Spat With Singapore - People Have The Right To Know
16-28 Feb 2003, Harakah
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The Mahathir government's handling of the crisis with Singapore is
indeed a disgrace for the entire nation. On January 30 for example,
Prime Minister Mahathir compared his letters with Singapore's
former premier Lee KuanYew on the water negotiations with 'letters
sent to one's girlfriend'. It is of course the job of the
government of the day to defend the country's sovereignty, honour
and welfare of the people. But these have to be done in accordance
with the law and established practices of the civilized
world.
It was a pity that instead of replying and explaining our stance on
the issues dealt with in Singapore's revelatíons Mahathir chose to
trivialize the matter. Perhaps now Lee Kuan Yew should reflect on
his own words sometimes ago; that with Mahathir and Umno in power
(his reply to the possibility of PAS taking over this country) he
could have a good sleep! One wonders what the Attorney-General
chambers, especially Abdul Ghani Patail, has told or advised
Mahathir on the points.
Foreign Minister Syed Hamid AIbar also displayed similar
incompetence during the press conference with his counterpart S.
Jayakumar on February 6. Although Malaysia said that we would not
resort to aggression and force the government asserted the right to
the island's water and airspace.
From the Iegal point of view Jayakumar made more sense when he said
that the matter should stand as they are until the International
Court of Justíce (ICJ) made a ruling on the matter. Apparently the
UMNO-led government is trying to deal with Singapore in the manner
they deal with Kelantan and Terengganu; namely throw away the books
and forget the law.
The way both Mahathir and Syed Hamid dealt with the issues have
been an embarrassment for the entire country. They should be asked
to resign. The people have the right to know the whole thing. And
the government should not use these issues just to whip up their
sentiments and support for Barisan. We should not inculcate the
attitude of 'my country right of wrong',
We know the Mahathir government and its media simply wanted to
sensationalise the entire issues with Singapore as the elections
are just around the corner. The issue was suddenly propped up by
the media when Mahathir suddenly found himself stuck with issues
such as denial of funds to SARs where he realized that what he did
was against the constitution and the law.
Not only that he also missed the target as most of the religious
schools are now under the control of his own party just like the
mosques. So it was really a case of pot calling the kettle black
when Mahathir accused Singapore of trying to divert the people in
the republic when they revealed the confidential correspondence
between him and Lee Kuan Yew.
Now the media owned by UMNO are trying to make the fuss over the
visit made by Opposition Leader and Terengganu Mentri Besar Abdul
Hadi Awang to what they claimed 'the meetmg of Muslim radicals' in
Indonesia two years ago. It looks like an attempt to save the
government for its pathetic handling of the problems with
Singapore.
Obviously the federal government is only 'good' when it comes to
bullying its own people; particularly in Kelantan and Terengganu.
Here of course everything looks fine as the state institutions have
been put under influence and control of the government.
Mahathir also accused Singapore of having a kiasu mentality. Well
that may be true. But apparently Mahathir and Umno are also
suffering from the same kind of problem. Just look at the way
Mahathir reacted to the electoral defeats ín Kelantan, Terengganu
as well as in the Lunas and Anak Bukit by-elections.
And do not forget the comments made by him following the acquittal
of MP Mohamed Sabu years ago and Abe Jak recently. Mahathir is
indeed a good example of a bad sports man who is simply unable to
accept defeat gracefully.
A government should be serious and well-prepared in solving
problems. All of us know that the problems with Singapore are not
new; they have been around for many, many years. But the government
chose to sleep on them.
And when they got into trouble with SARs (which was a problem
created by them any way) they thought the Singapore problem was a
good way to get away from the SAR problem. And now when they
suddenly realised that the Singapore issue is another disaster they
start to sensationalize Abdul Hadi's trip to Indonesia.
Interesting article, btw, I subscribe to the MITA
Newsgroups, dtas how i saw the article. . .comments?
I think it clearly puts into perspective Malaysia's sudden revival
of disputes with Singapore. . .
