March 9, 2000
Singapore's bid for non-permanent membership in the U.N. Security Council is looking good but does not mean "we will have some magical power status bestowed on us," Foreign Minister S. Jayakumar cautioned on Thursday.
With no viable Asian candidate competing, Jayakumar told parliament he is reasonably confident Singapore will be elected for a two-year term starting in January 2001. "If we get elected we should not get too carried away," Jayakumar said. "It does not mean that we have suddenly arrived or that for two years we will have some magical power status bestowed on us."
He reminded lawmakers Singapore will still remain a small country and cannot pretend to be otherwise. Jayakumar said he was emphasizing this because some of the comments and questions in parliament reflected a lack of proportion and realism such as sending more military and peacekeeping missions and expanding the scope of technical assistance to influence reforms and policies in other countries.
If elected to the UNSC, Jayakumar said, "We will do our best to contribute to the work of the Council by bringing to it the perspective of a small state, and demonstrate wherever possible that a small state can also play a useful role."
Jayakumar said Singapore is not being complacent about election. "We are continuing with all our efforts to talk to other countries in other regions to ensure that we have a good result when the voting takes place" in the U.N. The Asian group earlier endorsed Singapore's candidature.
