Singapore urges Jakarta not to 'reopen old wounds'
Decision to name ship after bombers ignores impact on victims: Ministers
By Zakir Hussain, The Straits Times, 7 Feb 2014
Decision to name ship after bombers ignores impact on victims: Ministers
By Zakir Hussain, The Straits Times, 7 Feb 2014
THREE Singapore ministers have responded to Indonesia's decision to name a Navy ship after the Indonesian marines who bombed an Orchard Road building in 1965, leaving three people dead and 33 people injured.
Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean and Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen yesterday joined Foreign Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam in asking Indonesia to consider the feelings of Singaporeans, saying naming the ship after the two men who were hanged in Singapore for their actions would reopen old wounds and leave Singaporeans asking what message Indonesia was trying to send.
But Indonesian leaders said marines Osman Mohamed Ali and Harun Said were considered heroes and there would be no changing the plan to name the navy frigate the KRI Usman Harun.
Singaporeans reacting to the news yesterday said the naming was insensitive and unfriendly, but many Indonesians defended their country's right to honour the two men.
The March 10 attack on MacDonald House happened at the height of Indonesia's Confrontation against newly formed Malaysia, which then included Singapore. The marines were convicted and executed in 1968, but were given a ceremonial burial by Jakarta.
Indonesia's Kompas newspaper reported this week that a new British-made frigate would be named after the two men, in line with the practice of naming ships after heroes.
Mr Shanmugam was first to register his concerns with his Indonesian counterpart, Dr Marty Natalegawa, on Wednesday. Yesterday, Mr Teo and Dr Ng called their counterparts too, and reinforced a point made by Mr Shanmugam earlier.
"DPM Teo and Dr Ng, on behalf of the Singapore Government, respectfully asked that Indonesia takes into account the feelings of the victims and their families, and the implications and consequences, when making their decision whether to name the warship after the two marines," said Mr Teo's press secretary, Mr Yap Neng Jye.
"We initiated the phone calls to express our concerns because we value the good relations we have with Indonesia."
Mr Teo and Dr Ng conveyed Singapore's view that the bombing "was a wrong and grievous attack on civilians in Singapore resulting in deaths and injuries".
Mr Yap said: "The matter had been closed in May 1973 when then PM Lee Kuan Yew sprinkled flowers on the graves of the two marines. After this, both countries have put the issue behind us and moved on to build the close ties we now enjoy.
"The naming of the Indonesian warship after the two marines who carried out the bombing would reopen old wounds, not just among the victims and their families, but also for the Singapore public. Singaporeans would ask what message Indonesia is trying to send by naming its warship in this manner."
Mr Natalegawa made clear yesterday the ship's name would not be changed.
"Why should it be that way? It is sufficient for us to record the Singapore Government's concern," he said inside the Parliament building. "I just conveyed to the Singapore Government that we have recorded their concern and I reckoned the issue has been settled."
Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Djoko Suyanto said this was a matter on which "there can be no intervention from other countries".
Last year, there was a move to rename a street near the Marine Corps headquarters in central Jakarta Jalan Usman Harun, a change navy spokesman Untung Suropati said was imminent.
Jakarta's move 'reflects disrespect'
Two more S'pore ministers criticise naming of Indonesian Navy ship
By Leonard Lim, The Straits Times, 8 Feb 2014
Two more S'pore ministers criticise naming of Indonesian Navy ship
By Leonard Lim, The Straits Times, 8 Feb 2014
TWO Cabinet ministers with military backgrounds took issue yesterday with Indonesia's decision to name a navy ship after two marines who bombed an Orchard Road building in 1965.
In separate Facebook posts, Minister for Social and Family Development Chan Chun Sing and Acting Manpower Minister Tan Chuan-Jin said it reflected disrespect, callousness and insensitivity.
Mr Tan, a one-star general before he entered politics, wrote in a Facebook post: "It is one thing to remember your heroes from your wars of independence, or those who have built your nation.
"But it is another thing altogether when you celebrate those who had acted in a brutal and cowardly manner. There is nothing heroic about killing innocent civilians."
He also disclosed that his father had worked in MacDonald House where the bomb went off, but was on medical leave on that fateful day, March 10, 1965.
Acknowledging Indonesia's insistence on its right to name the vessel as it sees fit, he added: "But it is also our right to state categorically that this very act reflects callousness and disrespect."
Post by Tan Chuan-Jin.
