Interesting article in International Herald Tribune today about Singapore's quarrel with its neighbors:

Some countries have strategic oil reserves; others stockpile rice or wheat. The island nation of Singapore has emergency reserves of imported sand.

The sand is there to secure Singapore's insatiable demand for concrete, a reminder of Singapore's vulnerability as a nation without a hinterland to supply it with vital resources.

Singapore's government is now being forced to tap its sand hoard after its usual supplier, Indonesia, abruptly banned exports in February, citing the impact of a recent Singapore construction boom on its beaches and island environments.

The ban touched off the latest in a string of disputes between Singapore and its neighbors over water, land reclamation, satellite concessions, corporate takeovers and the flight patterns of the Singaporean Air Force — just to name a few.

READ THE REST HERE

So what is going on here, people? What is really behind this neighbor fight?

John

Singapore is behaving rather arrogantly in this case and that is the reason for the mess. They cannot expect to destroy our beaches just like that for the benefit of their own construction frenzy. Sand is a scarce resource also.

Mulyono

The "sand" question was just a pressure from Jakarta who was demanding a right extardition for corrupted Indonesian people who escaped to Singapore

Indonesian lawmakers say Jakarta gave away too much tyo Singapore on defense to get its prized extradictiction treaty.
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