Tetangga yg kurang bersahabat...kenapa tidak cepat bertindak mengambil langkah lebih konkret dan tegas pada tetangga yg "culas" ini.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaileditorial.asp?fileid=20070226.E02&irec=1 Singapore will never sign a treaty with RI Ardimas Sasdi, Jakarta The rift between Jakarta and Singapore, a tiny but wealthy nation seen by some quarters in Indonesia as cunning and exploitative, has flared again. This time the spat has been triggered by Indonesia's decision to ban sand exports. The ban took effect early February and applied to all states, including Singapore which is the largest importer of sand from Indonesia. So it is understandable that Singapore reacted angrily against the ban as it has the potential to negatively affect its construction sector. Singapore's foreign minister, George Yeo regretted the possible linkage of the ban with Singapore's failure to sign an extradition treaty with Indonesia, calling such a move counterproductive, news agencies reported. Chua Lee Hoong wrote in The Straits Times, a newspaper which reflects the view of the Singaporean government, that this ban is another instance of diplomatic pique, hurting Indonesia as well as depriving Singapore of sand. The director general of Indonesia's Foreign Ministry for Asia, the Pacific and Africa, Primo Alui Joelianto, said that "we want Singapore to understand that we need each other as neighbors. Other than raising concern about rising environmental deterioration in certain areas, the ban also aims to push Singapore (to resolve differences) in extradition and border negotiations." Indonesia, said Primo, had become very impatient in regard to the slow progress of extradition, defense and border issues currently being negotiated between the two countries. Indonesian officials have asked Singapore repeatedly to sign the extradition treaty, but the calls have fallen onto deaf ears, with Singapore giving various explanations. Some of these have been reasonable, but many are absurd, like a reluctance to sign the treaty due to legal differences between the two countries. The treaty is imperative for Indonesia, both in its war against corruption and in an effort to regain funds stashed off-shore by crooked business tycoons and senior government officials. Many of them live peacefully with their families in luxurious houses and apartments in Singapore, beyond the reach of the Indonesian justice system. Some of these tycoons have defaulted their debts and continue to run other businesses from Singapore, including in Indonesia. Tempo magazine, in its Oct. 26, 2006, edition, dubbed Singapore a safe haven for "problematic" tycoons, a euphemism for Indonesian businesspeople and officials involved in major debt laundering or corruption cases. These tycoons, according to Tempo, include Sukanto Tanoto, Sjamsul Nursalim, Liem Sioe Liong, Eka Tjipta Widjaja, Bambang Sutrisno, Agus Anwar, Lidia Muchtar and Pauline Maria Lumowa. It has been estimated that 18,000 of the 55,000 super-rich living in Singapore are from Indonesia. Their wealth amounts to approximately US$87 billion (approximately Rp 850 trillion), or Rp 150 trillion more than Indonesia's annual budget of Rp 650 trillion. With this amount of money at stake, will Singapore sign this treaty with Indonesia? "Singapore will never sign an extradition treaty with Indonesia," an executive of an Indonesian company expressed to this writer last month during a lunch. The executive added,"It is hard to imagine why Singapore would be willing to take such a risk. The crooked tycoons would just pack their bags and take their money to safe places elsewhere. Singapore, of course, cannot accept this reality as it would severely affect its economy." However, Singaporeans have been generous toward the frequent plagues affecting Indonesia, with the exception of the recent floods which engulfed 70 percent of Jakarta. Singapore was among the first countries to send its army and search and rescue teams to aid tsunami victims in Aceh in late 2004, and sent humanitarian aid and its army to post-earthquake Yogyakarta and Central Java in May 2006. Singapore also helped Indonesia, albeit unsuccessfully, in efforts to locate an AdamAir aircraft which disappeared on-route from Jakarta to North Sulawesi last month with 102 people on board. This kind of aid diplomacy works well to some extent, both in Indonesia and around the world, in that it creates an image of Singapore as a good neighbor. But Singapore should look at the other side of the coin. Indonesia needs an understanding from its friendly neighbor on the importance of the treaty in its war against corruption. For its part, Indonesia could design a more systematic and organized information campaign because the existing uproar, which is predicted to die down soon, is not enough to force Singapore to listen. This campaign should involve not only the machinery of the government and legislative branches but also the media -- domestic and foreign -- to explain the issue to the world. More importantly, this campaign should be undertaken over time in a smart and consistent manner, with an emphasis on Singapore's tendency to provide a sanctuary for crooked tycoons. Indonesia's economy is in shambles, partly because of the defaulted debts of these tycoons. Subsequently, the world may review its image of Singapore, which some argue prospers at the expense of its giant but poor and weak neighbor. However, Indonesia should treat this campaign with extra care and ensure that it does not derail into a larger conflict, reminding the world of the conflict between Indonesia and Singapore in the early 1960s. Would such a campaign succeed? There is no clear answer to this question, but the job should be done. And one thing is certain. Singapore will never voluntarily sign an extradition treaty with Indonesia unless there is a strong but intelligent effort to make it to do so. The author is a writer with The Jakarta Post and a communication lecturer in the Master of Management Program at Gadjah Mada University, Jakarta. He can be reached at [EMAIL PROTECTED]
