The most important meeting in the world takes place each year in New York. This is the annual meeting of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). It is attended by the leaders and representatives of the 193 member states. The UNGA is the closest thing we have to a ‘parliament’ of the world, where every …
Singapore’s Journey to the 2019 UN General Assembly Read More »
Article 6 of the Paris Agreement holds the key to ground-up cooperation involving multiple stakeholders from governments, businesses, the private sector, and civil society.
A recent initiative to adopt the UN Treaty on Business and Human Rights (BHRT) is an attempt to correct the imbalance between rights and obligations of corporations in the field of human rights. While companies regularly invoke human rights to defend their interests, they lack corresponding obligations to respect and uphold such rights throughout their …
This is a very special year for Singapore. First, we are celebrating the 54th anniversary of Singapore’s Independence. Second, we are commemorating the 200th anniversary of the British East India Company setting up a trading post in Singapore. Third, we are also reflecting on our pre-colonial history, which stretches back 700 years to the 14th …
The United States of America was born on the 4th of July 1776. I wish America a happy 243rd Birthday on the 4th of July 2019. I have spent 21 years of my life in that country. As a result, I have developed very positive feelings for America. In this essay, I wish to answer …
I will never forget the date, 14 June 1992, for as long as I live. On that day, the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, popularly known as the Earth Summit, came to a successful conclusion in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In March 1990, the UN elected me as Chairman of the Preparatory Committee …
This post analyses the doctrinal contributions of the ‘Norstar’ Judgement to both freedom of navigation (Article 87(1)(a) of UNCLOS) and exclusive flag state jurisdiction (Article 92(1) of UNCLOS). The post concludes with a brief discussion as to if and why the Tribunal may wish to clarify its position on these issues in any forthcoming M/T …
Freedom of Navigation Following the M/V “Norstar” Case Read More »
Recent press reports indicate that the government of China has protested the transit of US, French and British naval vessels through the waters surrounding islands it occupies in the South China Sea and through the Taiwan Strait. As a result, commentators have called for the development of a rules-based order for naval operations in East …
Why China Stands to Gain from Freedom of Navigation Rights Read More »
The first of May is celebrated in most countries in the world as the International Workers’ Day or simply May Day. It is a national public holiday. In this month of May, to honour the workers of the world, I felt inspired to study and recap the history of the minimum wage. My purpose is …
Introduction At a conference in Beijing, in 2018, several Chinese scholars, including one from Singapore, made the surprising statement that the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) was a product of the West. China was therefore not bound to comply with the Convention. The truth is that UNCLOS was negotiated by more …
The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea: A Revolutionary Treaty Read More »
