x9200, yes, it was palpable in the region immediately after the attack. But while it was relatively subdued in Singapore, I can imagine what Malaysia and especially Indonesia was like.
First hand anecdotal story.
I was doing a crew change to Balikpapan, Kalimantan, Indonesia on the 16 of October 1986. When we landed at the Balikpapan airport, we went through immigration as per normal (I was working on a job for Unocal Oil there) but when I went through immigration, on the other side I was met by a couple of policemen who collected my things and whisked me off to the local police station. I was made to stand in the middle of the room at parade rest for almost 8 full hours without a break. Eventually, because I was on the passenger manifest, but didn't make the helicopter to the rig, Unocal officials were dispatched to try to locate me. Oddly enough when they went to the police station, there I was. I was allowed to go with the Unocal Base camp manager with no problem. Their reason why I was being detained? Because we bombed Libya the night before. Could not reason with the country bumpkins there that just because I had a blue passport with an eagle on the front didn't mean I hand anything to do with it. It was a tense time in Malaysia during that time as well. Probably worse, as we bombed a Muslim country as opposed to them send terrorists to kill infidels.
Reason goes completely out the door. But after 9/11 it was more of a gloating thing than it was dangerous. But after Libya, it was dicey working in Indonesia for a while. On the rigs, it was not a problem, but having to spend time on the beach during crew changes meant staying close to your hotel (preferably in the hotel) and off the streets.
