S’pore, Indonesia must find ways to mend ties: Ng

SINGAPORE — The Republic and Indonesia have to find ways to move beyond Indonesia’s controversial naming of a warship after the two MacDonald House bombers and mend affected ties, said Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen.

While Singaporeans may be perplexed or upset by how the issue has been handled, “we live in this neighbourhood, we have to find ways to build relationships with our neighbours”, said Dr Ng, who was speaking on the sidelines of the opening of the upgraded Residents’ Committee Centre at Toa Payoh East Zone 2 yesterday.

“Sometimes, we may not fully understand the ways of others, but as long as we continue with our own stand and others understand us, I believe that is a very strong basis for us to build relationships with others,” he added.

Dr Ng’s comments came after the Commander-in-Chief of the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) General Moeldoko clarified that the remarks he made in a televised interview with Channel NewsAsia last Tuesday on the issue were, in fact, not an apology to Singapore. His comments in the interview had been welcomed by the Republic, with Dr Ng saying in a statement on Wednesday that it was a constructive gesture and that Singapore would reciprocate by resuming bilateral cooperation between the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) and the TNI. But the next day, Gen Moeldoko said he was expressing regret that the naming of the warship was a final decision and would not be changed.

Asked whether Singapore accepted his clarification, Dr Ng responded: “I think it’s not productive for us to get involved in their domestic politics.”

He added that the Government would accept Gen Moeldoko’s words on camera “at face value”. Indonesia, he said, has acknowledged that the incident has stirred up emotions and stated that it meant no ill intent.

“How we move forward will depend on our ability to treat each other with mutual respect and regard as sovereign equals. If both sides want to build a strong relationship based on those terms and both sides recognise very fully that we, as neighbours, need each other and need to work together, I’m confident that we can rebuild trust and confidence that (have) been built up over many, many decades,” he noted.

He acknowledged that there was no “magic formula” for doing so. “We have to just spend effort and treat each other with respect, regard and use opportunities to build up our ties,” he said.

The SAF and TNI will resume bilateral cooperation as announced last week. Dr Ng added that Singapore’s position on the warship still stood — the Republic will not allow it to call at its ports and naval bases and the SAF will not carry out military exercises with the ship.