“Singapore also values its excellent ties with Malaysia as evident by active collaboration between the two countries in many areas,” he added. Anifah said that Malaysia’s Foreign Ministry secretary-general Datuk Othman Hashim had met Ong today in Wisma Putra and made it clear that surveillance on Malaysia infringes the country’s sovereignty, as well as individual privacy. “Such activities are certainly not done amongst partners and close neighbours like Malaysia and Singapore when both sides are cultivating mutually beneficial strategic and strong partnership. The reported spying activities have caused considerable anger and disappointment amongst Malaysians,” said Anifah. Singapore daily, Straits Times, today reported Ong denying knowledge that his country's government had helped facilitate American-Australian espionage in the region. “We have no interest in doing anything that might harm our partners or the friendship between our two countries,” Ong was quoted saying. Top secret documents leaked by US intelligence whistleblower Edward Snowden showed that Singapore, which was once a part of Malaysia before breaking off in 1965, is a key partner of the “5-Eyes” intelligence group led by the United States, which was revealed to have tapped telephones and monitored communications networks in Kuala Lumpur. In a report by Australian media group Fairfax Media yesterday quoting Dutch daily NRC Handelsblad, it was revealed that Singapore, which is one of the US’ closest allies, is a key “third party” providing the ring - comprising the US, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand - access to Malaysia’s communications channel. In August, Fairfax had reported that the Singaporean intelligence is a partner of Australia’s electronic espionage agency, the Defence Signals Directorate, to tap the SEA-ME-WE-3 cable that runs from Japan, via Singapore, Djibouti, Suez and the Straits of Gibraltar to Northern Germany. This access was allegedly facilitated by Singaporean telecommunication operator Singapore Telecommunications Limited (SingTel), which is owned by Singapore government’s investment arm Temasek Holdings. According to Fairfax, Malaysia and Indonesia had been key targets for both Australian and Singaporean intelligence even since the 1970s, since most of Indonesia’s telecommunications and Internet traffic goes through the island city-state. Australian newspaper the Sydney Morning Herald reported last month that Australia’s intelligence agency was using its diplomatic missions in several Asian countries, including Malaysia, to intercept phone calls and internet data. The report cited information disclosed by Snowden, saying that signals intelligence collection occurs at Australia’s High Commissions in Kuala Lumpur and Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea, as well as at its embassies in Jakarta, Bangkok, Hanoi, Beijing and Dili in East Timor. The former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor had previously revealed a top secret map showing 90 US electronic surveillance facilities worldwide, including in American embassies in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia and Myanmar, that bug phones and monitor communications networks. No such facilities, however, are located in Singapore, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Japan, according to the map dated August 13, 2010.
--themalaymail
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