology and ministerial practices for SMD
- Socialisation of countries under the Third Country Training Programmes (TCTP) into norms of “a developmental epistemic community”
- Quantifiable: Involved 88 ministries and doubled its spendings to $346 million
- Promoted an alternative to western models by aiding others towards building successful SMD
- Humanitarian aid diplomacy
- Teamwork and united responses
- Builds a “community of fate” : Formal acknowledgement by the beneficiary and interaction with its people
- Articulation of needs and respect for the locals
- Coordinated the efforts for NGOs through the SAF
deskbounded 