AN UNSTABLE Myanmar is a time-bomb in the region, said Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew on Thursday night.

That is why Asean - and in turn, Singapore, which is at the heart of the South-east Asian regional body - must try its best to 'help stabilise Myanmar', he said.

'Asean leaders realise that if we have volatile and unstable neighbours, they will destabilise the whole region,' he told the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) Students' Union ministerial forum.

This explains the common reaction from Asean leaders, foreign ministers, presidents and prime ministers of 'sorrow and revulsion' that Myanmar's generals had used armed force against monks and civilians who were demonstrating peacefully against their economic deprivations, he said.

Said Mr Lee: 'Asean leaders know that if the situation in Myanmar continues to deteriorate, there must come a breaking point when much more brutal force will again be necessary to put their people down.'

The founding father of Singapore brought up the issue of Myanmar - which he said 'looks troublesome' - to make the point that Singapore is situated in a volatile region.

In April, Mr Lee and opposition MP Low Thia Khiang had an exchange in Parliament where Mr Low had argued that Singapore could pay lower salaries to its civil servants like in Finland, Denmark and Switzerland, and still run a country efficiently and without corruption.

Mr Lee had asked if Mr Low was 'comparing apples with apples'.

Said Mr Lee yesterday: 'He does not realise our context, situated in a volatile region.'

Singapore is neither in the Caribbean near America, nor in the Mediterranean like Malta, a member of the European Union.

Instead, 'Singapore is in the heart of Southeast Asia, which from time to time suddenly becomes unstable'.

Beware the warning signs

Moving forward in the next 5 to 10 years, MM Lee also warned Singaporeans not to ignore several 'warning signs that things could go wrong'.

For starters, he cited August's sudden drop in global stock markets caused by the US' sub-prime mortgage problem - one that could spiral, he said, into further inflation and a US economic downturn that would affect Asian countries.
Another consequence of poor economic management and ballooning deficits - stagflation, which could lead to losses in stocks and bonds like in the late '60s and '70s.

'Serious political problems' like Iraq and Iran also remain, Mr Lee added, with escalating oil prices a real worry.

Mr Lee's bottomline: 'So remember that while the broader region looks promising, there are problems in the immediate region.'

Besides wisihing for the Myanmar problem to be resolved, he also hopes Thailand's scheduled elections in December 'will see a recovery of confidence and better growth'.