The hard truth of Gen Moeldoko apology

I read this last night and felt vindicated about my uneasy feeling of Gen. Moeldoko apology earlier. On our end we had no choice but welcome it, which Ng Eng Hen duly did. Now the other side had disclaimed it.

So what's next? You deal with them as they are, a third world country which is often unable to get their act together. We should also stop being surprised about them. As a distant observer I am somewhat disappointed that our leaders were surprised at the naming of their frigate.

The personal relationships are only lubricant but what is vital is common interests. We shouldn't confuse the two. Between them and us and for that matter any other party, there will always be gaps that cannot be closed. The special relationship enjoyed between the Americans, British, Canadians, Aussies, and the Kiwis is founded on a common historical root in British history and culture. Perhaps we could have achieved the same with the Malaysians but we didn't stay Malaysian. We were remade into the Germans of SE Asia. We had no choice as the alternative would be to crawl back to Malaysia begging to rejoin the federation. This is the hard truth






Update: April 20, 7:45 pm

Ng Eng Hen has done the wise and sensible thing. At the same time let the naming of the Indonesian warship be a lesson to our people. Please remember there are limits to the personal relationships between senior military officers and political leaders. If our interests diverge and compete all the feel good and investments in relationships count for nought. When the going is good, it is a lubricant to get things done.

They remain a long term mortal threat to us. Just check up SE Asian history.