SINGAPORE — Singapore may be small, but it is respected and successful, and “we don’t live in fear of anyone else”, says Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam, in response to ‘taunts’ by an Indonesian minister.
In a Facebook post on Saturday (July 23), Mr Shanmugam said he did not understand why “there is this constant attempt (by Indonesian ministers) to put us (Singapore) down and taunting us that we are small”.
He said that both countries benefit from good relations over the last 50 years and have cooperated on many matters. But he noted, “every now and then, someone in Indonesia will tell us that we should know our place, a little red dot.”
“Yes, we are a little red dot. We may be small. But we are respected and successful. And our people lead meaningful lives. And we don’t live in fear of anyone else,” Mr Shanmugam wrote.
His remarks came after Indonesia’s Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro was quoted in Indonesian media on Tuesday saying that he was “not afraid of Singapore which is just a small country like that”.
Mr Brodjonegoro and other Indonesian ministers this week have made several remarks about Singapore as their country attempts to recover millions stashed by Indonesian citizens overseas via a tax amnesty programme. Several Indonesian media reports have accused Singapore and its banks of coming up with a special scheme for Indonesians to leave their assets in Singapore instead of repatriating them home.
The Ministry of Finance (MOF) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) refuted these claims on Saturday.
“Recent claims in the Indonesian media that Singapore is implementing policies to ‘thwart’ Indonesia’s tax amnesty programme are untrue. Singapore has not cut tax rates or changed any of our policies in response to Indonesia’s Tax Amnesty Programme,” said the MAS and MOF in a joint statement.
“We subscribe to internationally agreed standards for combating money laundering and for exchange of information. If there is any case of suspected cross-border tax evasion, concerned authorities can approach Singapore – we have assisted and will continue to assist in line with the international standards,” the two agencies added.
Source: www.todayonline.com
