SINGAPORE, Oct 23: Terrorism was very much on the minds of South-east Asian leaders on Tuesday, and this was the message they had for Indonesia: act now and act decisively against the terrorists in your midst or the region will suffer the consequences.

Both Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and Singapore Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Tuesday sounded the warning of a region shunned by investors and others because of the security risks.

Dr Mahathir put it in simple but stark terms when he told visiting journalists in Kuala Lumpur: “People will not be investing, they are jittery, the tourists don’t want to fly here... this affects our economy”.

The worries expressed by the two leaders were echoed by regional analysts on Tuesday and underscored by more terror alerts and cancellations of events such as British rock band Oasis’ concert in Singapore and the Philippines — all ripple effects of the recent Bali bomb blasts that left nearly 200 people dead.

The Bali attack was a tragic reminder that South-east Asia was now “at the frontline of the worldwide war against terrorism”, DPM Lee told delegates to the Morgan Stanley Asia- Pacific Summit in Singapore on Tuesday.

Many people are now expecting the worst for the South-east Asian region, he observed. But he urged the gathering of fund managers and analysts to take a longer-term, “more nuanced” perspective and outlined the various measures governments in the region were taking to counter the terrorist threat.

He acknowledged that South-east Asian governments do face serious difficulties in tackling the problem, not least of which is the tendency of extremist groups to exploit the religious sentiments of the local Muslim communities.

Dr Mahathir, too, made the call for firm action, observing that indecisiveness on the part of a weak government in Indonesia had led to the Asean region being tarred as an unstable place, hurting its economic prospects.

The appeal for international support takes place against a backdrop of a third terror alert in four days, with a US travel advisory warning Americans to avoid areas in Indonesia “known to cater to a foreign clientele”. Britain and Australia also issued similar warnings.

Sources told The Straits Times that one aim of these advisories was to apply pressure on Jakarta to get to the bottom of the Bali bombings.

But more importantly, they were borne out of concern that there could be a violent backlash from supporters of Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, the alleged spiritual leader of the Jemaah Islamiah terrorist group.—The Straits Times/Asia News Network.