Singapore must 'be alive' to outside environment

Click HERE.
A longer version and more complete text of this part of PM Lee's speech can be found HERE.

This is an excerpt from PM Lee's National Day Rally Speech a few days ago...I hope you have been following the speech to get content for those 'your society' essay qns and AQs  (otherwise click HERE to watch)...It's also an excellent match to the qn below...The point could perhaps be that Singapore the little Red Dot is located in the midst of potentially hostile neighbours whose friendship with us is never a guarantee....it varies according to who their leaders are. This contributes to the 'siege mentality' we suffer from, where we are besieged by neighbours many times our size, and whose friendship changes with the wind. Apart from the pugnacious Mahathir ex-PM of Malaysia, it may be interesting to know that the moniker of 'the little red dot' was given to us by ex-President of Indonesia Habibie. One thing's for sure; he definitely wasn't praising us when he gave us that nickname!

Qn: How far is it important for people to be aware of current affairs in countries other than their own? (Cam. 2014)