RI-Singapore relations suffer from misperception

RI-Singapore relations suffer from misperception

Berni K. Moestafa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesia and Singapore's bilateral ties suffer from public
misperception about each other, while new challenges affecting
the region have emerged that must be tackled together, foreign
policy experts from both sides said on Friday.

Former Indonesian foreign affairs minister Ali Alatas said
Indonesia and Singapore must stop stereotyping each other.

"In this period of progressive change, we should rebuild our
relationship anew," Alatas said during a seminar on Indonesia and
Singapore's relationship held by the Centre for International and
Strategic Studies (CSIS).

A number of Indonesian participants pointed out how some
Indonesians felt they were being ruled by Singaporean money.

Chief editor of the weekly Tempo magazine Bambang Harymurti
said some Indonesians viewed Singapore investors as "shopkeepers
everyone hated yet at the same time also needed".

While Singaporeans, according to him, are apprehensive about
Islam's spreading popularity in Indonesia. "Singapore thinks of
Indonesia as a country with a pool of nice cities -- surrounded
by Taliban."

There was also the misbelief among Singaporeans that Chinese
businessmen faced corruption charges here because of their ethnic
background -- a notion underpinned by the 1998 May riots in which
Chinese were targeted.

Chairman of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs
(SIIA), Simon Tay said Singapore often misread the changes
happening in Indonesia.

When Soeharto fell, he said, the prognosis had been that the
Indonesian Military (TNI) would take over the government.

But what followed was a relative clean and peaceful general
election which few Singaporeans believed was possible.

Indonesia experimenting with decentralization, and the rise of
Islam were further shifts that took Singapore aback. "The rules
are changing in Indonesia and Singapore must adapt," Tay said.

Much of these changes occurred with the rise of Indonesia's
reforms movement in 1998. It ended three decades of authoritarian
rule under president Soeharto and unleashed widespread changes to
Indonesia's economy, politics and social structure.

Tay said that Singapore too had changed as it was coping with
China's growing economic influence. Several Singapore investors
had turned to China as a new market, leaving behind Indonesia.

These changes put to the test Indonesia and Singapore's ties,
the main architects of which were Soeharto and at that time prime
minister Lee Kuan Yew.

"Back then it was relatively easy with just two persons
deciding what to do next," said Jusuf Wanandi from the CSIS Board
of Trustees.

Now that conditions had changed both sides needed to start
knowing each other again, he said.

Alatas said that while both countries needed to remove their
misperceptions, they must also work on their old problems.

From the Indonesian side, those problems included Singapore's
reluctance to sign an extradition agreement, its land reclamation
activities using sand from Riau and charges that it was buying
subsidized fuel smuggled out of Indonesia.

There is suspicion that Singapore banks were benefiting from
billions of U.S. dollars in capital flight from Indonesia since
the 1997 economic crisis.

With their money already there, several Chinese businessmen
facing prosecution in Jakarta had moved to Singapore, claiming
they sought medical treatment.

Analysts have said without an extradition deal, Singapore
would unlikely shake off its reputation as a safe heaven for
corruption suspects. But if this meant loosing the money
Indonesian stashed in Singapore banks, the incentive to sign the
agreement was minimal, they said.

According to Alatas, Indonesia has tried to get Singapore to
sign an extradition agreement for more than 15 years. "It's about
time we get this issue behind us," he said.

But Singapore parliament member Irene Ng said old problems
should not eclipse the new challenges facing both countries.

She said China's rising influence and the global terrorism
threat were the real challenges demanding attention now.

Alatas suggested the two countries discuss a common policy
platform to address these issues.

"Different backgrounds produce different views that could put
us on a collision course, and we should not be on a collision
course," he said.