Acknowledging Indonesia's insistence on its right to name the vessel as it sees fit, he added: "But it is also our right to state categorically that this very act reflects callousness and disrespect."
Mr Chan, a former chief of army, said Indonesian leaders' statements had "reflected either a lack of sensitivity, a lack of care for the bilateral ties, or both".
Bilateral relations had been carefully built up over the years, he added.
He expressed hope that the new generation of Indonesian leaders would display "similar wisdom and leadership to put the bilateral ties foremost in all that we do", like their predecessors.
Recalling his two-year stint in Jakarta as the army attache, Mr Chan added that Indonesians have shown that they are able to appreciate the "fine sensitivities of a relationship".
"I am thus disappointed with this episode. I hope the Indonesian leaders will not sacrifice our bilateral relations, so carefully built up, to domestic politics or through carelessness."
Mr Tan and Mr Chan's comments followed those of Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean, Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen and Foreign Minister K. Shanmugam on Thursday. They said naming the ship after the two men would reopen old wounds, and leave Singaporeans asking what message Indonesia was trying to send.
The bombing, which killed three people and injured 33, took place at the peak of Indonesia's Confrontation. The marines were caught and hanged in Singapore in 1968, but were given a full military burial by Jakarta.
Former senior minister of state for foreign affairs Lee Khoon Choy, too, said yesterday that the naming of the ship in honour of marines Osman Mohamed Ali and Harun Said was a "foolish" move.
"They could have named a building in Jakarta after the two. But a ship travels to other countries and if others see the names of terrorists, it can be seen as Indonesia not having given up its aggressive motives," said Mr Lee, who was Singapore's ambassador to Indonesia from 1970 to 1974.
He added that the move could also be viewed as Indonesia "still honouring terrorism".
What the two marines did was clearly an act of terror, said Nee Soon GRC MP Lim Wee Kiak, who chairs the Government Parliamentary Committee for Foreign Affairs, and academic Brian Farrell.
Referring to the Geneva Convention - which sets out the parameters of international law in conflict and seeks to protect those not taking part in hostilities - Dr Lim said that even in war, to send non-uniformed marines to another country to harm civilians is "not acceptable internationally".
He added: "You should be targeting military, rather than civilian, targets. To aim at civilian targets is not conforming to international law."
Professor Farrell, a military historian who has published extensively on the Confrontation, said the legal foundations for Singapore's execution of the men were "crystal clear" as well.
The National University of Singapore don added: "Indonesia was completely in the legal wrong to use violence against Malaysia and Singapore, in Malaysia and Singapore, without any formal declaration of war."
HEROES AND KILLERS
It is one thing to remember your heroes from your wars of independence, or those who have built your nation. But it is another thing altogether when you celebrate those who had acted in a brutal and cowardly manner. There is nothing heroic about killing innocent civilians.
CRYING CHICKEN
Let Singapore keep shrieking, like a chicken beaten by a stick.
- Golkar MP Hajriyanto Thohari, deputy chairman of the People's Consultative Assembly
Warship named 'only to honour heroes'
By Zakir Hussain and Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja, The Straits Times, 8 Feb 2014
By Zakir Hussain and Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja, The Straits Times, 8 Feb 2014
THE Indonesian Navy says its decision to name a new warship after two marines hanged for the 1965 bombing of an Orchard Road building that killed three and injured 33 was purely to honour men their nation had recognised as heroes more than 45 years ago.
"There was no other intention," chief spokesman Untung Suropati told The Straits Times yesterday, addressing concerns from Singapore over the consequences of the move.
The navy, he added, traditionally names frigates after heroes, and a committee made the decision after doing historical research and getting the approval of Defence Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro.
Reports that the new vessel would be named KRI Usman Harun saw Singapore ministers contacting their Indonesian counterparts over the past two days.
They said the move would reopen old wounds and leave Singaporeans asking what message Indonesia was trying to send.
In response, senior Indonesian officials said there would be no change to the plan to name the vessel after marines Osman Mohamed Ali and Harun Said, who were decorated after their hanging in 1968.
"The issue has been settled," Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa told reporters yesterday.
But several MPs and observers did not think so, deriding Singapore's concerns in the media.
Golkar MP Hajriyanto Thohari, deputy chairman of the People's Consultative Assembly, said Singapore's objections did not deserve a hearing because it did not know the two were national heroes.
"If need be, we should build a bigger, more sophisticated warship and name it KRI Usman Harun II," Antara News Agency reported him as saying.
