Born in 1948 to impoverished Sindhi parents in Singapore, Kishore Mahbubani is acclaimed as a prominent diplomat, respected public intellectual and credible spokesman for the current Asian century. His memoir is notable for diverse aspects; the academic and bureaucratic success of a largely self-educated person, Singapore as a multi-racial economic success after its break from Malaysia, vignettes of some founding fathers of Singapore, and the international landscape in which the city state retained its robust independence.
Living the Asian Century, Kishore Mahbubani, Public Affairs/Hachette, New York, 2024.
Mahbubani describes quite dispassionately the travails of his early life — an alcoholic father, cramped living conditions, a future without promise — but redeemed by a long-suffering and religious ‘tiger mom’, so often the key to a son’s success. Taking to reading, a minority pastime in his first school, Mahbubani was able to enter a better school and then college (1967-70) as a government scholar, where he studied philosophy and edited the college magazine Singapore Undergrad distinguished for being outspoken and non-conformist.
He was at the time convinced about the advanced secular West and backwardness of the rest, including Hindu religious rituals and traditional customs of respect. He was fortunate to be born into Singapore’s multiracial milieu, and “Two separations had brought calm to my life: my mother from my father in 1962 and Singapore’s from Malaysia in 1965.”
Required by his scholarship to work for the government for five years, he joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) in 1971, whose minister was Rajaratnam, and donated 8/9th of his salary to his mother. He describes his foreign postings; Cambodia as Chargé d’Affaires from 1973-4 during the war with the insurgent radical Khmer Rouge, Kuala Lumpur (1976-9), Washington DC (1982-4) as deputy chief of mission and ambassador to the UN (1984-9 and 1998-2004). In between were postings in MFA (1979-82, 1989-91 and 1993-8).
In Cambodia he experienced upper class life for the first time with house, staff and car, though not yet familiar with the use of cutlery. His next foreign experience was a one-year MA philosophy course in Halifax, where he discovered that the academic life did not suit him, married Gretchen, an American lady from the “comfortably middle class”, and found on return to Singapore that his research earned him the friendship of deputy prime minister and defence minister Goh Keng Swee, although his mother lost face among the Sindhi community since his one bedroom lodging was too small to enable her to live with him and wife as tradition demanded..
In Kuala Lumpur, he knew he “would be heading towards physical comfort and political discomfort [due to strained ties between Malaysia and Singapore] but Gretchen and I finally had enough to live on after sending my mother $1,000 monthly.” He “encountered the continuing suspicion of and hostility towards Singapore among the Malaysian establishment” despite sharing social and cultural identities like India and Pakistan. The author acknowledges he may not have been popular in his embassy, and his end-of-posting report on the rift between Singapore and Malaysia caused his high commissioner to disagree strongly. He also faced personal tragedy; his wife suffered two miscarriages and lost a third baby at birth.
After his tenure in Washington, when he and Gretchen divorced and he met future wife Anne, his rapid rise, aged 35, was confirmed by being assigned as ambassador to the UN. His spirits were further boosted by authoring an article in Foreign Affairs. His mother and now separated father felt jubilation at his UN appointment whose prestige they valued as much as the financial security brought to the family. This assignment gave Mahbubani “social and intellectual standing” and his appointment as deputy secretary in MFA and a one-year course at Harvard followed.
Mahbubani became permanent secretary in 1993, overcoming some negative appraisals concerning his insecurity hidden behind over-confidence and ambition, which he ascribes to his background of poverty and determination to overcome the handicaps. His tenure as head of the foreign service was fulfilling, but after bilateral talks with his Malaysian counterpart, he was sharply criticised by former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew (LKY) for exaggerating his influence at home. The support of current Premier Goh Chok Tong was important, and he returned, aged 49, as ambassador to the UN, this time to be an elected member of the UN Security Council (UNSC).
