Lee's outburst not in keeping with ASEAN way

Meidyatama Suryodiningrat, Staff Writer, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A needless row is brewing among friends, and all because someone simply could not keep his mouth shut!

The last thing that Indonesia or Singapore need at the moment is a shouting match.

The two regional "giants" should be comrade in arms, along with Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines, in the joint fight to rid terrorism.

Instead they have exhausted energy and time heckling, and, God forbid, even raised sympathy for dangerous radical elements which need to rooted out.

The government and community leaders here have reacted strongly to Senior Minister Lee Kwan Yew's jibe that Indonesia was allowing alleged terrorist matersminds to roam free.

The Singapore government responded by making a diplomatic gesture to allow Indonesia police greater access to information.

But nonchalantly it colored its defense with seeming obliviousness to Indonesia's strong reaction.

Allegations that terrorist elements extend to, and may even stem from, the sprawling archipelago are not new.

Local and foreign media have repeatedly speculated the cross- border terrorist network as strong circumstantial evidence point to terrorist elements burrowing in Indonesia.

Singapore in particuler has charged that Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Ba'aysir is a figure who needs to be rounded up.

But authorities here claim there is little concrete evidence to backup these claims.

Based on the number of arrests and headline coverage in Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines, claims that Indonesia is not doing enough may be warranted.

Critics have also accused of the Indonesian government of being apprehensive in the matter fearing a backlash from Muslim political factions.

The core of the row is really not the issue of terrorism. No one doubts the political will to excise this menace, not least Indonesia who's people have been a constant victim of, and continue to live under the specter of terror.

The root of the row is the appropriateness of Lee's remarks and the over-sensitivity of Indonesians themselves.

Lee's remarks along with the immediate and pragmatic Singapore government defense of it demonstrated a thoughtlessness to the sensitivities in which Southeast Asian camaraderie has been so carefully built upon.

The success of maintaining stability in a fragile Southeast Asia in many respects has been due to the success of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in establishing a custom, a code of conduct if you will, which has prevented unnecessary irritants from becoming a stumbling block for cooperation.

For all its weaknesses, the ASEAN Way of approaching matters in a non-confrontative manner has allowed a previously unsettled region, with little history of peaceful cooperation, to flourish in a conducive climate of trust.

It is one thing for individuals and the press to criticize, it is another for the most elder statesman, who retains an official government title, in Southeast Asia to make such a remark.

Ironically just a month ago in a meeting with Indonesian journalists, Singapore Foreign Minister S. Jayakumar still lauded the quiet discreet nature in which fellow ASEAN members dealt with sensitive matters.

"It's done in a way that does not embarrass any country, that does not seem to point an accusing finger," Jayakumar said of how ASEAN with sensitive domestic issues effecting its members.

No one questions the need for neighbors to always remind each other. In fact criticism can be a positive catalyst among friends.

ASEAN solidarity should not be interpreted as turning a blind eye to injustice and malfeasance.

But the manner and tone of Lee's criticism was considered bellicose by many here.

It publicly harangued a close neighbor.

What good did Lee's comments do that a softer private overture would not have achieved?

It does nothing to forge cooperation to fight terrorism.

What it has resulted in is greater resentment of Singapore being a puppet of growing U.S. unilateralism and jingoism.

Most conspicuous has been People's Consultative Assembly speaker Amien Rais' remark describing Lee as "a mouthpiece" for U.S. President George Bush.

If Singapore did have stronger evidence to back up its claims would it not have been within its obligation to pass on the information and allow access to authorities here to begin with?

Is the fact that Singapore is now providing information on alleged terrorist activity in Indonesia suggest that it may have concealed information and not cooperated in good faith in the first place?

These are the questions that are arising in the fallout.

Lee's remarks, in the short term, is doing more damage than good.

They ended being as tactless as the rude comments made in the past concerning Singapore by then Indonesian Presidents B.J. Habibie and Abdurrahman Wahid.

What we have now is an escalating shouting match.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda over the weekend widened the war of words by essentially calling the government of Singapore an authoritarian regime.

For its own part, Indonesia by reacting the way it did failed to show the kind of diplomatic maturity which has exemplified its foreign relations in the past.

Singapore may or may not be authoritarian in nature, but Indonesia at its present juncture is no paragon of democratic stability.

The harsh reaction Indonesia displayed was prompted by political posturing which invited local politicians and community leaders to jump the nationalist bandwagon to please their constituents.

It failed to acknowledge the fact that little has been made public here on uncovering local terrorist networks, despite the fact that Indonesians seem to feature prominently as suspects in investigations abroad.

In the final analysis, a bit of diplomatic savoir-faire is necessary.

Neighbors are usually the most reliable to count upon, but they are also the most sensitive when reproached.

The island-state, who's economy and security are so intertwined with its neighbors should know better.

Indonesia should learn at times to look the other way and pick on someone its own size, rather than commenting on worthless rhetoric that do not matter.