Singapore-Malaysia Relations 2020:

Improving Ties?

KB Teo

SYNOPSIS

Singapore-Malaysia relations continue to improve.  PM Mahathir has signalled that he wants better economic, investments, and political ties with Singapore.  The Republic shares similar goals.

COMMENTARY

Singapore and Malaysia are to begin negotiations on delimiting the maritime boundaries around Pedra Branca, Middle Rocks and South Ledge.  In a joint statement on Wednesday (22 Jan 2020), Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan and his Malaysian counterpart, Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah, said that officials from both sides met to continue discussions on implementing the International Court of Justice (ICJ)’s judgment over the sovereignty of Pedra Branca and the other two maritime features.  ST.

This follows the desire expressed by the Prime Ministers of Malaysia and Singapore at the Ninth Malaysia-Singapore Leaders’ Retreat in Kuala Lumpur on 9 April 2019 for both sides to resolve outstanding bilateral maritime boundary delimitation issues in the area,” it added.

The meeting agreed for the Sub-Committee on Maritime Boundary Delimitation of Pedra Branca, Middle Rocks and South Ledge to start negotiations.  The ninth MSJTC meeting will take place in Singapore before the next bilateral leaders’ retreat, the joint statement said.

The dispute between Singapore and Malaysia over Pedra Branca’s sovereignty was resolved in 2008 when the ICJ awarded it to Singapore.  Malaysia had staked a claim to Pedra Branca, located about 40km off eastern Singapore, in December 1979, when it published a new map of its territorial waters and continental shelf boundaries.  The issue, along with the dispute over the sovereignty of Middle Rocks and South Ledge, was brought to the ICJ in 2003.

In 2008, the ICJ awarded Pedra Branca to Singapore, Middle Rocks to Malaysia, and said South Ledge, a rock formation visible only at low tide, belongs to whoever owns the territorial waters it sits in.

Malaysia filed an application to revise that judgment on Feb 2, 2017, citing new evidence, and a second application asking the ICJ to interpret that same judgment on June 30, 2017.

Malaysia has withdrawn its applications to revise and to interpret a 2008 judgment by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that awarded sovereignty of Pedra Branca to Singapore.  In a statement on Wednesday (May 30, 2018), Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Malaysia had informed the ICJ on Monday (May 28) that it would stop the proceedings that it had initiated earlier. In response, on Tuesday, Singapore told the ICJ that it agreed with Malaysia’s request for discontinuance.

Malaysia’s withdrawal means that it can no longer challenge Singapore’s sovereignty of Pedra Branca, as under the ICJ’s Statute, an application for revision must be made within 10 years of the judgment. That 10-year window has now lapsed, as the judgment was issued on May 23, 2008.

However, the new Malaysian government, formed after the country’s general election in May 2018, informed the ICJ on May 28 that year that it had decided not to proceed.

Malaysia accepts the ICJ 2008 ruling which awarded Pedra Branca to Singapore, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said on 25 June 25, 2019, as he cited the case to show how Asean member states can cooperate despite not seeing eye to eye on every issue.  Delivering the keynote speech at the 33rd Asia-Pacific Roundtable in Kuala Lumpur, he said that while Malaysia still feels strongly about Pulau Batu Puteh – the Malay name for Pedra Branca – it has accepted the ICJ’s decision.

The ICJ had ruled in favour of Malaysia in 2002 during a territorial dispute with Indonesia over the islands of Sipadan and Ligitan in the Celebes Sea.

Dr Mahathir’s latest comments were a reiteration of remarks he made at the Nikkei Future of Asia conference in May 2019, in which he said Malaysia had acceded to the ICJ’s decision that Pedra Branca belongs to Singapore.

Relations with Malaysia are “now on a more stable footing but there is still much work to be done”, Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said in Parliament on Wednesday (May 8, 2019).

He also reiterated that Singapore is ready and willing to cooperate with Malaysia in a spirit of goodwill and neighbourliness as he gave an update on last month’s Singapore-Malaysia Leaders’ Retreat, when maritime, water, airspace and land transport matters were discussed.  He was replying to Mr Vikram Nair (Sembawang GRC) who had asked about the state of bilateral relations after the meeting between Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his counterpart Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in Putrajaya.

On land connectivity, Dr Balakrishnan said Singapore believes the Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System Link (RTS) and the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High-Speed Rail (HSR) are “mutually beneficial projects that will significantly ease congestion, facilitate business and tourism, and bring the people of Malaysia and Singapore closer together”.