When the New York assignment ended, he felt depressed about future prospects but was appointed dean of the LKY School of Public Policy, with a curriculum that included economics, politics management and leadership, from 2004 to 2017. Mahbubani was successful in fund-raising and it became the third best endowed institute with academic standards validated globally. And through his publications Mahbubani became “one of the main narrators of the greatest story of our time: the return of Asia to the world stage.” He stepped down in the middle of his third five-year term at age 69 for unspecified reasons but with plaudits for his contributions to the institution.
Reverting to the main themes of this memoir, Mahbubani at university was thought a rebel against the authoritarian Singapore regime and aspired to be an academic in philosophy, but in Cambodia he discovered his mission to defend Singapore against external bullies, and writes “It has been my joy to live the Asian dream and perhaps contribute a little to the realisation of the Asian century.” He admires, even enthuses over, the leadership which through robust deliberations gave deep consideration to current issues to safeguard the future and guide Singapore’s progress.
He attributes Singapore’s success story to the founding fathers’ bold and unconventional methods and willingness to recruit initial dissenters like himself. For a country with no natural resources and scarce territory, Singapore’s financial reserves are impressive due to frugality and discipline along with pragmatism and honesty. Singapore’s bureaucracy was merit-based and high office accessible to the relatively young because the leadership was willing to forgive if not forget. Despite being youthful and low in status, Mahbubani was able to access high levels of Singapore’s government such as Rajaratnam and Goh Keng Swee and win their support.
Regarding the first prime minister’s towering personality which could be sharp with dissent, “Lee Kuan Yew always had multiple objectives… he was a political juggler of the greatest skill.” He would not suffer fools, but was not petty nor vindictive, which enabled Mahbubani to retain the self-confidence to express his views openly. In foreign policy, LKY’s objective was good relations with USA to create political space for Singapore to take its own decisions. In 1990, LKY gave way to Goh Chok Tong, the first transition since 1965, but his room was not used by his successor even after his death in 2015.
During Mahbubani’s first term at the UN, his main pursuit was mobilizing support against Vietnam for invading Cambodia, and in his second, to win the UNSC seat and stall US efforts to increase Singapore’s compulsory financial contribution. Like other authors, he notes that “power speaks more eloquently than personality” in generating influence, and permanent UNSC members derisively viewed the elected members as ‘tourists’. Big powers had double standards and the West lectured the rest of the world. The USA was constrained by multilateral rules and institutions, and reacts by dominating the SC and the UN Secretariat, seeing itself as a great power that could impose sanctions whenever a problem arose. Mahbubani’s attitude to the United States evolved over time. Starting with deep admiration, he became disillusioned with the Anglo-Saxon world and wanted to encourage greater self-confidence among fellow Asians, noting “The callousness and cruelty of America’s impact upon the world…The US was totally incapable of listening to or heeding the advice of friends.”
Indian readers may be disappointed that there are rare mentions of India and none of Indian diplomats. Those named are usually Americans, and Mahbubani says that some his best diplomatic tutors were American colleagues. There are tantalizing phrases in the text such as “a dependent mentality in Singapore” (attributed to Foreign Minister George Yeo), “culture of secrecy that has become deeply embedded in Singapore” and “Singapore government culture of complete paranoia” but are not elaborated on. The book’s dedication reveals that the author’s parents are dead, but his sainted mother’s passing finds no other. mention. Given Singapore as an US ally, it is unsurprising that in 1977, he declares, “ASEAN countries were traumatised by the fall of Indo-China to the communists,” but describing PLO chief Arafat, Syria’s Assad and Iraq’s Saddam as “pro-Soviet thugs” is inappropriate, and use of the term ‘Red China’ as late as 2001 is anachronistic.
This memoir by a renowned academic and top-ranking bureaucrat from Asia merits reading for its rags to prominence story, examination of the highs and lows in dealing with the political and diplomatic landscape, and severe self-dissection of his motives and career graph. Important in the mix is Mahbubani’s high idealism for Asia to assert the self-confidence to claim its rightful leadership role in the world.
Krishnan Srinivasan is a former foreign secretary.