"Let Singapore keep shrieking, like a chicken beaten by a stick," he added in Javanese.
International law expert Hikmahanto Juwana, from the University of Indonesia, said a soldier who dies in action is not acting on his own, but in the name of his country. He drew a comparison with how Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was criticised for visiting the Yasukuni war shrine. Mr Abe regarded those enshrined as heroes while his country's neighbours saw them as war criminals.
"If Singapore's concerns are heeded and Indonesia changes its policies, then names like Prince Diponegoro, Sultan Hasanuddin, I Gusti Ngurah Rai and many more should not be used as the names of universities or airports in Indonesia, because the Dutch might be offended and raise concerns next," he said, citing well-known heroes who fought against Dutch colonial forces.
Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Djoko Suyanto had said on Thursday: "The Indonesian Navy has the authority and had considered in a mature way the paying of tribute to its heroes, so they are immortalised on a number of Indonesian warships."
Indonesian Democratic Party- Struggle MP Eva Kusuma Sundari told The Straits Times that the two marines remained Indonesia's heroes, and that both sides should look ahead, not backwards.
Indonesian MPs, officers dismiss S'pore's objections
By Zakir Hussain And Tham Yuen-c, The Straits Times, 7 Feb 2014
By Zakir Hussain And Tham Yuen-c, The Straits Times, 7 Feb 2014
SINGAPORE'S objections to the naming of a new Indonesian naval frigate KRI Usman Harun were widely reported online in Indonesia, but brushed off by officers in the Indonesian military and MPs, who said a change of heart would imply weakness.
Indonesian Navy spokesman First Admiral Untung Suropati told Tempo.co news website: "They can go ahead and object - we are convinced the marines are heroes who should be emulated."
Indonesian Democratic Party- Struggle (PDI-P) MP Tubagus Hasanuddin told reporters that the government should reject any effort to rename the ship.
"Don't be weak. If we change, it means downgrading Usman and Harun to non-hero status," the former major-general said. "It means we bend to Singapore's will. To me, that is not right."
Dr Terence Lee of the National University of Singapore said that from Indonesia's point of view, "it's perfectly all right and normal to name ships after heroes of the nation".
The marines were made heroes and buried at the Kalibata Heroes Cemetery in South Jakarta after their execution.
Associate Professor Leonard Sebastian, who coordinates the Indonesia programme at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, said bilateral ties would not be affected.
"Both sides know what the issues are," he said.
In Singapore's view, he said, the marines committed a heinous act, and were tried and executed according to the law for acts of terrorism against non-combatants.
The Indonesians, he said, considered themselves at war with Malaysia at the time because of the Confrontation, and the marines were carrying out what they considered their duty.
He said: "In that regard, Indonesia named the ship in honour of soldiers considered heroes in doing their duty."
Assoc Prof Sebastian feels the two sides will agree to disagree and move on. "All countries have different interpretations of history - the issue is how well it is managed between the two countries," he said.
Assoc Prof Sebastian feels the two sides will agree to disagree and move on. "All countries have different interpretations of history - the issue is how well it is managed between the two countries," he said.
Singaporeans criticised the naming of the ship as insensitive and unfriendly.
As one netizen pointed out: "We do hope they reconsider their choices - imagine when we have joint naval exercises, and these ships are involved."
But some felt both countries had valid viewpoints.
Netizen Keehan Tey wrote on The Straits Times website: "They were lowly soldiers acting under orders and died for their country. It is for Indonesia to honour them... Obviously, Singapore and Indonesia have different views about the significance of the Confrontation."
Some urged fellow Singaporeans to take things in perspective, noting that the two countries now enjoy good relations.
MacDonald House blast: 3 dead, 33 injured, but bombers treated as heroes in Indonesia
By Ong Sor Fern, The Straits Times, 7 Feb 2014
By Ong Sor Fern, The Straits Times, 7 Feb 2014
Indonesia's then president Sukarno had opposed the formation of Malaysia, which Singapore was part of from September 1963 to August 1965, as a puppet state of the British.
Jakarta's armed opposition led it to launch several low-level conflicts across Malaysia and Singapore during that period. In Singapore, Indonesian saboteurs set off a total of 37 bombs, the worst of which happened in Orchard Road, where MacDonald House was located.
The incident is making the headlines again because Indonesia has named a navy ship after the two men responsible for the attack.
