Singapore Government Press Release
Media Relations Division, Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts,
MITA Building, 140 Hill Street, 2nd Storey, Singapore 179369
Tel: 6837-9666

I had a very good discussion with President Megawati. We discussed a range of issues – first the cooperation between Indonesia and Singapore in the economic field as well as in the security field. We agree that the link between security and economic development is fundamental. Without security, there cannot be any economic development. And we should strengthen such cooperation. I also expressed my thanks to the President for the very good cooperation between our two governments, in the area of transnational crimes as well as the fight against terrorism. Two areas which we discussed in particular were cooperation in maritime security - a rise in the number of piracy attacks in the Straits of Malacca as well as the seas around Indonesia is of concern to all of us because so much of trade passes through these sea lines of communications. Aviation security is also another area which we discussed. With the President and the discussion which I had yesterday with Bambang, on how to improve cooperation in these two areas. Finally, we discussed the strengthening of cooperation in ASEAN, building on the concept of the ASEAN security community which the leaders proposed in Bali in October, to complement the ASEAN economic committee. All of us are happy with the enhanced cooperation between the countries in ASEAN and Singapore will do its best to work with Indonesia to strengthen the cooperation not only between our two countries but also among the counties in ASEAN

We discussed that these other bilateral issues should be pursued actively and Singapore is looking into the matter together with our counterparts in the Indonesian government and we will resolve these bilateral issues expeditiously.

I would characterise relations between Singapore and Indonesia as excellent. We have a very good understanding. There is easy communication at all levels – from the heads of government, to our officials to ministers. Whenever there is a problem, we can discuss and resolve it, whether it is a bilateral issue or whether it is a multilateral issue. And we see many of the issues in the same way. I’m particularly happy with the cooperation in the security and defence field. This has been traditionally very strong, but over the last three years, particularly in the fight against terrorism, we are facing common problems. We know that neither Indonesia or Singapore can solve this problem alone. We have to cooperate and we will do so.

I don’t think that they will affect bilateral relations. Singapore is anxious to resolve these bilateral issues and we have established the joint cooperation council between Indonesia and Singapore and they will attend to these matters.

 Q: Lastly, how would you describe President Megawati’s spirits ahead of the general election next year?

She looks very well and I think she is in very good spirits. I’m sure that she will be in good form for the presidential elections and the parliamentary elections next year.

 Q: In the piracy issue, what steps will be taken by the two countries?

We will work off on a bilateral basis between Indonesia and Singapore. For example, the Indonesia-Singapore coordinated patrols have been very successful in preventing acts of piracy in the waters between Indonesia and Singapore. We will also cooperate together on a multilateral basis through this programme initiated by Japan and includes all the ASEAN nations to have a cooperative programme against piracy. It is an issue which is unfortunately gaining more and more importance every day because of the fact that the pirates are not only becoming more frequent, they also use more lethal equipment like machine guns and there are ships carrying oil and other important cargo through these areas and if by unfortunate circumstances, there should be an oil spill through an act of piracy, I think it would be very serious so it is an issue which is exercising the attention of all the countries.

We have to be vigilant at all times. Through the good cooperation between Indonesia and Singapore and the vigorous action taken by our security agencies, we have been able to, we believe, make a lot of progress towards disrupting the terrorist network in Singapore and crippling the operations. The arrest of the leaders like Hambali in Indonesia have also disrupted the organisation. But I would like to repeat again that the Jemaah Islamiyah, while it is crippled, it is not eliminated. The recent arrests in Indonesia, as well as in Singapore, show that a lot of people are being groomed to take leading positions. It is a fact of life. We have to learn to cope with terrorism and not let it disrupt our life and society and business. Life must go on.

 Q: Any specific intelligence about the festive period?

We should be vigilant at all times. I think that if we only increase our vigilance during the festive period, and let down our guard, we will be in trouble because the terrorists are now becoming more opportunistic, they will strike the targets at the times which they believe they will be successful. So if you let down your guard, you will be in for trouble.