http://www.asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3714&Itemid=367
WikiLeaks' Asian Field Day
Written by Our Correspondent
Monday, 05 September 2011
Gossip, conjecture, analysis, allegations of political chicanery, corruption --
they’re all in the latest downloads
In Indonesia, the national police are discovered to be using a hard-line
Islamic group as its hidden “attack dog.” In Singapore, octogenarian founder
Lee Kuan Yew calls Islam a “venomous religion." In Malaysia, UMNO leaders are
“willing to blacken Malaysia's reputation to ensure the end to opposition
leader Anwar Ibrahim's political challenge.”
The latest flock of US diplomatic cables made available by the WikiLeaks Web
site is setting off firecrackers all over Southeast Asia, particularly in
Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. A total of 251,000 cables were released by
Wikileaks from diplomatic missions across the world last week, this time with
no names removed to hide the identities of the confidential sources used by US
embassies. The cables can be found at www.wikileaks.org. Here is a small
sample.
One of the most explosive quotes Indonesian State Intelligence Agency (BIN)
official Yahya Asagaf, who said the National Police Chief, Sutanto, was
providing funds to the thuggish Islamic Defenders Front, or FPI as it is known
by its Indonesian acronym, which has specialized in harassing what they
consider improperly dressed women, closing nightclubs and beating members of
the Ahmadiyah offshoot of Islam.
“When we questioned Yahya's allegation that Sutanto funded FPI, Yahya said
Sutanto found it useful to have FPI available to him as an ‘attack dog.’ When
pressed further on the usefulness of FPI playing this role, noting that the
police should be sufficiently capable of intimidation, Yahya characterized FPI
as a useful tool that could spare the security forces from criticism for human
rights violations, and he said funding FPI was a "tradition" of the Police and
BIN. The principal BIN figure who provided funds to FPI was BIN Deputy Chief
Said Ali As'at, Yahya claimed.) Yahya said the FPI had obtained a majority of
its funds from the security forces, and, after mid-February, FPI faced a budget
crunch.”
In Malaysia, a 2008 cable about the rise of the Pakatan Rakyat coalition as a
viable opposition stated that “it appears the ruling party finds this situation
intolerable. UMNO leaders, united behind but also in a sense using Prime
Minister (PM) Abdullah, have made it clear that they are willing to blacken
Malaysia's reputation to ensure the end to opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim's
political challenge. The coming Parliamentary session in the latter half of
August is the next likely setting for a showdown, and could precipitate another
arrest of Anwar if he is deemed to be doing too well politically between now
and then. Conversely, if the ruling party concludes it has him boxed in UMNO
may be content to use short-term measures such as judicial restraining orders
and the like to prevent him from addressing and attracting a national
audience.”
Anwar was arrested shortly after that, in July 2008, on sodomy charges that are
widely viewed as trumped up to thwart his political career.
“The ruling party wants to stay in power indefinitely, and that means Anwar and
the multi-racial opposition front he is leading must fail,” the cable states. “
At least so far, there is scant evidence of a more thoughtful and
forward-looking analysis within UMNO. In fact, the ruling party could find some
common ground with the opposition if it were willing to countenance gradual
development of a two-party system of checks and balances. Instead, the ruling
party defines national security primarily as a matter of protecting UMNO's
superiority and ensuring that "people power," or a level electoral playing
field, cannot become the opposition's means of toppling the ruling party.
Another June 6, 2011 cable from Malaysia says economists believe Najib Tun
Razak is sincere in his attempt to address economic problems through his New
Economic Model, which was unveiled last year. “However, they question his
ability to make major changes in the government's long-standing discriminatory
Bumiputera preference policies which have discouraged domestic investment and
new business formation and are driving the "brain drain" of young professional
Malaysians frustrated with limited opportunities under this system. Economists
here expect Najib's effort to establish a policy framework that will foster a
more gradual move away from ethnic preferences to a merit-based economy, but
believe that may be insufficient.
If PM Najib is unable to deliver on NEM reforms, they expect the opposition
will seize the reform agenda as an issue for possible 2012 elections. Executing
a robust NEM, however, will be even more difficult as the PM will undoubtedly
face steady opposition from within his own political party (UMNO), particularly
from members who fear their parliamentary seats may be lost if the current
patronage system is dismantled.”
The octogenarian Singaporean leader Lee Kuan Yew, for instance, is denying he
called Islam a “venomous religion” after one of hundreds of cables had him
describing Islam that way in a 2005 meeting with then- US Sen. Hillary Clinton.
“This is false,” the 87-year-old Lee, Singapore’s founding prime minister and
elder statesman, said in a statement. He did, he said, “talk about extremist
terrorists like the [Southeast Asian] Jemaah Islamiyah group, and the jihadist
preachers who brainwashed them. They are implacable in wanting to put down all
who do not agree with them,” he said.
