Wahid Speech Said to Assail Singaporeans 
International Herald Tribune
November 28, 2000
Michael Richardson  

President Abdurrahman Wahid of Indonesia has reportedly accused Singapore and other countries in Southeast Asia of wanting to develop ties with China at the expense of relations with smaller and poorer states.

"It appears that Singapore and some other countries in the region only want to develop relations with China," the Straits Times of Singapore quoted him as telling a closed-door meeting Saturday of Indonesians at Jakarta's Singapore embassy.

The reported remarks by the Indonesian president, which included the allegation that "Singaporeans despise Malays," could cause an anti-China and anti-Chinese backlash in Indonesia, some analysts said. Indonesia has a history of tense relations and rivalry with China, and the minority ethnic Chinese in Indonesia, resented for their perceived wealth and prominence in business, are often the target of racial prejudice and attacks during riots.

Some analysts said that Mr. Wahid's comments also threatened to split the Association of South East Asian Nations, and leave Singapore — a predominantly ethnic Chinese island nation — at odds with its much larger Malay-Muslim majority neighbors, Indonesia and Malaysia.

But other analysts played down the significance of Mr. Wahid's remarks. They said that he was noted for confusing, contradictory and sometimes wildly inaccurate comments and that the latest allegations would blow over without causing major damage to Indonesia's relations with Singapore, ASEAN unity or the association's links with Beijing.

Heri Akhmadi, secretary of the Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle, the largest political group in the Indonesian Parliament, said in Jakarta that Mr. Wahid had made another impulsive statement. "Please don't take his comments seriously," he told a Singapore journalist.

Singapore maintained a diplomatic silence, evidently hoping that the dispute would blow over. A spokesman for the Foreign Ministry said the government would respond in due course.

Mr. Wahid has in the past praised Singapore for its aid to Indonesia during the financial crisis of 1997 and 1998.

But the Straits Times on Monday printed what it said were excerpts from a transcript it had obtained of the 30-minute speech Mr. Wahid made at the embassy on the final day of summit talks in Singapore between ASEAN and China, Japan and South Korea.

Mr. Wahid reportedly accused Singapore of "only looking to reap profits from its relations with its neighbors," adding that on the fringes of the summit meeting he had spoken with the prime minister of Malaysia, Mahathir bin Mohamad, suggesting that Malaysia and Indonesia between them could control the supply of vital fresh water needed by Singapore for industrial and drinking purposes.

"If we withhold the water supply, Singapore won't have any more water," he said. "So far, the only person who has been critical of Singapore is Mahathir. Now Mahathir has a new friend."

Singapore depends on water piped from Malaysia for much of its needs. There are also plans to import water from nearby Indonesian islands under a 1991 agreement with Jakarta.

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