Singapore responds to Abdurrahman's attack

Singapore responds to Abdurrahman's attack

JAKARTA (JP): The Singapore government responded sharply on
Tuesday to comments made by President Abdurrahman Wahid on the
heels of the ASEAN informal summit on the island-nation, refuting
many of the allegations made by the Indonesian president.

The statement, received here on Tuesday evening, was issued by
the press secretary to Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong.

The statement was issued after Abdurrahman launched on
Saturday a stinging critic on the island-state, accusing it of
manipulating Jakarta and claiming the two-day ASEAN summit did
not place sufficient emphasis on less developed members of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

On the alleged rejection of Abdurrahman's proposal to admit
East Timor and Papua New Guinea to ASEAN, the statement said that
"no member made any proposal at the fourth AIS to admit new
members".

President Abdurrahman Wahid recounted a conversation he had
with Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew at the summit about the
possibility of East Timor and Papua New Guinea's admission to
ASEAN. However, he did not put it up as a proposal, the statement
said.

"Had he done so, ASEAN practice requires a consensus on the
admission of new members. It is not a matter that can be decided
by one or two countries."

The press secretary refuted allegations that Goh, who chaired
the summit meeting, made no mention of Indonesia's possible
hosting of a planned ASEAN trade fair.

"The leaders had agreed to PM Goh's proposal that ASEAN
countries that were less affected by the financial and economic
crisis should spearhead or host initiatives to restore ASEAN's
credibility and attractiveness to investors.

"This included trade fairs in which all ASEAN members would be
invited to participate. The trade fairs would also be rotated
among ASEAN capitals."

Further rebuttal also came against suggestions that Goh
neglected to mention the southern part of the ASEAN region.

The statement stressed that "Goh expressly proposed that at
the next ASEAN summit in Brunei, the leaders should discuss how
to help the eastern part of ASEAN (the Philippines, Kalimantan,
East Malaysia and Brunei) to grow".

On Abdurrahman's remarks that there was no need to follow
Singapore's advice to master the English language for information
technology, the statement noted that "it was Prime Minister
Mahathir Mohamad of Malaysia, and not PM Goh, who gave this
advice".

It pointed out that Mahathir explained that without English,
ASEAN could not take full advantage of information technology.

"Goh and the other leaders agreed with Mahathir on the
importance of English in the new economy." (byg)