The bombing occurred at 3.07pm on March 10, 1965, when an 11kg package of nitroglycerine planted on the mezzanine floor was set off. The explosion was so powerful that all the windows in buildings within a 100m radius were shattered.
Three people died and 33 people were injured. Mother of six Elizabeth Suzie Choo Kway Hoi - 36 and a private secretary to the manager of the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank - and Juliet Goh Hwee Kuang, 23 and an only child, were killed in the blast. Victim Mohammed Yasin Kesit, 45, remained in a coma and died later in hospital, leaving a widow and eight children.
Two Indonesian marines, Osman Mohamed Ali, 25, and Harun Said, 21, were charged on March 16 over the bombing and hanged in Changi jail on Oct 17,
1968. They were conferred the status of national heroes and given a ceremonial funeral at the Kalibata Heroes Cemetery in South Jakarta.
Indonesia's aggressive policy of confrontation was formally abandoned in August 1966, though it had ended earlier in October 1965 when Sukarno was overthrown.
I was shocked to hear about the naming of warship: Daughter of victim
Mother’s death in attack left her and five siblings orphans; but she had considered the matter closed till now
By Lin Yanqin, TODAY, 8 Feb 2014
Mother’s death in attack left her and five siblings orphans; but she had considered the matter closed till now
By Lin Yanqin, TODAY, 8 Feb 2014
Held in remand by the police for their roles in the 1965 MacDonald House bombing, Indonesian marines Usman Hj Mohd Ali and Harun Said had asked to see Ms Janet Ng Lin Seong, whose mother Elizabeth Suzie Choo was one of three killed in the attack, making her and her five siblings orphans overnight. She refused to see them. “I didn’t want to see them because it was too painful,” said Ms Ng, who was 20 at the time of the bombing and the eldest child.
Nevertheless, on Oct 17, 1968, when the two marines were to be hanged, she forgave them after they asked for her forgiveness. She felt they knew they had done something wrong. She even asked the police if they could be released.
But she was reminded of the hurt earlier this week when news broke that the Indonesian government had named a warship after the two marines.
Speaking to TODAY over the phone from Australia where she was visiting her family, Ms Ng, now 69, said she had considered the chapter closed and was shocked by the news.
“Innocent lives were lost … six of us were made orphans overnight. We lost our mother, the only supporter of the family. It was very painful for us and it is still painful whenever we pass MacDonald House,” said Ms Ng, whose parents were separated.
“The two men asked for forgiveness and I had given (it) before they were executed. It is part of history and we have learned from it. The good relationship (between Singapore and Indonesia) should be maintained. It should not be brought up to remind us again.”
The bombing on March 10, 1965 of the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank Building, known as MacDonald House, was the worst attack in Singapore during Konfrontasi, which took place from 1963 to 1966.
Apart from Ms Ng’s mother, who was then 36 and working as the secretary to the bank manager, the attack killed her mother’s assistant Juliet Goh Hwee Kuang, 23, and Mohammed Yasin Kesit, 45 — and wounded more than 30 others.
The Indonesian marines were members of the special force that infiltrated Singapore. They were later conferred the status of national heroes in Indonesia and given a ceremonial funeral.
Indonesia’s policy of confrontation was formally abandoned in August 1966. Bilateral relations were restored in 1973 after Singapore’s then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew sprinkled flowers on the graves of the two men.
Ms Ng, who has two children and four grandchildren, remembers the day of the bombing vividly.
Then a student at the Teachers’ Training College, she was in a teaching practical when a phone call informed her that her mother had been in an accident.
Her dread turned to horror at the hospital when she saw a figure covered in a white sheet. “They lifted the sheet ... I fainted at the table,” said Ms Ng.
Her siblings were schooling at the time. Ms Ng said the family coped with support from the bank which provided them with an allowance, while she supplemented the family income by giving private tuition.
Today, whenever she passes MacDonald House with her grandchildren, she would point out to them that the place was where their great-grandmother died and tell them about the attack.
“It was a shock (to hear about the naming of the warship),” she said. “I thought it was over.”
She added: “Why did they want to bring it up again after so long? Why did they want to do it, to bring back the pain to all three families again? I wish that the whole subject is closed, and I want to thank the (Singapore) Government for trying to stop the whole issue.”
Mr Kenny Yeo, who is in his 70s, was left blind in one eye after he was injured in the bomb blast. He required more than 300 stitches all over his body. However, he just wants to move on. “I am angry, but since this is an event of the past, we should just forgive. If they want to provoke us, just let them,” said Mr Yeo.
