Foreign Affairs Minister K Shanmugam warned that Singapore cannot forget the importance of staying internationally relevant.
He noted that SG50 is a useful time to restate the realities which inform Singapore's foreign policy. He reminded parliament that Singapore is small, multi-racial, multi-religious and is captured in an evolving geo-political situation.
Mr Shanmugam noted that because of these factors, it was important that we remain relevant to the international system. One of the way that we can do this, he explained, was to "continue to be successful" so that we could continue to work with others.
However, he did not mention what exactly was meant by "success" in this context.
Speaking further about specific foreign policy issues, he noted that Singapore's advantages included its integration in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the current push towards an ASEAN economic community by the end of this year.
The ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) hopes to see ASEAN becoming more integrated into a single regional market where there would be much more free flow of goods, services, jobs, labour and more.
While the AEC may open up more opportunities for local businesses to expand into regional markets, another major concern is that cheaper labour from neighbouring countries may also find it easier to come to Singapore to look for jobs which pay more than jobs back in their home countries.
In the end, this may produce even more job competition for Singaporeans. Despite the concerns, Shanmugam says that opening up Singapore to a larger market will be "good".
Separately, Shanmugam also noted that Singapore always has to remain vigilant to external threats such as the Islamic State and the threat of terrorism.