A Conversation with Lui Tuck Yew

On September 6, 2024, Fletcher welcomed Lui Tuck Yew (F94), Singapore Ambassador to the United States, back to campus. Ambassador Lui delivered keynote remarks at the annual academic Convocation and received the Class of 1947 Memorial Award. Ahead of the ceremony, he sat for an interview.

The Fletcher School: We started today with a tour around campus. When was the last time that you were here at Fletcher?

Ambassador Lui: I last came back about a dozen years ago. I brought my family back. My eldest daughter was only nine months old when I first came to Fletcher as a student in the 1990s, so she had very little impression of the school or the area. We did a walk around and found that things had changed so much.

I'm delighted to be back at Fletcher, especially on the occasion of the Convocation.

Singapore is nearly as far from Medford as any city in the world. How did you choose Fletcher?

I came from the Singapore Navy, where I realized the important role that both deterrence and diplomacy play in a small country’s national security. I was thus attracted to Fletcher for its multidisciplinary program. Fletcher has great strengths in security and diplomacy, international law, economics, and business. As a public servant, I hoped to better understand the connections between these pillars.

Though I had no aspirations then to join the foreign service, Fletcher played a large role in sparking that fire, giving me a foretaste of what one could accomplish in an increasingly complex world.

You served as a member of parliament and a cabinet minister before taking ambassadorial roles. How does your experience across government inform your perspective as a diplomat?

To be effective as a diplomat, and to expand the diplomatic and economic space for your country, you must know your country well. That includes knowing socio-political issues like education, housing, healthcare, and transportation well. The more you can share the lessons learned from your country’s developmental journey, the better you're able to establish connections. 

Singapore is a young nation. We’ve had our share of challenges but also achieved a degree of success, and many parts of the world are interested in replicating some of our ideas in their own countries. 

My experience as a minister, having sat in Cabinet meetings, and understanding policy complexities and trade-offs has made me a better ambassador.

Singapore has become a significant technology and business hub for the world's largest continent. What do you think are the keys to Singapore's success?

First, we were fortunate in our early years, getting a lot of help from neighbors and partners near and far, large and small. We learned a lot from the economists sent by the United Nations. 

Second, we also went against prevailing trends. When many countries became independent in the decades after World War II, the prevailing ideology was import substitution. We had a population of only two million so import substitution did not make sense for us, and we went with an export-led growth strategy. This defied the conventional wisdom of the day.

Third, instead of asking for aid and assistance from the developed world, we sought investments and training. We dealt harshly with corrupt practices, making sure that integrity was part of our DNA, and established Singapore as a pro-business environment. We dealt with social issues, created good jobs, improved education, and developed a housing program that was weighted more towards ownership than rental. When people believe themselves to own a part of the country, it buoys the spirits and hopes of generations to come.

In your work today as Ambassador to the United States, what are the key priorities in the bilateral relationship?

We have a very strong relationship with the United States. It is founded on shared values and a common outlook towards the strategic landscape. We value the U.S.’ commitment over many decades towards maintaining peace, stability, and prosperity in our part of the world. 

In the U.S., many look at the Vietnam War as an unhappy memory. We choose to remember it as a time when American sacrifices and contributions helped stave off a trend of communism, buying us time in our early years to build institutions like ASEAN and develop our societies and economies.

Security is a big part of the relationship. We began offering the use of air and naval bases to the United States after the U.S.’ departure from the Philippines in the early 1990s. For many years since, the U.S. has been the largest foreign user of these bases. In return, Singapore purchases most of our aircraft, helicopters, tankers, and fighter jets from the U.S. We also have the second largest contingent of personnel training in the U.S., which we have been doing for the last 30 years. 

The U.S. is the largest investor in Singapore by far. The cumulative investment is larger than cumulative U.S. investment in China, Japan, and South Korea combined. We have a very good Free Trade Agreement that goes back 20 years, with bilateral trade multiplying more than three times since then. Singapore runs a growing trade deficit with the U.S. It is a deficit both in services, which you would expect, but also in goods. Our free trade agreement benefits both the U.S. and Singapore.

Singapore and the U.S. also engage in new areas of cooperation. There's a comprehensive dialogue on critical and emerging technologies, covering areas like AI, quantum, and biotech. We are part of the US-led Artemis Accords for space exploration.

Underpinning our relationship are the people-to-people ties. Many Singaporean students come to study in the U.S., including here at Fletcher. They come away much more informed about the U.S. and much more willing to strengthen relations.

How has the great power competition between the U.S. and China impacted Singapore? 

Great power competition impacts Singapore in the same way it impacts many other countries: in reducing countries’ maneuvering space. 

Imagine a Venn diagram with two overlapping circles. Small countries operate best in the area of overlap between the two circles. As the two circles draw apart, that space naturally shrinks.

Geopolitical contestation will be with us for many decades. Should countries keep our heads low and stay quiet, or should we stand up and speak for our principles, our national interests, and our vision for the world? 

In Singapore, we believe that a globalized, multilateral, rules-based order is most beneficial to us. This system is under some degree of stress because of the increasing contestation and bifurcation. Countries large and small that benefit from a rules-based system need to stand up for what they believe in.

I would also like to address a common misunderstanding. People have the idea that Southeast Asia looks towards the U.S. for security and increasingly towards China for economics. Let me correct that misperception, because I think the U.S. continues to do much in the investment and economic spheres. 

Have you encountered fellow Fletcher alumni across your career?

Many people I met in my military career came to Fletcher. I know several from the Singaporean Navy. Former Chief of Defence Force Ng Chee Meng  went into politics, became a cabinet minister, and now leads the National Trades Union Congress. 

There are three Fletcher alumni among the ambassadors from ASEAN countries. When I was Transport Minister for Singapore, my Indonesian counterpart was also a Fletcher graduate. 

Regardless of our various graduation years, we all share the same Fletcher background, and our lives have been influenced in more or less the same way. I think it's an instant connection.