S'PORE URGES MYANMAR TO OPEN UP

SINGAPORE: Singapore has urged Myanmar’s ruling generals to take “bolder steps” to promote national reconciliation and work with the international community amid fresh reports of arrests in Yangon.
Speaking at a dinner in honor of visiting Myanmar Prime Minister Thein Sein on Tuesday, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong called the diplomatically isolated nation “an old friend” of Singapore that should “develop and prosper.”
“The global environment is changing, with a new administration in the US reviewing the global situation, and formulating its priorities and strategies in foreign policy for the next four years,” he said.
Europe is also reassessing its foreign policy and other countries grappling with the global economic slump are looking at more effective ways to deal with other regions of the world, he said.
“We hope Myanmar will seize this moment to take bolder steps towards national reconciliation and in engaging the international community,” Lee said.
The two countries are members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), which also includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.
Lee said there was potential to develop economic cooperation, particularly in tourism, and urged both nations to enhance cultural ties.
Despite western sanctions, Singaporean firms operate in Myanmar, and junta officials, including reclusive leader General Than Shwe, are believed to have sought medical treatment in the island republic.
In a symbolic ceremony, Singa­pore on Wednesday named an orchid after Thein Sein, angering a small group of Singaporean human rights activists.
Visiting foreign dignitaries are routinely brought to the National Orchid Garden for a flower-naming ceremony.
But the activists said the Myanmar premier did not deserve to have the yellowish-brown orchid named “Dendrobium Thein Sein” because of his government’s poor human rights record.
They said it was “more befitting” to name the flower after opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Past recipients of the Singapore floral tribute include anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela and former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.
Thein Sein, who holds the rank of general in the Myanmar military, arrived in Singapore on Tuesday for a two-day visit. He had earlier visited Indonesia.
Courtesy: AFP