EDITORIAL : THE JAKARTA POST, INDONESIA

 

 

Seeking a solid ASEAN defense

 

The 5th ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting (ADMM), the highest defense mechanism within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, will officially commence today. The two-day annual event is scheduled to discuss and exchange views on current defense and security issues as well as the challenges faced by ASEAN’s 10 member states.

Bringing together the 10 ASEAN member states, which are socio-culturally unique (although many share similar traditions because they are neighbors), is no easy task. One of the main obstacles in establishing a strong and united ASEAN, an association formed on Aug. 8, 1967, are the prolonged border disputes between its members. Almost none of the members are free from territorial problems with their neighbors.

One of the hot current issues in the region is none other than the Thailand-Cambodia border dispute. The conflict began in June 2008 and is the latest round of a century-old dispute between Cambodia and Thailand involving the area surrounding the 11th-century Preah Vihear Temple, located between the Choam Khsant district in Cambodia’s Preah Vihear province and the Kantharalak district in Thailand’s Sisaket province.

Another conflict is the on-and-off border disputes between Indonesia and Malaysia. After the Sipadan-Ligitan dispute was settled in December 2002 following the issuance of a ruling by the International Court of Justice (which stipulated that both islands belonged to Malaysia), the two neighbors continued to disagree over a number of border regions, the Ambalat Block being the most recent.

Last is the multilateral dispute over the Spratlys — a group of more than 750 reefs, islets, atolls, cays and islands in the South China Sea between Vietnam, the Philippines, China, Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam. About 45 islands are occupied by relatively small numbers of military forces from Vietnam, the People’s Republic of China, the People’s Republic of China (Taiwan), Malaysia and the Philippines. Brunei has also claimed an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the southeastern part of the Spratlys, encompassing just one area of small islands above mean high water level (on Louisa Reef).

The Thailand and Cambodia border dispute has been intensively discussed at forums within ASEAN, with Indonesia as the current ASEAN Chair taking the initiative to facilitate talks between the two neighbors. Still, there has been no significant progress in this area. Such border disputes, if unsettled properly and in a timely manner, will have significant impacts on the sustainability and success of the already approved agreement to develop the ASEAN Community by 2015.

There are a number of defense and security issues to be discussed at the two-day meeting, including an agreement to strengthen regional defense and security cooperation, to reaffirm a commitment to implement the Declaration of Conduct (DOC), and to work towards the adoption of a COC (Code of Conduct) in the South China Sea.

But above all the urgent tasks, a commitment to settling border problems should be at top of the priorities of ASEAN member states, lest these talks be fruitless and become a mere forum of symbolic diplomacy.

 

Out of the LKY shadow

 

It was bound to happen, sooner or later. In the case of Singapore, so, so much later. The announcement by Lee Kuan Yew (LKY) to give up his post as mentor minister signals he is letting go of the nation he singlehandedly transformed from a backwater British colonial post in Southeast Asia into a wealthy state; first as prime minister from 1959-1990, and later in different, but powerful, capacities in the Cabinet.

After 52 years, Singapore is no longer a baby. It is a nation that is so wealthy that some might say it is probably running too well. The recent general election, however, also shows creeping signs of LKY-fatigue. Lee’s style of strict discipline in raising Singapore may have served the nation very well over the last five decades, but it is increasingly seen by the younger generation today as simply outdated.

The Internet, like it or not, has widened the corridors for freedom of expression that Lee once personally derided. The raging debate in the social media, with many criticizing the government’s failings, would have been unthinkable a few years ago. The election, which saw the People’s Action Party (PAP) winning 60 percent of the votes, down from 67 percent in 2006 and 75 percent in 2001, indicated that Singaporeans want change.

At 87, Lee remains analytically sharp and correctly reads the election figures — not so much as a vote for the opposition, but as a vote against the PAP’s old ways. Lest he step out, he would be seen as part of Singapore’s problems. He may no longer be part of the solution, either. At the very least, however, he should not be an obstruction.

Let Singaporeans — whether under the rule of the PAP or not — decide on their own. They will determine their future in the way they see fit.

LKY’s omnipresence in the Cabinet after 2001 may have given protective shade at the beginning, but his shadow is now starting to impair the vision of Singapore’s future.

Even after emerging from the LKY shadow, it will be hard for Singapore to step out and move on beyond his legacy. He may have had his shortcomings, and historians may chide his style of rule, but there is no denying that Singapore owes its status as a strongly-disciplined, highly-entrepreneurial and wealthy island state today to that grand old man.

When he does leave the Cabinet, he will be bidding adieu, but not good bye.