Why Do Singapore's Third World Neighbors Bash it? Because it is Easy

Let's all bash Singapore


The rich little place that the others love to hate

SINGAPORE won South-East Asia's football championship on February 4th in a final against Thailand that was mostly peaceful, despite a bad-tempered first leg in which the Thais stomped off the pitch and sulked for 15 minutes. The players were doing no more than imitate their military-run government, which has been in a strop with Singapore since Singapore's deputy prime minister met Thaksin Shinawatra, the deposed Thai leader, last month. In protest, top-level meetings with Singaporean officials were cancelled. General Sonthi Boonyaratglin, the Thai junta's leader, accused Singapore of spying on Thailand, using the telecoms business it bought last year from Mr Thaksin's family. He told his soldiers to stop using their mobiles and go back to walkie-talkies.

Despite 40 years of expressing fraternal warmth at meetings of the Association of South-East Asian Nations, the region's leaders never miss an opportunity to pick a fight with Singapore. In recent years, Singaporean firms, many of them state-backed, have bought businesses across the region, providing cause for paranoia. Indonesian parliamentarians claimed this month that their military secrets were also at risk because the Singaporeans had bought into a local satellite firm.

Even sand is a matter of national security. On February 6th, an Indonesian ban on sand exports came into force, following a similar move by Malaysia some years ago. Singapore buys the sand to reclaim land from the sea and increase its puny terrain. Indonesia's official reason for the ban was to stop the environmental damage caused by sand mining. But a senior navy man let slip that it was motivated by various diplomatic spats with Singapore. The Indonesian navy has now sent no fewer than eight warships to its maritime border with Singapore to intercept suspected sand-smugglers. At the same time, the Indonesian sand-shovellers' association, facing unemployment, is threatening to sue the government over the ban.

The Malaysians, always up for a row with their estranged ex-spouse (Singapore and Malaysia were in a brief, unhappy union in the 1960s), are blaming their recent floods on Singapore's land reclamation. Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysia's disgruntled former prime minister, has sought to undermine his successor, Abdullah Badawi, by accusing him of secretly negotiating with the Singaporeans to lift the sand ban. Mr Mahathir also added his voice to the Thai junta's attacks on the Singaporeans: “You'll get nowhere with them either being nice or being tough, they only think of themselves,” he said on Thai television.

There is always a plausible-sounding reason for the fights that Singapore's neighbours pick with it. The Singaporeans' kiasu (win at all costs) negotiating style does them few favours in a region where saving face is important. But it is hard to avoid the suspicion that the little country's unforgivable offence is being richer and more successful than its neighbours, and not particularly apologetic about it.

Some 400 protest against the lease of Udon Thani military airport to Singapore

Udon Thani - Some 400 people Friday morning protested at the Udon Thani Military Airport, demanding the government to cancel its contract with Singapore, which allowed the island state to use the airport for military training.

The contract was signed by the Thaksin government in 2004 for Singapore to use the airport for 15 years.

Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont said his government had not yet discussed the issue but would have to take into account relations with Singapore and other Asean countries before making any decision.

The Nation