Singapore expects more 'RI accusations'

Singapore expects more 'RI accusations'

SINGAPORE (AFP): Elder statesman Lee Kuan Yew has warned Singaporeans, labeled as "real racists" by Indonesian President B.J. Habibie recently, to brace themselves for more accusations and attacks due to Asia's economic problems.

Lee told a Lunar New Year gathering late Saturday that the region was still in disarray amid a currency meltdown since mid- 1997 and "when countries are under pressure, their leaders say and do things that they normally would not," the local Sunday Times reported.

Noting that there had been more accusations and threats against Singapore during the present difficult times, the former premier said: "We must expect more of this.

"As the elections in Indonesia heat up, tensions and tempers will rise. We have been blamed for things that have nothing to do with us," he said.

In a media interview with Taiwanese journalists recently, Habibie accused largely ethnic Chinese Singapore of racial discrimination against its Malay minority in military promotions.

When asked whether there was discrimination against ethnic Chinese in Indonesia, Habibie had said: "In fact, the situation in Singapore is worse.

"In Singapore, if you are a Malay, you can never become a military officer. They are the real racists, not here. You can go and check it out."

His remarks were played up by the Singapore press, which published statistics and stories to refute Habibie's claims, seen here as an attempt to divert attention from Indonesia's own racial problems.

Periodic outbreaks of mob violence in Indonesia have often targeted ethnic Chinese, who make up less than 5 percent of the country's 200 million people but control much of its wealth and dominate the retail and trading sectors.

Relations

Lee, premier for about three decades until November 1990, said Singapore continued to seek "rational and stable relations" with its largest neighbor Indonesia "on an equal basis as two sovereign countries."

"We have to be patient. Indonesia is holding elections this year. We look forward to working with whoever is elected as president for good long-term relations," he said.

Some have traced Habibie's series of anti-Singapore remarks to Lee's unflattering remarks about possible market reaction to Habibie's rise to the vice presidency in 1998.

The Indonesian rupiah tumbled in value after word leaked of the imminent appointment of Habibie, a German-trained engineer who owed his rise to his predecessor Soeharto's patronage and still speaks fondly of his former mentor.

Singapore had enjoyed generally good ties with Indonesia under Soeharto who was at the helm for about three decades before he was forced to quit in May last year.