Day 3: final day in singapore
Peter Hardstaff, Monday 18th September
8.50pm on Monday night. It is now very quiet in the civil society room at the convention centre. Just myself and Justin Macmullan from Christian Aid writing blogs. I’m also waiting for official confirmation of a vote on IMF ‘reform’ but more about that in a mo.
So I spent Saturday on the Island of Batam, Sunday in the Convention Centre in Singapore. But today I needed to do both.
An NGO strategy meeting had been called, starting this morning in Batam, which I thought it would be useful to attend so another ferry trip was called for. Thankfully calm seas meant that my weak landlubber constitution was spared any turmoil. As it turned out, I arrived just as a closing press conference was beginning and I was invited to participate because WDM had released a statement criticising the IMFC (the IMF’s top decision-making body) for praising, in its official communiqué, the Singaporean Government’s organisation of the meetings.
The strategy meeting was proving useful and informative but I had to leave early because I thought the formal announcement of the IMF’s voting reform package would be made late afternoon. So it was back to Singapore and running the gauntlet of the ferry terminal customs officials.
The standard practice of Singapore customs taking aside for questioning anyone coming back from Batam who said they were in Singapore for work could be avoided simply by saying you are a tourist. So honest people get taken behind the scenes for some questioning while liars pass through customs without trouble. Hmmm. Not sure the Singapore authorities have got their strategy sorted for weeding out potential wrong-doers.
Anyway, I got back to the convention centre only to find that the announcement had been delayed. Since then, apart from taking a walk around and getting some photos it has just been a question of waiting and drinking too much coffee.
It is likely that several developing countries have ended up voting against the proposal on the grounds that, although they support China, South Korea, Turkey and Mexico getting some more votes, there is a wider problem of under-representation of developing countries in the IMF that the proposal does not address. The proposal only reduces the rich country share of votes from about 61% to 59%; not exactly a major shift in the balance of power and far from the ‘fundamental reform’ touted by the IMF’s PR department.
Anyway, after a last bit of press work, I’m going for a beer and then its one a plane home tomorrow. I’m looking forward to seeing my family – assuming I can keep my eyes open after the 15 hour journey.
Finally, a funny story: last night the British Ambassador to Singapore held a reception with the UK delegation, business representatives and various civil society organizations invited. WDM was not on the official invite list, although I think this may have been more an oversight rather than some kind of official snub (although it has been known) because it was not necessarily clear whether anyone from WDM would even be in Singapore! Anyway, apparently it wasn’t much fun. The ambassador didn’t even serve up any Ferrero Rocher.
Stumble It!
8.50pm on Monday night. It is now very quiet in the civil society room at the convention centre. Just myself and Justin Macmullan from Christian Aid writing blogs. I’m also waiting for official confirmation of a vote on IMF ‘reform’ but more about that in a mo.
So I spent Saturday on the Island of Batam, Sunday in the Convention Centre in Singapore. But today I needed to do both.
An NGO strategy meeting had been called, starting this morning in Batam, which I thought it would be useful to attend so another ferry trip was called for. Thankfully calm seas meant that my weak landlubber constitution was spared any turmoil. As it turned out, I arrived just as a closing press conference was beginning and I was invited to participate because WDM had released a statement criticising the IMFC (the IMF’s top decision-making body) for praising, in its official communiqué, the Singaporean Government’s organisation of the meetings.
The strategy meeting was proving useful and informative but I had to leave early because I thought the formal announcement of the IMF’s voting reform package would be made late afternoon. So it was back to Singapore and running the gauntlet of the ferry terminal customs officials.
The standard practice of Singapore customs taking aside for questioning anyone coming back from Batam who said they were in Singapore for work could be avoided simply by saying you are a tourist. So honest people get taken behind the scenes for some questioning while liars pass through customs without trouble. Hmmm. Not sure the Singapore authorities have got their strategy sorted for weeding out potential wrong-doers.
Anyway, I got back to the convention centre only to find that the announcement had been delayed. Since then, apart from taking a walk around and getting some photos it has just been a question of waiting and drinking too much coffee.
It is likely that several developing countries have ended up voting against the proposal on the grounds that, although they support China, South Korea, Turkey and Mexico getting some more votes, there is a wider problem of under-representation of developing countries in the IMF that the proposal does not address. The proposal only reduces the rich country share of votes from about 61% to 59%; not exactly a major shift in the balance of power and far from the ‘fundamental reform’ touted by the IMF’s PR department.
Anyway, after a last bit of press work, I’m going for a beer and then its one a plane home tomorrow. I’m looking forward to seeing my family – assuming I can keep my eyes open after the 15 hour journey.
Finally, a funny story: last night the British Ambassador to Singapore held a reception with the UK delegation, business representatives and various civil society organizations invited. WDM was not on the official invite list, although I think this may have been more an oversight rather than some kind of official snub (although it has been known) because it was not necessarily clear whether anyone from WDM would even be in Singapore! Anyway, apparently it wasn’t much fun. The ambassador didn’t even serve up any Ferrero Rocher.
Stumble It!
posted by World Development Movement at 6:28 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home