President Abdurrahman lashes out at Singapore
President Abdurrahman lashes out at Singapore
By Budiman Murdiyat
SINGAPORE (JP): In a speech likely to cause a new
controversy and increase tension in the region, President
Abdurrahman Wahid launched here on Saturday a scathing verbal
attack on Singapore, saying the country had done nothing but take
advantage of Indonesia.
Speaking before members of the Indonesian community in
Singapore, Abdurrahman said Jakarta had been "manipulated" by the
island-nation.
The President, who was in Singapore to attend an informal
summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on Friday
and Saturday, went on to mull the possibility of controlling the
water supply to Singapore "to teach a lesson" to the island-
nation.
The verbal attack came only a day after presidential spokesman
Wimar Witoelar said Abdurrahman was unhappy with the summit's
emphasis on economic competitiveness at the expense of "ASEAN
solidarity".
Abdurrahman later said he was angry that the two-day informal
summit was not placing sufficient emphasis on the least-developed
ASEAN member countries.
He expressed his displeasure with the host country, which he
accused of "seeming to be keen only on developing relations with
China and other East Asian countries" during the summit.
"If (Singapore Prime Minister) Goh Chok Tong really wants to
go his own way ... go ahead, it would not be a problem for us
because we can also go our own way," Abdurrahman said.
The President added that he was also unsatisfied with his
meeting earlier this week with one of his international advisers,
Singapore Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew.
The result of this displeasure, the President said, was Lee's
rejection of his proposal to admit East Timor and Papua New
Guinea into ASEAN because "the cost of letting those countries in
would be too much to bear".
"It became clear from my meeting with Lee Kuan Yew that
Singapore is only looking for profit," Abdurrahman said, adding
that he might establish a new multilateral grouping with Papua
New Guinea, East Timor, Australia and New Zealand.
"Singapore might be unhappy with this move but I don't think
that would be the case, because when they established a defense
agreement with New Zealand and Australia and when they decided to
open their port to refuel U.S. navy ships they didn't tell
Indonesia or Malaysia anything," Abdurrahman said.
He went further, saying "Singaporeans basically like to
underestimate Malay people".
"We are considered nonexistent, and even during my meeting
with Lee Kuan Yew the other day he thought that I would be
stepping down," Abdurrahman said, referring to the increasing
calls in Jakarta for his resignation.
Abdurrahman said, however, that he did not blame the
Singaporeans as Jakarta had been "too soft and dependent" on the
country.
"Before, only (Malaysian) Prime Minister Mahathir (Mohamad)
was brave enough to confront Singapore, but now ... Mahathir has
a new friend," Abdurrahman said, implying that Jakarta would also
be taking a tough stance with Singapore.
Abdurrahman added that during his breakfast meeting with
Mahathir on Saturday, he had proposed that Indonesia and Malaysia
jointly control the water supply to Singapore.
"Why don't we control the water supply to Singapore ... if we
hold the water for a moment, they will have no water to drink.
"So we should not be afraid, or in other words our interests
should come first before the interests of other people,"
Abdurrahman said.