http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/asia/story/0,1870,113729,00.html?

KL 'using Singapore as bogey for arms spending'

Recent multimillion-dollar purchases are based on political and other considerations rather than defence, says a social activist

KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia has made Singapore the bogey to justify its multimillion-dollar arms purchases, said a social activist.

The huge arms spending is not justified when the country is in desperate need of more Chinese and Tamil schools and with lagging development in East Malaysia and in the rural areas, said director Kua Kia Soong of the human rights group, Suaram.

His remarks came a day after Malaysia sealed its largest defence deal in a decade - for Russian and European missiles worth nearly RM1.4 billion (S$676 million).

Malaysia is also set to buy its first submarines as part of a massive military upgrade that also includes new fighter aircraft and combat tanks.

Yesterday, it signed two contracts worth almost RM111 million to buy naval combat systems and a flight simulator, the third defence deal in as many days.

In an interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation yesterday, Dr Kua noted that the Malaysian media had been playing up the issue of Singapore's reclamation works in the Johor Strait and its self-sufficiency in water.

He told the BBC programme, The World Today: 'It is very clear that this Singapore bogey is there to justify the arms deal.

'But I think Singapore has got a whole system; unless Malaysia can match this mobility, I think we're no match for the Singapore military.'

He said he believed that arms spending in Malaysia was based on political and other considerations rather than defence.

He was not impressed by the latest purchases, such as tanks which Malaysia was reportedly buying from Poland which he said were meant for the fields of Europe and not for the jungles in Malaysia.

'I can expect these heavy tanks to be only usable in our motorways and even our motorways are going to be dug up by these very heavy tanks,' he said.

On whether the world was a more dangerous place after the Sept 11 terror attacks in the US, Dr Kua said: 'I don't think these fabulous purchases are meant to combat the terrorist threat, these T-72 tanks and what not.'