Ex-Singapore diplomat warns of racial undertones in Indonesian ex-minister's attacks on Singapore
SINGAPORE: In a social media post on Wednesday (Nov 4), the former diplomat Bilahari Kausikan took aim at Muhammad Lutfi, the Indonesian businessman who had served as Minister of Trade and who has also been releasing a series of nationalistic videos critical of Singapore and Malaysia.
Mr Bilahari called out the former Indonesian minister’s tactics, sharing a video with allegations against Singapore that Mr Lutfi posted on Instagram on Oct 27, originally shared by former Nominated Member of Parliament Calvin Cheng on his Facebook page.
Mr Lutfi had directly addressed Singaporeans in his video, saying, “I know exactly what you do,” and alleging that his country is looked down on as “a nation of beggars.” Set to dramatic music, he went on to accuse Singapore of “dirty tricks”, including tax treaties, transfer pricing schemes, and corporate structures used to take Indonesian wealth, and he spoke out against the ruling People’s Action Party.
“This is a guy who had to resign because of allegations of corruption and was lucky not to go to jail. He is trying to ‘rehabilitate’ himself. What is dangerous is that he is using Singapore as a proxy to attack Indonesian Chinese and is in fact playing a very dangerous and unscrupulous racial game,” wrote Mr Bilahari.
In the caption to his post, Mr Cheng also pointed out how dangerous Mr Lutfi’s message is, writing, “If enough Indonesians think Singapore stole their wealth, they will treat us as their enemy.”
The ex-NMP also poked holes in Mr Lutfi’s allegations and noted Indonesia’s current substantial economic problems.
“Instead of fixing them, their political elite is accusing Singapore of stealing their wealth. This is irresponsible and dangerous,” wrote Mr Cheng.
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Mr Lutfi’s Oct 27 post was part of a series of short broadcast clips which began late last month and have been critical of Singapore’s environmental and economic policies.
On Oct 19, he posted a six-minute video criticising Singapore’s response to this year’s severe cross-boundary haze, again making unsubstantiated claims and accusations.
His views have received backlash in Indonesia and, understandably, Singapore. /TISG