Burning the bridges of friendship

Burning the bridges of friendship

It is hard to believe that the cartoons published by the New
Straits Times insulting Thailand and Indonesia would come from
Malaysia, a country which has taken a moral high ground in its
war of words with its southern neighbor.

When Malaysia responded to Singapore Senior Minister Lee Kuan
Yew's derogatory remark on the high crime rate in the Malaysian
state of Johor, it was as if the country was smeared with the
greatest of insults.

We would have thought that this saga had been put to rest
after the leaders from both countries worked out an
understanding. But Malaysia, it seems, is still continuing the
war of words with a vengeance.

The underlying message in the cartoons published in the New
Straits Times on two consecutive days is that Thailand will
benefit from this squabbling as more and more Singaporean
tourists will be holidaying in Thailand instead of Malaysia.

What we find offensive about the cartoons, however, are not so
much the depiction of Thailand as a land of AIDS or prostitutes,
but rather that the cartoons are dragging Thailand into the
quarrels between Singapore and Malaysia, in which we have never
been a party to.

The Malaysians have criticized Singapore for being
insensitive, but the images depicted by the cartoons go to show
that they are no different from their southern neighbors.

The New Straits Times, which is closely linked with the ruling
United Malays National Organization, is clearly not practicing
the type of journalism that is internationally acceptable -- the
kind that is practiced in good faith.

-- The Nation, Bangkok