Second Newspaper Response

Straits Times
What's behind 'triple whammy' attacks on S'pore?
Waren Fernandez, Deputy Editor & Foreign Editor

Summary

This article, authored by Warren Fernandez questions the validity of the numerous slams and attacks Singapore has received in recent times from its South East Asian neighbours, namely Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.

Issues debated on range from the floods in Johor to the sand ban by Indonesia (covered in the previous article), to Thailand’s spat with Singapore because of a visit ousted Prime Minister Thaksin paid to Deputy Prime Minister S. Jayakumar, and lastly the allegation that Singapore was trying to spy on her by routing telephone calls through the Republic.

Comments

In response to ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s personal visit to Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister S. Jayakumar, Thailand has to me, overreacted by cancelling a planned civil service exchange programme and an invitation to Singapore’s Foreign Minister George Yeo to visit Bangkok, and consequently attempted to sabotage herself.

This is so because Singapore actually has a significant stake in regulating the Thai economy. Singapore’s investment in Thailand is ranked second, behind Japan and we are Thailand’s fourth largest trading partner. Thus, Thailand actually has more to lose by its impulsive decision of antagonizing bilateral relations.

Luckily for Thailand, our government is willing to accommodate what I deem as a situation of political transition in Thailand, in which the new leaders are being challenged by the global community to establish a stable regime.

As for the issue of floods in Johor, Johor Chief Minister Abdul Ghani Othman originally blamed it on Singapore’s reclamation works at Pulau Tekong.

However, technical studies carried out by both governments proved that the comment was untrue (S’pore rebuts Johor CM’s Flood Claim, ST, 1 Feb).

This in turn forced the Environmental Minister, Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid, to make a public statement, deeming the views of the Johor Chief Minister as “unofficial” and not representative of the government’s, alongside with saying that Malaysian’s drainage systems was actually the key issue here.

I think that Malaysia should not be too quick to blame Singapore for their problems. Sure, it might earn them some temporary reprieve from their citizens, but it will not solve the underlying problem eventually. For by blaming others for their own mistakes, anyone can see that it is akin to discrediting their own government.

Yet, I suppose that I could have been biased in my stand, for having grown up in Singapore, societal pressure have would have tended to influence me into viewing our neighbours as second world, hopeless countries inferior to Singapore.

Moreover, having grown up in Singapore all my life, I would naturally have a sense of patriotism and would then be critical of countries that criticize her.

In summary, what I deduced from this article would be that, with the onset of the twenty first century, bilateral relations with other countries, especially those in our regional sphere, have grown to become even more important. Diplomacy has to be a key aspect of our foreign relations, for Singapore is a small nation with scarce resources, and she cannot afford the long-term resource capabilities needed for wars with other countries.

Singapore has to continue with this tradition of having a patient mentality, of knowing how to accommodate others at times (demonstrated in the above examples), yet without compromising her fixed stands on issues such as drug trafficking and terrorism. Only then can she progress as a nation, a progress expedited by the support she receives from countries in our regional zone.

Before I end off, I would like to quote Sir William Strang, a British diplomat, on one basic truth of diplomacy:

“Diplomacy is not one of the easiest professions. What it calls for above all things is patience.”

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