Republic’s ties with M’sia, Indonesia ‘complex, important’

SINGAPORE — Singapore’s relationships with Malaysia and Indonesia are “good”, and the Republic will continue to work on enhancing ties with its two “most important partners” despite the complex relationships and occasional differences with them, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong during yesterday’s National Day Rally.

“We work hard to build our ties but these are sensitive, complex relationships. There will be differences from time to time, because of their deep-seated attitudes towards us,” he said.

Citing an example, Mr Lee said an Indonesian minister recently declared that he was not afraid of Singapore because it is a small country.

“This abang-adik (big brother-small brother) attitude towards us has not changed since we became independent. But we must not let these difficulties affect our broader bilateral cooperation,” he said.

Mr Lee did not name the minister, but Indonesia’s then-Minister of Finance Bambang Brodjonegoro had said last month he was not afraid of a “small country” like Singapore. He made the remarks after media reports accused Singaporean banks of imposing hurdles to Indonesia’s new tax amnesty programme by allegedly luring Indonesian customers with a special scheme to their assets in the city-state instead of repatriating them.

Singapore has denied it was implementing policies to thwart the tax amnesty programme.

Noting that Singapore’s relations with Malaysia and Indonesia today are good, Mr Lee pointed out that he had settled the 1990 Points of Agreement on Malayan Railway land in Singapore with his Malaysian counterpart, Mr Najib Razak.

“Twenty years of trying, finally we succeeded and it was settled,” he said, to applause from the audience. On the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding on the Singapore-Kuala Lumpur High-Speed Rail last month in Putrajaya, Mr Lee said: “PM Najib hosted us to lunch. The durian was good, but the High-Speed Rail will be better.”

Turning his attention to Indonesia, Mr Lee said he met President Joko Widodo regularly, including once over nasi lemak.

“He (Mr Widodo) has told me he is committed to solving the haze problem. We have also been discussing enhancing economic cooperation and encouraging Singapore companies to invest more in Indonesia ... including how to refresh our long-standing cooperation in BBK (Bintan, Batam, Karimun).”

Mr Lee, who will be having a leaders’ retreat with Mr Widodo in the Indonesian city of Semarang on Thursday, said the venue was chosen because Sembcorp has a joint venture to build an industrial park there.

The Kendal Industrial Park will be opened by the two leaders, with Mr Lee noting that it is the “first major industrial investment by a Singapore company outside Batam.” “I hope it will encourage more Singaporeans to go and find more opportunities in Indonesia,” Mr Lee added.

Analysts TODAY spoke to noted that the abang-adik attitude towards Singapore that Mr Lee referred to has persisted in Malaysia and Indonesia, although it may not run across both countries’ whole governments.

“This kind of thinking is difficult to resist, given that Indonesia is much larger and more complex than Singapore. However, these attitudes find resonance only in certain quarters of Indonesian society, and this excludes President Widodo, who has a deeper understanding of Singapore and the dynamics behind its success,” said Dr Hui Yew-Foong, a senior fellow and coordinator for the Indonesia Studies Programme at the Iseas-Yusof Ishak Institute.

Dr Mohamed Nawab Mohamed Osman, coordinator of the Malaysia programme at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), noted that Singapore currently enjoys “an excellent relationship” with Malaysia.

“PM Lee is perhaps warning us that we cannot take this for granted,” he said, noting that relations between the two countries were often tumultuous during Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s tenure as prime minister, when Singapore was often used as a distraction from Malaysia’s domestic problems.

“The main issue has to do with the historical baggage. I think it’s important to educate the young in both countries that there is a need to look past historical issues and focus on the future of both countries.”