Grats to the Lions for winning the Asean Cup at the Supachalasai Stadium yesterday! An exciting match; the man of the moment IMHO was Lionel Lewis with 2 spectacular saves, without which, Kairul Amri’s venomous shot would have been for naught.
But onto a more serious note…
It has been an interesting 2 weeks of regional development, first kicked off by Thailand’s ruling junta that Singapore, via its overseas stake in AIS, can and are snooping on the Thais’ secure communications. Without dwelling too much on the issue, it was clear that the Thais were sending a strong signal, not surprisingly hot on the heels of Thaksin’s visit to Singapore.
Shortly after, Indonesia bans all sale of sand to anyone. Shockingly an admission by a vice-admiral linked the ban to bilateral ties with Singapore, mirroring a similar ban in 2003.
Then Malaysia swings into the fray, fingering Singapore as the cause for Johore’s flooding, that reclamation efforts in the nearby Singaporean islands resulted in a slowdown in the overflow of rainwater into the Johore Strait, well at least according to Utusan, a Malaysian newspaper.
It’s strange that Singapore’s regional “partners” have come out swinging at her in unison. In politics and diplomacy, both are games of reparte and give and take. Most of the time deals are bargained by perceptions of win-win; how much win-win can be bluffed depends entirely on the skill of the diplomat.
However, in all conducts of trade so to speak, such talks are tempered by a pinch of humility, unless if you’re a global superpower which Singapore obviously isn’t. As she is regarded as a minnow in the region, it is prudent that she at times behaves like one, even if she punches way above her weight. Of late, the region has been attempting what appears to “beatdowns”, attempts by big brothers to put someone in its place as cited in the above paragraphs. There must be a reason for it.
For fun? Unlikely unless we’re talking about newb politicians, perhaps in the Thais’ case. It would an unlikely case for the Indonesians. Possibly it has been a case of both parties, where Singapore has been of late rubbing our regional friends the wrong way. Perhaps as a cautionary tale Singapore ought to conduct its business with more tact?
Could hubris have gotten the better of Singapore, where she has of late weathered global events far better than most in the region and, despite its size achieved quite a far bit more as well? It has been such that her domestic politics have been of the “suck it up” variety. Woe be to Singapore if she thinks that attitude while workable against its docile populace, will work in a regional arena, much less a global one.
