KUALA TERENGGANU: Singapore and Malaysia are very different countries, but also “forever neighbours” that have to understand each other’s differences, said Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong on May 7.
“We have to be forever working friends, and… make sure that the differences do not cause us, unintentionally, to cause problems to one another,” he told reporters towards the end of a five-day visit to the Malaysian states of Pahang and Terengganu.
Lee added that the good working relationship between Singapore and Malaysia at the national level needs to be complemented by cooperation at the state level.
Pahang and Terengganu – both located on the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia – are big states and “important to understand and to keep in touch with”, he said.
Pahang is the largest state in Peninsular Malaysia, while Terengganu ranks fifth in size.
Lee noted that Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and his Malaysian counterpart Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim want to strengthen bilateral ties, and have meetings regularly, either in person or via phone calls.
Ministries on both sides are also in touch with their respective counterparts, and a wide range of issues are being discussed, he noted.
These include the Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System Link, which is targeted to start operations in December, and the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone, which he described as “clearly a win-win project”.
In response to a question on his assessment of the state of bilateral ties, Lee noted that there are “more complicated” issues, some of which are longstanding and have not yet been resolved.
Topics on which discussions are ongoing include maritime boundaries and airspace, while water is a perennial issue, he said.
“These are things which we have to manage, and make sure that they stay on track and they do not unintentionally cloud and affect the overall relationship in a bad way,” he said.
