A visitor from Singapore

A visitor from Singapore

Singapore's deputy prime minister and defense minister Tony
Tan is paying an official visit to Indonesia. His counterpart,
Defense Minister Matori Abdul Jalil, will be his official host.
During his stay in Indonesia, Dr. Tan will meet with the
president and vice president and a number of other senior
officials.

Minister Tony Tan's presence is the highest-level contact on
Indonesian soil that has taken place between Indonesia and
Singapore since President Megawati Soekarnoputri succeeded
Abdurrahman Wahid exactly a year ago. Since Tony Tan is a senior
member in Singapore's cabinet, his visit offers a good
opportunity for the two sides to discuss not only matters of
defense cooperation between the two countries, but the whole
complex of bilateral relations in the framework of the ASEAN
family of nations as well.

During the weekend, a spokesperson for Singapore's defense
ministry said that Dr. Tony Tan's visit underscored the close and
friendly relations between the two countries. That should exactly
be the theme in the number of conversations between the
Indonesian officials and our Singaporean guests, because in all
fairness it must be said that there is something wrong in the
current relations between members of the ASEAN family of nations.

To see Singaporean leaders assuring their people that the
water supply crisis that has arisen because of disagreement with
Malaysia will be overcome, shows that the spirit of ASEAN
brotherhood holds little meaning these days.

We should not allow Singaporeans to feel as if they were being
besieged with no friends around. Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew
even reminded his people that "the country has been through much
tougher times in the 1960s and 1970s, when its very survival was
at stake." Although Indonesia is currently bending under a host
of problems, it is our duty as the largest and most populous
country within the ASEAN family to stretch out a hand of
friendship to Singapore. After all, we refer to our homeland as
tanah air, our land and water.

Surely, we could use Dr. Tony Tan's visit to further discuss
the possibility of Indonesia supplying water to Singapore.
Although due to sophisticated technology Singapore could most
probably be self-sufficient in supplying its water needs, a much
more crucial point is at stake -- namely that Singapore should
not feel alienated in the family of ASEAN nations since the rest
of the family are idly standing by while it is facing a serious
crisis.

Indonesia's offer to supply water to Singapore is certainly
not meant to slight Malaysia because of that country's tough
stance in expelling what it refers to as illegal Indonesian
workers.(And then reversing that decision after Malaysian
construction companies complained because many of them were
rendered stagnant as a consequence of it.)

We should offer Singapore a helping hand because the very
principle of ASEAN cooperation is exactly the moral obligation to
help each other in times of crisis.

Therefore, it is important that Jakarta should make use of the
present visit of Singapore's deputy prime minister, Dr. Tony Tan,
to review all aspects of our bilateral relations and to come up
with joint initiatives in order to improve the weakening sense of
mutual cooperation between the members of ASEAN.