S'pore's complaint

S'pore's complaint

Give us back our days, screamed an editorial in The Straits
Times in reaction to the smoke coming from the forest fires in
Sumatra and Kalimantan. This is, indeed, an aggravating scream.
The writer of this editorial should ask themselves, "Where was I
when the Singaporean tug boats were caught dumping poisonous
waste into Indonesian seas? Where was I when the Indonesian
Mangrove Foundation protested to Singapore for wrecking
Bengkalis' mangrove forest by illegally trading teak wood for
second hand clothes? Surely I could have reacted the same?"

In an meeting with the Singapore envoy recently, Mr. Sarwono
Kusumaatmadja, our State Minister of Environment sounded too
apologetic about the thick haze that had bothered the heck out of
Singaporeans. But, please, that kind of forest fire happens
everywhere, even in the developed countries like the USA. And we
will not take the blame, let alone their sour comments. As if we
robbed Singaporeans' days.

In dealing with Singapore, it looks to me like we are always
in a "can't win" position. As disclosed in the "Your Letter"
column on this paper of Oct. 17, 1994, Singapore has been helping
to destroy mangrove forests in Riau and getting away with it. A
few years ago, it was disclosed that Singapore had illegally
bought sand from Bintan Island, leaving a huge hole behind and
destroying the environment. And, there was no apology from their
end. Now, why should we feel so guilty about the haze?

The arrogance of Singaporeans is probably due to the fact that
they think we desperately need their investment and have to put
up with their "we are helping you" attitude. Take, for instance,
the situation on Batam. This island has been claimed to be "The
Second Singapore" since businessmen from that neighboring nation
have invested their money there. They've come with capital,
technology and people.

As an Indonesian, I am not very proud of what is going on at
Batam. The transformation has boosted the development of the
island, but look at what it has done to the people there. The so-
called Singaporization has made them the second class people
catering to the needs of the "visiting" nation. Things are run in
Singapore way. "No Smoking" signs are everywhere, even outside
the Cineplex 21. Local brewed beer is not popular since the
visitors refuse to drink any kind of beer except "Tiger".

Price lists in most hotels and restaurants are in Singapore
dollars, as if Rupiah was a foreign currency. If you shop in a
big store and ask the price in rupiah, you have to wait until the
staff figure out the conversion. And wait until you enter a
seafood restaurant or a bar and see how the waiters ignore you
just because you are not a Singaporean.

My friend and I were caught in a very embarrassing situation
one evening in an restaurant. The manager tried to kick us out
for refusing to stop smoking. Not that the restaurant was a "No
Smoking" one. We had dined and smoked in this open-air restaurant
before. But on that particular evening, there were a bunch of
Singaporeans having dinner and they complained about our smoking.
For the sake of friendship, we would have stubbed out our
cigarettes immediately if we had been politely asked to stop
endangering their precious lungs.

It is true that they're the biggest foreign investors in
Indonesia, as disclosed by our Ambassador for Singapore (Kompas,
Oct. 20, 1994). But Mr. Tomiyasa Nakamura, the General Director
of the Japan External Trade Organization, says investment in
Batam is a "billiards business" (Indonesia Business weekly
Magazine No 6, 1994). Japan puts its money in Singapore and
Singapore dumps it on Batam.

CARL CHAIRUL

Jakarta