In an October 16 2007 conversation with Ambassador Patricia Herbold, Lee said
Burma, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam should never have been allowed into the
Association of Southeast Asian nations. “Expressing his scorn for Burma's
leaders, MM Lee called them ‘dense’ and "stupid." After discussing China's
influence over Burma, he suggested that Indonesian President Yudhoyono, as a
former general, could potentially be an interlocutor with the regime. Turning
to cross-Strait relations, MM Lee characterized President Chen Shui-bian as a
"gambler" who was ready to "go for broke" on independence. He thought that
Japan might be willing to speak out publicly to constrain Taiwan now that Yasuo
Fukuda was prime minister. China's strategy for Southeast Asia was simple --
"come grow with me" because China's rise is inevitable. MM Lee urged the United
States to pursue more Free Trade Agreements to give the region options besides
China.
Another cable has Singapore journalists saying they are increasingly frustrated
with government-imposed limits on their domestic reporting, with political
leaders putting pressure on the Straits Times staff to ensure that the paper's
domestic coverage follows the government line. Reporters say they are eager to
produce more investigative and critical reporting, but they are stifled by
editors who have been groomed to toe the line. Others told US diplomats they
are so frustrated that they are considering leaving the country.
“Reporters have to be careful in their coverage of local news, as Singapore's
leaders will likely come down hard on anyone who reports negative stories about
the government or its leadership, Chua Chin Hon (strictly protect), the new
Straits Times U.S. Bureau Chief (former China Bureau Chief) told Poloff
(Political officer)….Chua lamented that the ST editors have all been groomed as
pro-government supporters and are careful to ensure that reporting of local
events adheres closely to the official line. Chua said that unless one of the
editors is a "Trojan Horse," someone that for years has successfully concealed
any non pro-government leanings, none of them has the courage to publish any
stories critical of the government.”
The government “exerts significant pressure on ST editors to ensure that
published articles follow the government's line, Chua said. In the past, the
editors had to contend only with the opinions of former Prime Minister Lee Kuan
Yew (now Minister Mentor) and former Deputy Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong (now
Senior Minister). However, a younger generation of government ministers is now
vying for future leadership positions and one way for them to burnish their
credentials with the old guard is to show they can be tough with the media,
Chua said.
“As a result, several current ministers and second ministers (Chua did not say
which ones) routinely call ST editors to ensure that media coverage of an issue
comes out the way they want it. While Chua admitted that he knew of no editors
who had been fired or otherwise punished for printing articles critical of the
government, he said that is because all of the them have been vetted to ensure
their pro-government leanings.”
“Chua admitted that domestically focused ST articles often read like Public
Service Announcements. Chua noted that how the government intends to push a
certain policy is often foreshadowed by extensive media coverage (published
before the official policy announcements). As an example, Chua pointed to the
government's recent decision to assist retirees who lost investments in
"mini-bonds" following the collapse of Lehman Brothers (ref A). That decision
followed a spate of media coverage casting the retirees, plight in sympathetic
terms.”
Another cable contains serious concerns about ethnic Malays and their mistrust
of the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore, established in 1968. The
government, according to the cable, “does not even have a good understanding of
ethnic Malays in the country, let alone how and why some ethnic Malay
Singaporeans have turned to religious extremism. The cable described ‘growing
discontentment among Malay youth that could provide fertile ground for the
recruitment of extremists in the future.”
Of 250 Malay youth aged 13-28, “240 expressed a strong dissatisfaction with
life in Singapore and told (the researcher) they would emigrate if they could.
Many Malays feel marginalized in Singapore, and extremist attitudes appear to
be intensifying. (The researcher) noted with alarm that ethnic Malays are
increasingly involved in criminal activities that one does not usually
associate with Muslims, such as loan sharking. Citing Singapore Police Force
(SPF) sources, (the researcher told political officer that 19 out of 54
syndicate organizations found to be involved in loan sharking over the last two
years were Malay. While he admitted he has no proof, (he) believes the Malays’
involvement in loan sharking could be an indicator of a fund-raising attempt by
extremists, most likely those living outside of Singapore, he said.
In Indonesia, one cable has presidential Senior Advisor T.B. Silalahi telling
US diplomats that officials “had sufficient evidence of the corruption of
former First Gentleman Taufik Kiemas (the husband of then-President Megawati
Sukarnoputri to warrant Taufik's arrest. However, T.B. said that President
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had personally instructed Hendarman not to pursue a
case against Taufik. “
In another discussion of campaign finance, the source “also claimed that
Aburizal Bakrie's contributions to Yudhoyono's presidential campaign totaled
200 billion Rupiah (approximately 20 million USD). (Comment: We believe the 200
billion figure is credible.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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