SINGAPORE – When Dr Dirk Lorenz-Meyer was asked in 2014 to serve as the honorary consul-general (HCG) in Hamburg, the decision to say yes came naturally to him.
His late father, Dr Dieter Lorenz-Meyer, had served in the role from 1993 until his death in 2008, which resulted in the closure of the consulate in northern Germany.
It reopened in 2014 after the younger Lorenz-Meyer was appointed, with help from his father’s long-serving assistant, who had kept ties to the Singapore embassy in Berlin. But his family’s links to Singapore went beyond diplomacy.
His great-great-grandfather co-founded Behn, Meyer & Co, the first German trading company here, in 1840.
Dr Lorenz-Meyer, 50, is now chairman of the Behn Meyer Group, whose core business includes the production and distribution of fertilisers and chemicals, and still has an office in Singapore today.
Dr Lorenz-Meyer is among 27 HCGs who are in Singapore to attend the 9th Meeting of Singapore HCGs this week, hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA).
The meetings are held every three to four years to update HCGs on developments in Singapore and provide a platform to exchange views with political leaders. The last meeting was held in July 2019.
Dr Lorenz-Meyer said in an interview last Friday that the relationship between Hamburg and Singapore is a special one, and German merchants appreciate the Republic for its international standing and the support of free trade.
“Even though our company has progressed to do different things today, I think that was what my forefathers saw – the strategic location of Singapore – much like Mr Lee Kuan Yew did many years later,” he said.
Singapore currently has 34 HCGs appointed in 29 countries. They are Singaporeans or foreign nationals based overseas who help to deepen relations with their respective countries.
They also provide consular assistance to Singaporeans in distress, as well as help with paperwork such as visa applications and passport renewals. HCGs are unpaid.
Speaking at the Shangri-La Hotel on the first day of the meeting on Monday, Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan described the HCGs as “trusted points of contact” for Singaporeans abroad, especially in areas where there are no resident missions.
Many HCGs helped Singaporeans who were stranded overseas when countries abruptly shut borders to contain Covid-19, he said, adding that MFA was involved in evacuating some 4,000 Singaporeans in 2020.
Today’s fraught external environment, with sharpening superpower rivalry and a war in Ukraine that has no good outcome in sight, has a profound impact on Singapore and its way of life, he said.
“It’s imperative for us to continue to uphold and defend an inclusive, rules-based multilateral system, and to work with like-minded countries everywhere in order to advance our common interests.”
Dr Balakrishnan gave special thanks to two retiring HCGs: Mr Ronald Bolger in Dublin, who served for 23 years, and Dr Josep Manuel Basanez, who was the HCG in Barcelona for two decades.
Another HCG at the meeting, Madam Luzmila Zanabria, a Peruvian retired career diplomat who served for 40 years, was appointed as HCG in Lima in January.
Her late husband, Mr Winston Merchor, had held the role for 16 years before his death in 2021.
Dr Balakrishnan said the couple have rendered invaluable consular assistance to Singaporeans. They helped with the repatriation of 14 Singaporeans and their families who were stranded in Peru in 2020.
To be a successful HCG, Madam Zanabria, 79, said, is to achieve “mutual knowledge between the two countries”.
She added: “Knowledge leads us to understand each other better and seek ways of cooperation in all spheres of relations. On the other hand, we must also provide support and protection to Singaporean citizens who require it.”
