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.