ONE DOES NOT get to hear Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong very much these days. As one local commentator noted recently, he has taken a lower profile this year, leaving more column inches for his eager successor, Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
So it made a refreshing change to listen to Mr Goh's National Day Address, Singapore's equivalent of the United States president's State of Union speech.
Delivered late on Sunday, Mr Goh's observations were noteworthy this year for two complementary themes.
His first was a warning about the rise of the mainland, which came complete with a small (and accurate) dig at Hong Kong. The second was further notice that the government is preparing to allow wealth disparities in the city-state to widen much further.
'It is not just Singapore which has to adjust to China's entry into the global marketplace. Hong Kong is even more worried . . . even feng shui experts in Hong Kong are rearranging their furniture to improve their luck.
'They, too, have to ward off competition from China!' the prime minister said.