Mr Lee Khoon Choy served as Singapore’s Ambassador to Indonesia between 1970 and 1974, and was tasked to help mend bilateral ties.
He said: “I feel that once Mr Lee Kuan Yew had put the flowers (on the marines’ graves), the matter is settled. You should not take it out again. They’re already in heroes’ graves.”
Worst of 37 attacks by Indonesian saboteurs here
The Straits Times, 8 Feb 2014
The Straits Times, 8 Feb 2014
Three people died and 33 people were injured, in the worst of 37 attacks in Singapore by Indonesian saboteurs.
Indonesia's then President Sukarno opposed the formation of Malaysia, which had included Singapore. Jakarta launched several low-level conflicts across Malaysia and Singapore.
Two Indonesian marines, Osman Mohamed Ali, 25, and Harun Said, 21, were charged with the MacDonald House bombing and hanged in Changi jail in 1968.
They were conferred national hero status by Indonesia and given a full military funeral in South Jakarta.
Indonesia's aggressive policy of confrontation ended in October 1965, when President Sukarno was overthrown.
This week, Indonesia's Kompas newspaper reported that a new British-made frigate would be named after the two men, in line with the practice of naming ships after heroes.
On Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean and Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen joined Foreign Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam in urging Indonesia to re-consider, as naming the ship after the men would reopen old wounds and leave Singaporeans asking what message Indonesia was trying to send.
But Indonesian leaders said the marines were heroes, and there would be no change of plans in naming the ship KRI Usman Harun.
KRI Usman Harun not welcome in Singapore waters
By David Boey, Published The Straits Times, 8 Feb 2014
By David Boey, Published The Straits Times, 8 Feb 2014
The 90m-long warship should not be welcome in Singapore territorial waters, as the so-named man-of-war would tear open old wounds sustained during a violent time in our bilateral relations.
While ties are presently warm and friendly, the passage of KRI Usman Harun in Singapore's waters will inevitably turn the spotlight on the campaign of urban terrorism Indonesia unleashed against our island-nation during an undeclared war which history records euphemistically as the Confrontation.
The choice of name would also ignite debate on what constitutes a "hero".
If the March 1965 attack on MacDonald House by the two Indonesian marines was staged in today's context, it would be clearly and unambiguously defined as urban terror, and elicit the same degree of condemnation, odium and disgust civilised people feel towards war waged against unarmed civilians by saboteurs who flee once their sinister deed has been triggered.
In essence, the bombing of MacDonald House by KRI Usman Harun's namesakes was carried out in that unseemly fashion. As soldiers, they obeyed their mission orders faithfully. This defence - that they were merely following orders - is the same smokescreen combatants brought to justice for crimes against humanity have hoisted to explain away or soothe over misdeeds like attacks on civilians.
As fate decreed, Singapore police caught the duo after an islandwide manhunt. The Indonesian saboteurs, Osman Mohamed Ali and Harun Said, were tried and convicted for murder and hanged in Changi prison in October 1968.
Executed as murderers in the Lion City, the dead marines were feted as heroes when their bodies were returned to Indonesia. News of their deaths angered Indonesian mobs, which sacked the Singapore Embassy in Jakarta.
Alas, if you thought Singapore has put this regrettable episode in our bilateral ties behind us and moved on, the past caught up with us this week.
So, while the vast majority of Singaporeans - youth and adults - would likely think of the fast-food chain upon hearing the word "MacDonald" in spoken form, we all received a refresher on our country's birth pangs when the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) shared its thoughts on the matter.
In response to media queries on Indonesian press reports on the naming of a warship as KRI Usman Harun, an MFA spokesman said: "The two Indonesian marines were found guilty of the bombing which killed three people and injured 33 others. Singapore had considered this difficult chapter in the bilateral relationship closed in May 1973 when then PM Lee Kuan Yew visited and scattered flowers on the graves of the two marines.
"Minister for Foreign Affairs K. Shanmugam spoke to Indonesian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dr Marty Natalegawa, to register Singapore's concerns over the naming of the navy ship and the impact this would have on the feelings of Singaporeans, especially the families of the victims."
Three Singapore ministers have weighed in on this issue, underscoring the gravity of the matter. On Wednesday, Mr Shanmugam registered his concerns with his Indonesian counterpart. This was followed on Thursday with calls made by Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean and Minister for Defence Ng Eng Hen to their Indonesian counterparts to reinforce the point made by Mr Shanmugam.
