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View all search resultsIndonesia returns to old habit of blaming and bullying Singapore
The haze has returned, along with an old political habit: Blaming outsiders rather than confronting failures at home.
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President Prabowo Subianto (right) speaks with Singaporean Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan on Wednesday during a closed-door meeting at the President's private residence in Hambalang, Bogor regency, West Java. (Courtey of Presidential Secretariat/Laily Rachev)
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n October 1997, President Soeharto apologized to Singapore for the smoke from Indonesian forest fires that had blanketed the city-state. Nearly three decades later, the haze has returned, along with an old political habit: blaming outsiders rather than confronting failures at home.
President Prabowo Subianto has bristled at criticism from neighboring countries, treating complaints about the haze as insults to Indonesia. But what exactly should Indonesia be proud of when its forests continue to burn, its people breathe polluted air and neighboring countries suffer the consequences?
Since the fires began, haze has sent thousands of Indonesians to clinics and hospitals with suspected acute respiratory infections, while schools in affected provinces have been closed or forced to suspend classes because outdoor air became unsafe. However, no single, independently verified national tally of the infection cases, haze-related hospitalizations, school closures and deaths has yet been published. Claims that present precise nationwide figures without identifying the health ministry, provincial health offices or another verifiable source should therefore be treated with caution.
Nusantara Atlas estimated that nearly 1.92 million hectares had burned by the end of September. The fires are intensified by dry conditions, but land clearing, peatland degradation and weak enforcement have long contributed to the recurring disaster. Behind them are powerful commercial interests that profit while ordinary people pay the price.
Instead of confronting these interests, Indonesian leaders appear more comfortable invoking national pride. Singapore’s efforts to hold companies accountable under its Transboundary Haze Pollution Act have been portrayed as an affront to Indonesian sovereignty. Yet Singapore has a legitimate responsibility to protect its citizens from pollution crossing its borders.
Indonesia can challenge Singapore’s actions, demand evidence and insist on due process. What it cannot reasonably demand is that its neighbor remain silent while Indonesian fires poison the air.
This is not the first time national pride has been used to deflect attention from domestic failures.
