Referring to the article from The Straits Times on January 21, I dare say that I am proud of Singapore. This is because despite the souring of bilateral relations, Singapore is still going ahead with the programme of training Thai doctors for the first time.
Many Singaporeans travel to Thailand for holiday or business. So Thailand’s Accident and Emergency expertise will benefit us too. As for Thailand, with more trained doctors in the medical line, there is a glimpse of hope in the improvement of the country’s level of healthcare.
The training programme went ahead as scheduled although last Tuesday, the Thai government, as part of its response to its former premier Thaksin Shinawatra’s recent visit to Singapore, cancelled an invitation to Foreign Minister George Yeo to visit Bangkok. It also suspended the Singapore-Thailand Civil Service Exchange Programme (CSEP). To make matters worse, unhappiness engulfed in most of the Thais with Singapore’s win in the recent soccer match. All these certainly heightened the diplomatic tension between the two countries.
However, Singapore and Thailand are very close friends. And just like teeth and tongue or husband and wife, sometimes there will be quarrels. But I just hope that it will not last for long.
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Do you think it is a wise move on S'pore's part to not take any action against Thailand? Are we behaving like push-overs? What is the learning point here when it comes to internation relations?
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