10/08/2006
when your neighbour decides to poison you
When your neighbour started to do his/her cooking outside the house or flat, or when they decided to smoke outside, and let all the smell, smoke, ashes into your home, what shall you do?
When after reminders and reminders of the health risks that your neighbour is subjecting you and your family to, and all your neighbour says is that he/she has done its best. Nothing else can be done and the smoke, smell and ashes will still get into your home and you just have to live with it....
Bring in George Bush. ASEAN needs a George Bush to mean business when your neighbour only cares about his/her own selfish interest. ASEAN need to have a strike force and move into Indonesia, whether it likes it or not, and douse out the fire.
In times like this, George Bush is a most welcome hero.
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24 comments:
Shows hom impotent Singapore is, doesn't it ? There are some things that are beyond the control of the PAP.
This is just karma in action. What goes around comes around. Singapore should try to be agood neighbour herself before exhorting others to be as well.
being good neighbours is more than just words. actions speak louder. even the malaysian govt is pissed off by the inaction of the indon govt.
Exactly. We should ask ourselves honestly whether our recent actions have been that of a good neighbour.
if you are referring to lky's comment, that was unnecessary. but singapore has done so much for indonesia without saying anything. infact we are their benefactor for many many years. it is our acts, the things we did for indonesia, the money we lend to them that made us a valued friend. no country has done so much for indonesia if measured by size. this little red dot has done far more things than any big country in the world for indon.
but of course they took it for granted that we owed them a living. if that is what you think we are a bad neighbour. even the haze that could actually kill us, we are so compliant as not to complain, unlike malaysia.
What about the things that Singapore has not done ? Like sign an extradition treaty with them so they can begin the process of extraditing all the corrupt businessmen who are taking refuge in Singapore. The private banking system in Singapore is flushed with all the money illegally siphoned off from Indonesia. What Singapore has contributed, say to the tsunami relief effort or other causes pales in comparison.
i think the issue is the different legal systems. singapore has a british system while the indons has a system that is a bit kangaroo and a bit primeval. until the two systems get nearer to meet international requirements for transparency and legality, singapore cannot agree on that.
That is just a convenient excuse that is already sounding like a broken record. Australia has an extradition treaty with Indonesia. So, going by your logic, I suppose Australia's legal system is primeval too. The real rea$on why Singapore is hesitant is an open secret not even worth mentioning anymore.
not really. singapore is not australia. even with an extradition agreement with australia, the australians can set terms for us to comply or else. and after complying, if we change our mind, we will be under a lot of pressure from the australians. the australians can do that to the indons.
if we have such an agreement with the indons, we too have to comply. but the indons can choose not to abide by any agreements and we will only look LL or silly when they ignore whatever that was agreed upon.
you don't agree with an unpredictable mammoth unless you know that the mammoth will honour what it says.
Let's face it, if the will is there no hurdles are insurmountable. The issue at hand is that the government of Singapore does not want this treaty because it will jeopardise Singapore's position as the magnet for dirty money from dodgy Indonesians. The Indonesians know this. So Singapore got what it deserved with the annual haze. Afterall, if Singapore wants to drag its feet and ignore an issue that's important to the Indomesians, then the Indonesians can also ignore the plight of Singapore wrt the yearly haze. It's called Quid pro quo.
just look at the haze issue. 7 of the 10 asean nations have ratified the agreement and indonesia is one of the 3 that refused to sign. when other people choose to play by different rules, it is not to our advantage to sign an extraditing treaty.
it is so easy to drum up all kinds of charges against anyone in a kangaroo court. we will be so busy repatriating all the indonesians, innocent of otherwise, back to indonesia. it will be a case of guilty till proven innocent.
i don't think we can agree to that.
"i don't think we can agree to that."
Good. So, until our government agrees to it, we should all quit bitching and just enjoy the yearly haze.
it is fortunate that the haze is not only our problem. malaysia is hopping mad. and before singaporeans start dropping down one by one on the streets, the first to drop will be indonesians themselves, follows by the malaysians.
So what if it affects Malaysia too ? No one in ASEAN dares to stand up to Indonesia. They'll go on clearing forests for the next 50 years I tell you and there's nothing anyone in the region can do.
this one i respect. malaysia is standing up to the indons by telling them to do something to the haze and that the malaysians are feeling a lot of resentment against the indons.
Haha, just issuing statements through the media is standing up ? That's absolute bullshit. Standing up is calling the Indonesian Ambassador in and giving him a dressing down, or better still recall Malaysia's ambassador to Indonesia till the haze blows over. No country in ASEAN has the guts to do such a thing. Talking cock is standing up.
Sorry meant to say that talking cock is NOT standing up.
you are quite right actually. the malaysian protest actually came from dap and not umno. what is dap when it was so afraid to protest over the marginalising issue which it agrees and take to the street on a safer issue like the haze.
it will be more meaningful if umno or umno youth takes up the protest.
PAP has no guts to do it either.
well you said it too early. the news reported that hsien loong had written to yudhoyono that he was disappointed with the indonesian govt's action to stop the haze.
and yudhoyono has apologised and promised to take immediate actions.
the haze apart, we are seeing three very civil and sincere leaders in indonesia, malaysia and singapore who are prepared to say sorry and accept the apologies and move on to get things done. this is very promising for interstate relationship.
ROTFL. Writing letter is considered standing up to Indonesia ? So SBY said sorry. What else is new ? Did we expect him to say anything else ? They've said sorry in the past, and yet it still happens every year and I can say with almost 100% certainty this charade will repeat next year. Really nothing to crow about.
in my view, yudhoyono is a professional and rational man and the best man to come to the fore in indonesia. it is not easy for someone like him to get immediate result the democratic way unless he wants to be another suharto and twist everyone's arm if they refuse to take orders.
yudhoyono comes out as a man who wants to get things going, a gentleman leader, soft spoken but task oriented. given time he will get things done.
and there is no need to shout and thump your chest when talking to another sensible man. you only shout at kampong boys. a cool and measured letter is all it needs to get the message across and well received.
Our PM is a sissy. It's now apparent for the world to see. He didn't even have the guts to give SBY a call. So much for being an ex-general.
i think it takes a lot of nerves to write to another head of govt to complain that you are disappointed. you just would not know in what form the reply will come back.
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