KEY POINTS:
Tony Blair has hinted he might become president of the European Union. Following a speech at the National University of Singapore, Blair sleekly sidestepped questions about his interest in the job. "In relation to [the] question about the presidency of the European Union we will move swiftly on," he joked. "It's a pity, but that's the way it is. A shortage of time, you know!"
He then spoke for five minutes about the Middle East peace process and "the challenges of global leadership".
French President Nicolas Sarkozy recently suggested the job of EU president - a key element of the planned constitution - would be a "smart move" for Blair.
Diplomatic and political convention means that no one has formally declared themselves for the EU presidency, a job which looks set to be in place for June 2009.
But jockeying for position has begun. Candidates include former Polish President, Aleksander Kwasniewski, Irish leader Bertie Ahern and Danish PM Anders Fogh Rasmussen.
Blair arrived in Singapore on Friday from China, where he was accused of "gold digging" and "money sucking" by local media after charging NZ$654,000 for a single speech. It is thought he might have earned as much as NZ$2.7 million from several speeches during his Asia tour.
But Singapore University dean Professor Kishore Mahbubani said Blair was not paid for his campus speech.
In a country where protesting is illegal and the ruling party holds 97 per cent of the seats in Parliament, several people were impressed by Blair's openness. "He actually answers questions," said one.
