Lee's outburst not in keeping with ASEAN way
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.