Singapore’s Newater has found a champion in United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, who said that he would recommend the strategy of recycling waste water to other countries suffering from water scarcity.
After visiting the Newater complex in Changi yesterday, Mr Ban told The Straits Times in an interview: ‘I was very much impressed by the idea - of recycling waste water to help people have access to safe drinking water.’
He added that ‘such Singaporean experience and know-how… should be shared by many countries which have water scarcity problems’.
About 1.3 billion people do not have access to safe drinking water, he noted, adding that water scarcity could become a source of tension between countries.
Mr Ban was so enamoured with what he saw that later in the day, during a dinner at the Istana hosted by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, he toasted Mr Lee with a bottle of Newater instead of the traditional glass of wine.
Brandishing the bottle, Mr Ban called it ‘something far more valuable’ than a glass of wine - ‘the elixir of life and in this case, Singapore’s own special brand: Newater’.
At the same dinner, Mr Lee responded that Singapore was happy to share its experiences in sustainable resource management. ‘One example is water, which is strategically important to Singapore.’
In his toast to Mr Ban, Mr Lee pledged Singapore’s commitment to support the UN’s priorities, as laid out in the Secretary-General’s five-year action plan.
Highlighting one of them - sustainable development, Mr Lee said: ‘Being resource-constrained ourselves, we will continue to support international efforts to promote sustainable development.’
The spirit of cooperation, he said, is more important today than ever, in a world that is increasingly connected.
‘No single country can solve the world’s problems by itself,’ he said. ‘All must play their part in managing our shared challenges, be it climate change, international terrorism or nuclear proliferation.’
This is especially crucial for small countries such as Singapore. Calling the UN ‘the most important international body’ to which it belongs, Mr Lee said: ‘Through the UN, small states like Singapore have a voice in international affairs and have access to the rule of law.’
In that context, Singapore established channels for the UN to engage other groups of countries. In 1992, it started the Forum of Small States (Foss), a group of 101 small states to create a common constituency within the UN. It later initiated Global Governance Group, a cluster of 28 small and medium-sized states.
Noting that Asean was the other important grouping to which Singapore belongs, Mr Lee expressed happiness with the deepening of Asean-UN relations.
Calling the ties between Singapore and the UN comprehensive, mutually beneficial and excellent, Mr Lee said: ‘I am confident that our partnership will continue to strengthen in the years ahead.’
The exchange came at the tail end of Mr Ban’s two-day visit to Singapore at Mr Lee’s invitation. A highlight was his delivery yesterday of the inaugural lecture in the Fullerton series by the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
In his speech entitled ‘Securing our future: Singapore, the region, and beyond’, Mr Ban said that ‘the world has much to gain from the Singapore example’.
Besides Newater, he lauded Singapore’s policies and hard work, its ability to overcome crises and its grasp of multilateral dynamics. He also paid tribute to Singapore’s multilateral contributions, to the extent of wearing a Foss pin on his lapel throughout the day.
Mr Ban said of Singapore: ‘You may be limited in your geographical borders, but you are showing there is no limit to creativity, possibility and imagination.’
As part of his visit, Mr Ban also met President Tony Tan Keng Yam, Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong and Foreign Minister K. Shanmugam.
An orchid-naming ceremony was also held for Mr Ban. A purplish-blue orchid with dark purple spots was named the Vanda Ban Ki Moon ‘Yoo Soon Taek’, combining the names of the UN Secretary-General and his spouse.
On the lighter side, Mr Ban joked with the diplomatic corps that besides lessons in recycling water, another thing he wished to take back to the UN from Singapore was its restaurants.
