the "little red dot" is being bullied!!!

as a little island country, no matter what we do, we are constantly being "targetted" by our larger dearest neighbour...

[1] S'pore wants to hang on to graft money: Jusuf Kalla
"JAKARTA - INDONESIAN Vice-President Jusuf Kalla has blamed Singapore for the slow progress in talks on concluding an extradition treaty, accusing it of seeking to hang on to billions in allegedly corrupt money siphoned out of the country by fleeing tycoons.

He made the remarks in response to a question by The Financial Times in an interview published yesterday.

The report focused largely on Indonesia's economic plans and prospects, with the Vice-President forecasting a growth rate of up to 7 per cent this year and promising another go at labour reforms.

But Mr Jusuf also lashed out at Singapore over the ongoing negotiations for an extradition treaty.

'Singapore often says there's so much corruption in Indonesia. But when we want to work together on combating corruption, they don't want to,' he was quoted as saying.

Singapore has maintained that it has no objection to signing an extradition treaty but that it will take time to work out the complex issues involved.

The Republic has also made it clear that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had agreed in 2005 that the treaty could only be signed together with a defence cooperation agreement. Talks on the defence pact have yet to be concluded.

But Mr Jusuf dismissed the explanation, The Financial Times reported. 'They're thinking on the business side,' he said. 'If this treaty is signed then the corrupt Indonesians won't want to live in Singapore any more.

'That's all it is. It strengthens Singapore's economy.'

The prevailing view in Indonesia is that corrupt businessmen and politicians hide - and park their illegal gains - in Singapore. "

[2] AIS, ShinSat may not last in S'pore hands: Thai minister
"MORE pressure piled on Shin Corp on Tuesday with its television subsidiary headed for bankruptcy and government seizure.

Strong comments from Thailand's Information and Communication Minister Sitthichai Pookaiyudom at the same time also raised doubts about the concessions now held by another two subsidiaries: Shin Satellite and mobile phone operator, Advanced Info Service (AIS).

'Both AIS and Shin Satellite may not last in Singapore hands for long,' said Dr Sitthichai in an interview with Dow Jones Newswires.

He was commenting on investigations into Shin Corp, which was bought over last year by a consortium led by Singapore's Temasek Holdings.

The telco giant yesterday announced its net profits fell 60 per cent last year, due to poor performance by its television, mobile phone and satellite operations.

On the same day, the Thai Cabinet gave notice that if Shin Corp's ITV station fails to pay 100 billion baht (S$4.29 billion) in concession fees and fines by March 6, its licence will be revoked.
The sum relates to a dispute over the terms of the concession. Analysts say such an amount far outweighs ITV's own net worth and the company is almost certain to be declared bankrupt and taken over by the government.

'If ITV can pay, they can continue operations, but if they can't, we have no choice,' said Finance Minister Piridyathorn Devakula on a possible government seizure.

A seizure will leave all six free-to-air Thai networks under the control of the government, which came to power following a coup against then-prime minister Thaksin Shinwatra last September.
The executive chairman of Shin Corp, Mr Boonklee Plangsiri, stepped down as chairman of ITV on Monday, a move analyst see as paving for a government takeover of its management.

Yesterday, the minister in the prime minister's office, Khunying Dhipawadee Meksawan, was appointed to take charge of running the station should its concession be revoked.

ITV staff - who number over 1,500 - were told there would be no layoffs but there would be a name change.

The pressure on Shin Corp has been growing along with rising Thai nationalist feelings following a controversial deal last year which saw a Temasek-led consortium buying over a controlling stake in the telco giant from Mr Thaksin's family.

'The regime has become increasingly hardline,' one analyst told The Straits Times, citing Dr Sitthichai's remarks on Shin Corp on Tuesday.

'(Temasek) broke the law,' the minister had told Dow Jones, referring to a probe into whether it had used a nominee company to control more of Shin Corp than allowed under Thai law. "

oh man, all these accusations have been escalating... where exactly did the singapore govt do wrong? or are these politicians trying to divert attention from their own problems to someone else? well.... who else better to pick on than the smallest country in the region? argh!!!!!!!

PS: no offence to people from these countries, i have lots of thai and indonesian friends who are great!