Indonesia’s communications minister has urged calm after a former Singaporean nominated member of parliament (NMP) suggested the city state could disrupt its neighbour’s internet access, arguing that any outage would cripple connectivity on both sides.

Communication and Digital Affairs Minister Meutya Hafid said the government and public “need not be irritated” by comments from ex-NMP Calvin Cheng.

In Singapore, NPMs are appointed to bring non-partisan perspectives to the legislature; they do not belong to any political party or speak for the government.

“We should not be alarmed. The Submarine Cable Communication System landing in Singapore did not just happen suddenly. Most of the routes pass through Indonesian waters,” Meutya said on Wednesday, as quoted by Indonesian daily Kompas.

She added that undersea cables also served Singapore’s interests. “If the cables are cut off, be it unintentionally or intentionally, 80 per cent of Singapore’s connectivity is also at risk of being paralysed,” she said, according to the Jakarta Globe.

Meutya said that Indonesia’s vast market worked to Singapore’s advantage, state news agency Antara reported. Indonesia’s population is roughly 47 times that of Singapore, with around 267 million people connected to the internet. “Without such figures, global technology investors or companies might potentially pull out of Singapore,” she said.

Protecting digital infrastructure was a shared responsibility, the minister said. “We cannot think narrowly. Digital infrastructure is a sector that must be protected together, not only for the interests of both countries, but also for global connectivity.”Meutya was responding to a social media post published by Cheng on Sunday showing an infographic that described Singapore as “a critical digital chokepoint”, through which roughly 90 per cent of Indonesia’s international internet traffic flows.

“Cut?”Cheng asked in the caption, before clarifying in another post that Singapore “will not do this, obviously”.

October 25, 2026 Cheng’s post came a day after Jakarta announced it would reduce natural gas exports to Singapore by 31 million standard cubic feet per day. The city state relies on natural gas for about 95 per cent of its electricity generation, with a significant portion imported from Indonesia.

Tensions have also been stoked by transboundary haze from Indonesian agricultural fires, which has blanketed Singapore and Malaysia for months and sparked widespread complaints online.

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto on October 21 hit out at “countries that like to insult” his nation over the haze. “Indonesia is a polite and patient nation. Our country is often insulted, but believe me, our nation does not want to be insulted all the time,” Prabowo said, according to Agence France-Presse.

Indonesia’s energy minister also warned that Jakarta could stop exports to nations that “did not respect” the country. Two days later, Indonesia announced the natural gas export cuts.

In an effort to ease tensions, Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan arrived in Jakarta on Tuesday for a three-day official visit. Different priorities and approaches were inevitable, “but precisely at a moment like this, it’s important for cool heads to prevail”, he told The Straits Times on Wednesday.

Balakrishnan and his Indonesian counterpart, Arrmanatha Nasir, agreed on Tuesday to set up a joint task force to hold companies accountable for land and forest fires causing the haze crisis, alongside a dedicated ministerial hotline to improve communication.

Balakrishnan said domestic priorities and cross-border cooperation could coexist: “Working together and looking after your own needs. It’s not either/or. It’s not a binary.”By SCMP’s Asia desk