S'pore delivers aid to Indonesia despite tension<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE (Agencies): Despite delivery of the first batch of
\nSingapore's humanitarian aid for Indonesia, tensions between the
\nSoutheast Asian neighbors appear to be strained.<\/p>\n
The tiny city-state promised S$12 million (US$7 million) in
\nrice and medicine for its large neighbor earlier this month, as
\nfood shortages and staggering economic difficulties shake the
\nworld's fourth most populous nation.<\/p>\n
According to The Straits Times, the first installment of
\nSingapore aid arrived in Jakarta Monday. It will be followed by
\nthe visit of Singapore's Education Minister and Second Minister
\nfor Defense Teo Chee Hean starting today.<\/p>\n
But tensions between the neighbors have risen lately, with the
\nIndonesian government accusing its neighbor of not doing enough
\nto help.<\/p>\n
President B.J. Habibie indicated his displeasure with
\nSingapore in an interview published yesterday by the Asian Wall
\nStreet Journal.<\/p>\n
"You see, a friend in need is a friend indeed," he said. "I
\ndon't have that feeling from Singapore."<\/p>\n
"I have that feeling from the U.S., from Japan, Australia,
\nmainland China, from Malaysia, from Europe, Germany. But I don't
\nhave that feeling (from Singapore).<\/p>\n
"They (Singapore) are pro-active in the negative direction,
\nand that, I feel so sorry for."<\/p>\n
Teo will visit Jakarta for three days to meet Habibie and
\nother senior officials, and will attend a ceremony marking the
\narrival of the humanitarian aid.<\/p>\n
"Ties are not moving in the right direction," Tanri Abeng,
\nstate minister of state-owned enterprises in Habibie's new
\ngovernment, said in late June.<\/p>\n
He was referring to the lack of progress on Singapore's
\nproposed trade finance plan for Indonesia, which was mooted last
\nyear but has yet to materialize. The $3 billion program would
\ncommit the Singapore government to guarantee payments of key
\nimports into the country.<\/p>\n
But Habibie's special envoy, Iman Taufik, was quoted as
\ntelling a news conference in Singapore Monday that the project
\nwas stalled because Indonesia was having difficulty meeting some
\nof the conditions. He did not specify what they were.<\/p>\n
Besides the proposed trade financing scheme, Singapore
\ncommitted $ 5 billion to the massive $43 billion Indonesian
\nrescue package orchestrated by the International Monetary Fund.<\/p>\n
Habibie is irked by more than things said before he became
\nvice president, according to the Journal. When he took office on
\nMay 21, he says, he received congratulations from a host of other
\nnations that day or the next.<\/p>\n
Singapore, he said, didn't send theirs until "almost June,
\nvery late." (In a letter dated May 25, Singapore Prime Minister
\nGoh Chok Tong offered his "warmest congratulations" to Habibie
\nand "sincere good wishes that under your leadership, Indonesia
\nwill restore social and political stability, and start on the
\npath of reform and recovery.")<\/p>\n
After complaining about the timing of the Singapore note,
\nHabibie hastened to add: "By the way, I have a lot of Singaporean
\nfriends. The Singaporean people are hard-working people, OK, and
\nreal good friends."<\/p>\n
Gesturing across the wood-paneled office, he pointed to a
\nrelief map of Indonesia and the surrounding region mounted on the
\nfar wall. "It's OK with me, but there are 211 million people (in
\nIndonesia)," he says. "Look at that map. All the green (area) is
\nIndonesia. And that red dot is Singapore. Look at that."<\/p>",
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