Former Indonesian president, B.J. Habibie, once derided neighbouring Singapore as 'that unfriendly little red dot'. On another occasion, he condemned the Singapore Government as anti-Malay 'racists', while his senior political adviser Dewi Fortuna Anwar dubbed it a 'Chinese enclave'. So it may come as little surprise that the Singapore authorities have lauded Abdurrahman Wahid's presidential election victory. In fact, Mr Wahid could not have been given a more friendly welcome during his visit last weekend, aimed at luring Singapore-based investors back to Indonesia. Not only did a lunch banquet at Singapore's presidential palace comprise Mr Wahid's favourite Indonesian dishes but for desert his preferred fruit buah salak was flown in especially from Jakarta. Over lunch, Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong pledged Singapore would play a 'catalyst role' in helping Indonesia's economic recovery and offered to personally lead a large delegation of Singapore businessmen to Indonesia in January. Mr Wahid responded by telling him Singapore felt like his 'second home'. He greeted a gathering of local and international businessmen in Mandarin and revealed some of his ancestors came from the mainland's Xinjiang province and that one of his daughter's was studying Chinese language at the University of Indonesia. Mr Habibie, by stark contrast, failed to pay a single official visit to his closest neighbour throughout his 15 months in charge. Strained relations between Mr Habibie and Singapore's leaders began before he became president in August last year, following former president Suharto's downfall. In fact, the grudge began shortly before he was appointed vice-president. Mr Habibie never appeared to forgive Singapore Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew for publicly warning of potential market displeasure over his appointment as vice-president, which would trigger higher inflation and greater unemployment in Indonesia. Mr Wahid, by stark contrast, not only offered to make Mr Lee an official international adviser to Indonesia but also his 'liaison officer with the Chinese people'. He was subsequently escorted to the airport by the senior minister wearing a big fat grin. Singapore had offered US$5 billion in trade guarantees while Mr Suharto was still president. During Mr Habibie's short-lived reign, the trade guarantee scheme never materialised. It will be interesting to see whether the scheme is now enacted. Mr Wahid partly chose Singapore as the first stop of his international introductory tour because he wanted to appeal to ethnic Chinese Indonesians who had fled abroad with their billions following the anti-Chinese riots in May last year. Many were thought to have used Singapore to park their funds. Estimates of the scale of capital flight have ranged from $10 billion to $80 billion, though it is now believed to have been closer to the lower figure. Liem Sioe Liong, chairman of the Salim Group, who had been Indonesia's richest businessman during Mr Suharto's time, was among those in the audience, with his son Anthony, to hear Mr Wahid speak. Afterwards, Mr Liem agreed it was time for ethnic-Chinese to reinvest in Indonesia. Before arriving in Singapore, Mr Wahid instructed his trade minister to look into transforming Batam Island, which borders Singapore, into a special free trade zone to help facilitate Singapore investment. During his Singapore stopover, Mr Goh suggested Indonesia should also consider other areas, including nearby Bintan Island, to which Mr Wahid readily agreed. Despite weak health, Mr Wahid visited eight of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' nine other member countries over the past week, receiving a similarly warm welcome from all. The mainland is among the countries next in line for the Wahid love-in. Barry Porter