We in Singapore should never forget the pain, the sorrow and the bloodletting, so senseless and indiscriminate, that the string of urban terror attacks inflicted upon countless Singaporean families during the Confrontation.
Attacks against civilians are a heinous act of war that no military should be proud of, a dishonourable blemish, a smear on the operational record of any self-respecting armed forces, a cowardly hit-and-run affair unworthy of hero worship.
That tainted record will be shouted out resoundingly at every foreign port of call, reminding foreigners both of the namesakes' dark deeds and Singapore's swift and decisive response to terrorism.
That tainted record will be shouted out resoundingly at every foreign port of call, reminding foreigners both of the namesakes' dark deeds and Singapore's swift and decisive response to terrorism.
The KRI Usman Harun episode is a teachable moment for Singaporeans. It is another update to our National Education library from a country which coined the popular catchphrase "little red dot", a reminder of how the sensibilities and sensitivities of our small island-nation can be brushed aside by mindsets that see themselves as the strong armed cukong (power broker), the dominant entity in an imagined abang-adik (big brother-small brother) relationship rather than one where neighbouring states are viewed as equal, sovereign entities.
Singapore should tag KRI Usman Harun as a contact of interest as the warship is due to enter service later this year.
Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) warships should politely decline any passage exercises with this vessel, as joint training with it would be a flirtation with a hull that fetes saboteurs who drew civilian blood on our soil.
Singapore's warships should never come alongside that ship, be it for a heaving line transfer or courtesy call on its deck. Imagine the odd and unfortunate picture of RSN officers dining in the wardroom of that ship with portraits of its dead namesakes staring down on the assembled ranks.
The RSN should further make it clear that that name plate will not be welcome within its naval bases, whether as part of the Exercise Eagle war games or naval shows like Imdex.
It is well within the sovereign rights of nations to call their warships anything they want.
It is also well within Singapore's sovereign right to decline the passage of men-of-war whose presence would reopen old wounds, whose show of flag would inflame and provoke anger and stoke memories of a deadly act of terrorism for which the authors paid with their lives.
A former Straits Times defence correspondent, David Boey blogs on defence issues at kementah.blogspot.sg and is a member of the Advisory Council on Community Relations in Defence
The diplomatic row between Indonesia and Singapore is unfortunate and could have been avoided if we had been a little more sensitive toward our neighbor.
Singapore has formally protested Jakarta’s decision to name a new corvette after two marines who planted a bomb, killing three people in the city state five decades ago, at the height of the Indonesia’s “Confrontation” war with the newly independent Malaya, which then included Singapore.
In 1968, Singapore executed the two men, Second Sgt. Usman and Second Cpl. Harun, in spite of Jakarta’s pleas for clemency. Relations between the two countries were only patched up when then-Singapore prime minister Lee Kuan Yew visited Jakarta in 1973 and paid his respects at the two men’s graves in Jakarta’s Kalibata Heroes Cemetery.
Since then, both countries have managed to put the issue behind them and forge close, warm and mutually beneficial ties, bilaterally as well as through ASEAN.
Until this week, that is.
Singapore says naming the corvette Usman-Harun hurt the feelings of Singaporeans, particularly relatives of the victims.
Indonesia balked at the protest, with Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Djoko Suyanto saying the government would not back off and stressed that no outsiders had the right to interfere in such decisions. Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa diplomatically said Indonesia had taken note of Singapore’s concerns, and that was considered enough.
Indonesia will unlikely reverse its decision due to a protest from its tiny, “red-dot” neighbor. A review or an apology would have been lauded as a stately gesture, but that is not liable to happen while nationalist sentiment is reaching fever pitch in Indonesia in this election year.
Will our relations with return to normal? Yes, but not necessarily soon. We should at least draw an important lesson from this episode.
Indonesia often accuses its neighbors of a lack of sensitivity toward our feelings. Officials and politicians, helped by the media, do not hesitate to raise hell and mobilize public opinion, scoring a few political points along the way, by lashing out at foreign countries for their perceived insensitivity.
The decision to name this naval ship must surely have been the result of lengthy deliberations, and those involved must have known that this would upset Singapore. They could have picked from the thousands of other names of people buried in heroes cemeteries scattered across the country but instead, they chose these two.
In the future, can we be more sensitive?