One of the top priorities in the Singapore government’s new year list: mend the rocky relationship with Malaysia. Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean, as well as Minister of Finance (and possibly the next prime minister) Heng Swee Keat, went all the way to Putrajaya, Malaysia on new year’s eve just to convey a message to Malaysian Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad.
Plans are now set for the foreign ministers as well as transport ministers from each country to meet soon to settle the brewing conflict over territorial spaces. Malaysia’s Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah and Singapore’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan will meet in Singapore on Jan 8.
The dispute
Singapore and Malaysia have locked horns over the past month — and all over the issues of territorial waters and airspace. In December last year, Malaysia’s Transport Minister Anthony Loke said that the country wants to reclaim its “delegated airspace” taking issue about Seletar Airport’s landing procedures that could require planes to fly over Pasir Gudang in southern Johor.
Malaysia has protested the flight paths, calling it a “violation of Malaysia’s sovereignty” and an “intrusion of Malaysia’s sovereign airspace”. The Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia has even established a permanent Restricted Area over Pasir Gudang, claiming it was for the purpose of “military activities”.
Then there’s the matter of territorial waters. Last month, Singapore protested strongly against Malaysia expanding its Johor Bahru port limits, which has seen Malaysian vessels intruding into Singapore’s territorial waters off Tuas. Malaysia disagreed that the altered Johor Port Limits infringed on Singapore’s territorial waters off Tuas, emphasizing that its government vessels were simply patrolling its own territorial waters.
‘Calmly and constructively’
In his New Year message, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong hopes that Singaporeans can work together to keep relations with Malaysia stable and “live in peace and friendship” with neighbors. Despite some bumps over the High-Speed Rail project and the price of Johor water, PM Lee expressed his government’s commitment to maintain a constructive relationship with Malaysia’s new government.
“We will deal with all these matters calmly and constructively. Singapore and Malaysia must manage specific problems, however difficult, while preserving the overall relationship,” he said.
“The way to do so is through equality and mutual respect, upholding international commitments and the rule of law. Older Singaporeans will remember that this is how we dealt with previous rough patches in bilateral relations.”
