Politics & Power Quote by Sellapan Ramanathan

Diplomatic language rarely announces its own rigidity this plainly. Sellapan Ramanathan, speaking as a Singaporean statesman, frames policy not as a mood but as a line held through geopolitical weather. The repetition - "same position" said twice, capped with "has not changed" - isn’t clumsy; it’s the point. He’s performing continuity as credibility, signaling to larger powers that Singapore is predictable even when the room rearranges itself.

The context matters: China’s entry into the United Nations (and the wider reintegration of China into global institutions) forced smaller states to recalibrate. Many did, loudly or quietly, as trade opportunities and security anxieties shifted. Ramanathan’s phrasing implies a different strategy: hedge by anchoring. For a small country living beside giants, consistency is leverage. If you can’t dictate outcomes, you can at least make your behavior legible, lowering the cost of others dealing with you.

The subtext is also about sovereignty. "We voted" foregrounds agency, not alignment. He’s reminding listeners that Singapore’s stance is not a borrowed script from Washington, Beijing, or any bloc, but a national posture maintained over time. There’s a faint rebuke embedded for states that treat international forums like fashion seasons. In a world where power often equals the ability to change the rules, Ramanathan argues that for the less powerful, survival can look like refusing to be moved.