Singapore issues tame response to rebuke

By Amit Baruah

SINGAPORE, NOV. 28. In a low-key response to a harsh attack by the Indonesian President, Mr. Abdurrahman Wahid, Singapore said today that no proposal was made at the Fourth ASEAN Informal Summit (AIS) to include new members.

``President Abdurrahman Wahid recounted to the AIS his conversation with SM (Senior Minister) Lee Kuan Yew on the possibility of East Timor's and Papua New Guinea's admission into ASEAN, but did not put it up as a proposal to AIS. Had he done so, ASEAN practice requires a consensus on the admission of new members. It is not a matter that can be decided by one or two countries,'' the Singapore Prime Minister, Mr. Goh Chok Tong's press secretary said in a statement today.

Mr. Wahid surprised many by his indiscreet and damaging remarks about Singapore (including a bizarre suggestion to the Malaysian Prime Minister, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, to turn off the island nation's water supply) at the Indonesian embassy on Saturday.

Responding to Mr. Wahid's comment that Mr. Goh never refers to the southern part of ASEAN, the Singapore clarification said leaders at the AIS had agreed that ASEAN should consolidate itself, in particular, to integrate the newer members of Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos, into the grouping.

``Most ASEAN leaders, and also the leaders from China, Japan and Korea, focused on projects in the Mekong Basin countries. Hence, Prime Minister Goh expressly proposed that at the next ASEAN summit in Brunei, the leaders should discuss how to help the eastern part of ASEAN (the Philippines, Kalimantan, East Malaysia and Brunei) to grow to grow,'' it said.

In response to Mr. Wahid's statement that there was no need to follow Singapore's advice to master English for taking advantage of information technology, Singapore clarified that it was the Malaysian Prime Minister, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, and not Mr. Goh, who gave this advice.

``Dr. Mahathir explained that without English, ASEAN could not take full advantage of IT. Prime Minister Goh and the other leaders agreed with Dr. Mahathir on the importance of English in the New Economy,'' the statement added.

In a related development, the Indonesian press has criticised Mr. Wahid for his outburst against Singapore. The Jakarta Post, in an editorial, today said Mr. Wahid ``may have done some irreparable damage to existing bilateral relations which have been built and nurtured for over three decades.''

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Section  : International
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