Ministers to discuss Indonesian crisis

INDONESIA'S political instability is expected to be a major topic of discussion when three senior Australian ministers visit Singapore next week.

The Foreign Minister, Mr Downer, the Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Fischer, and the Defence Minister, Mr Moore, will visit for two days.

Singapore has been closely watching Indonesia's political crisis and is known to be concerned that it does not seem to be stabilising.

Recent media comments in Singapore have described Indonesia as being "on the brink of a breakdown in social order".

But Singapore, with its own mix of Chinese, Malay and Indian races, is also concerned that Indonesia's problems could spark racial tensions in other parts of the region.

Singapore has had an uneasy relationship with Indonesia's President B.J. Habibie, who this month said that racism was worse on the island nation than it was in Indonesia. He told Taiwanese journalists that he had rid his country of any remaining discriminatory practices against the ethnic Chinese.

"The situation is worse in Singapore. In Singapore, if you are a Malay, you can never become a military officer. They are the real racists, not here."

The Singaporean media immediately jumped on his comments, issuing reports to show that his claims about the military were incorrect. Indonesia's Education Minister, Mr Juwono Sudarsono, who happened to be visiting Singapore at the time, tried to calm the row, attributing the comments to Dr Habibie's "bubbly" personality and to the fact that his personal expertise was in technology rather than social issues.

Last year, Dr Habibie referred to Singapore as a "red dot" on the map, while he said Indonesia was a nation of 211 million people. He said he did not see the Singaporeans as quite the same friends to his country as others such as Australians, Japanese, Malaysians and Europeans.

Despite this, the two countries still have good underlying relations, with Singapore signing a 22-year natural gas supply deal with Indonesia in January.

There are few sensitive issues between Australia and Singapore to disturb the visit. But one could be Dr Chee Soon Juan, the secretary-general of the Singapore Democratic Party who is facing charges of violating Singapore's Public Entertainment Act for speaking in Raffles Place without a police permit in January. While it is hardly akin to the arrest of Malaysia's former deputy prime minister Mr Anwar Ibrahim, it highlights Singapore's controls on free speech.

Dr Chee's case is not on the agenda for next week's bilateral talks but the ministers may face media questions about the Australian view of the case.

Australia's High Commissioner to Singapore, Mr Murray McLean, told a press briefing yesterday that the Australian High Commissioner was monitoring the Chee case, but there were no plans for the Australian ministers to make an issue of it.

"Our views on democracy and freedom of speech are well known in this region," he said.

"I don't think we really need to say any more."

It will be the first time that the Australia-Singapore Joint Ministerial Committee, established in 1996, has met in Singapore.