Wisma Putra summons Singapore envoy over WikiLeaks’ expose
By The Malaysian Insider
Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman today handed over a protest letter to Singapore envoy T. Jasudasen expressing unhappiness over recently leaked private comments made by the island republic’s senior officials on Malaysian politics.
The Foreign Minister also conveyed Malaysia’s deep concern and displeasure over the comments as revealed by WikiLeaks and subsequently reported in the media, according to a statement issued Tuesday.
Anifah Aman (picture) told reporters this afternoon that the Malaysian government had recorded its protest in a letter this morning to the Singapore High Commissioner.
The remarks made by Singapore’s senior government officials and aired in the whistleblower website had been “uncalled-for and unjustifiable”, he said.
“I called the High Commissioner to my office this morning, I summoned him to my office, and handed over the letter of protest. I also explained our concern and displeasure towards what was leaked in WikiLeaks,” he added.
In their remarks, the Singapore officials had reportedly said “Malaysia’s decline” was fuelled by incompetent politicians. These officials were also less than complimentary about Malaysia’s prime ministers, past and present, with one of them calling Najib “an opportunist”.
But Anifah rubbished the remarks and pointed out that there was a vast difference between running a country like Singapore and Malaysia.
“As an MP, when I go down to the ground, some requests I get from the people is quite out of this world. Like in one village with five homes, there is a highway there and yet they asked me to build a bridge for them.
“I told them I cannot build such a bridge but I can build it in a different way. You may laugh but it is true.
“If I were to air the views of the electorate… Singapore would probably say – What is this?” he said.
Anifah reiterated that it running a city-state like Singapore was different from running a country like Malaysia.
“They do not have rural folks… Pehaps they face the same problems that what do. So what is this ‘incompetency’? Does it refer to how we run our country?” he said.
Malaysia’s move came after a day after Datuk Seri Najib Razak yesterday told Malaysians to ignore contemptuous regional neighbours and focus on achieving the country’s goals instead, in his first public comments about a WikiLeaks expose of diplomatic chatter from Singapore.
“We can show to our neighbours, that although sometimes they make disparaging remarks about us, that Malaysians can actually achieve,” Najib said in a speech at the 1 MCA Medical Foundation fund-raising dinner last night.
Singapore has also adopted the same tone but did not deny the comments were made by its senior officials.
“These relationships are built on a strong foundation of shared interests and mutually beneficial co-operation in many areas,” said a foreign ministry spokesman from the Lion City.
“Singapore has long-standing, robust and positive relationships with all countries in our region,” the spokesman said, adding countries based relationships on their own interests and “not hearsay or gossip”.
PKR officials had earlier asked Jasudasen, the Singapore High Commissioner to Malaysia, to clarify the remarks made by the officials in 2008 and 2009.
Whistleblower WikiLeaks had on Sunday made available diplomatic cables disclose discussions between senior US officials and their Singapore counterparts Peter Ho, Bilahari Kausikan and Tommy Koh. The contents of the cables were published by Australian newspaper The Sunday Age.
All three Singaporeans gave damning assessments of Malaysia. The discussions between the Singaporean and US officials took place in 2008 and 2009.
The trio had reportedly said “Malaysia’s decline” was fuelled by incompetent politicians.
These officials were also less than complimentary about Malaysia’s prime ministers, past and present, with one of them calling Najib “an opportunist”.
In September 2008, Kausikan, a senior foreign affairs official, told the US Deputy Secretary of Defense for East Asia David Sedney that the “situation in neighbouring Malaysia is confused and dangerous”, fuelled by “a distinct possibility of racial conflict” that could see ethnic Chinese “flee” Malaysia and “overwhelm” Singapore.
“A lack of competent leadership is a real problem for Malaysia,” said Kausikan, citing the need for Datuk Seri Najib Razak to prevail politically in order to avoid prosecution in connection with the murder of Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu.
“Najib has his neck on the line in connection with a high-profile murder case,” noted Kausikan.
A few months earlier, Peter Ho told another US official: “The political knives will be out for Abdullah (Ahmad Badawi’s) son-in-law, Khairy Jamaluddin, whom nobody likes because he got where he is through family ties…”
Khairy is now the Umno Youth chief but has not been given an administrative post in Najib’s government despite being seen as one of the shrewder politicians in the country.