Singapore is now considering Malaysia’s proposal to suspend the RTS project for six months from April 1, 2019, and both sides are working out the details of a supplemental agreement to effect the suspension, he added.

As for the HSR project, the two countries signed a deal in September 2018 to suspend it up till May 31, 2020.  “The ball is now in their court and we hope that Malaysia will find a way forward in the projects within the period of suspension that they have requested,” he told the House.

On the issue of water, Dr Balakrishnan said the countries’ attorneys-general are having further discussions on the differing positions of both sides on the legal right to review the price of water under the 1962 Water Agreement.  “While Malaysia is apparently most concerned about the price of raw water, this issue cannot be viewed in isolation,” he added, and spelt out two situations.

First, if there is any revision in the price of raw water, it is clear that the price of treated water that Singapore sells to Johor will also have to be revised.

Second, during the recent retreat, PM Lee highlighted Singapore’s grave concerns about the multiple pollution incidents which have affected the Johor River and the long-term yield of the river.  ST

Singapore said this week that there have been seven pollution incidents along the Johor River since 2017 that caused the PUB’s Johor River Waterworks plant to be shut down temporarily. Johor has also built at least two water treatment plants which are upstream of the waterworks plant. Together with Singapore’s facility, they draw more than the Johor River can yield on a sustainable basis, Dr Balakrishnan said.

On airspace matters, Dr Balakrishnan said technical agencies from both countries are in talks to implement the Global Positioning Satellite-based instrument approach procedures at Seletar Airport soon, for both the northern and southern approaches.

In April 2019, both sides agreed that Singapore is to withdraw the Instrument Landing System procedures which it planned to implement at Seletar, while Malaysia would suspend its restricted area in the airspace over Pasir Gudang.

On maritime issues, Dr Balakrishnan said Malaysia and Singapore have suspended their overlapping port limits, going back to the port limits in place before Oct 25, 2018, and Dec 6 respectively. Malaysian government vessels are no longer anchored in the area, he told the House.

Both countries will start negotiations, and a committee co-chaired by the Permanent Secretary of Singapore’s Foreign Ministry and the Secretary-General of the Malaysian Foreign Affairs Ministry will meet soon, he said.  Concluding, Dr Balakrishnan said: “Singapore and Malaysia will always be close neighbours and issues will inevitably crop up from time to time.

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KB Teo is a former diplomat with the Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He attended the UN General Assembly as part of the MFA delegation.

Singapore-Thailand Ties 2020:

An Update

KB Teo

SYNOPSIS

Singapore has strong and longstanding ties with Thailand.  Bangkok was one of the first states to recognise Singapore in September 1965, one month after the Republic’s independence.

COMMENTARY

Singapore and Thailand share excellent and multi-faceted bilateral ties. We also cooperate closely at regional and international fora. Strong economic links and robust defence ties are key pillars of the relationship. We also have extensive technical cooperation, including under the Singapore Cooperation Programme (SCP) and the Singapore-Thailand Third Country Training Programme (TCTP), where both countries jointly provide technical assistance to other developing countries in the region, reported the MFA 2020 .

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Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Minister (Trade and Industry) Chan Chun Sing and Minister (Foreign Affairs) Dr Vivian Balakrishnan attended the 35th ASEAN Summit and related meetings in Bangkok, Thailand, from 2 to 4 November 2019.

In January 2020, Thailand’s navy chief paid his introductory visit to Singapore in his current capacity. The trip underscored the defense ties underway between the two Southeast Asian states amid wider regional and domestic developments, reported the Diplomat.

Thailand and Singapore have a defense relationship that includes not only traditional aspects like exchanges, visits, and exercises, but also components such as an overseas training area for Singapore in Thailand, one of several arrangements that the city-state has with select partners, and minilateral and multilateral interactions including those within the ASEAN framework, the Cobra Gold exercises, and trilateral drills with India.

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The development has continued on over the past year as well amid wider regional and domestic developments. Singapore and Thailand countries held ASEAN chairmanships in 2018 and 2019, respectively, and both are also experiencing domestic flux, with Thailand finally holding an election in 2019 and Singapore preparing to do so in the next year or so amid a leadership transition away from current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

The defense aspect of the relationship was in the headlines again with the visit of Thailand’s navy chief to Singapore. Luechai Ruddit, the commander-in-chief of the Royal Thai Navy, paid what was his introductory trip to Singapore in his current capacity. Luechai has held the position since October 2018 and has presided over some key developments within Thailand’s defense approach, including the purchase of assets from China and the restructuring of Thailand’s maritime agencies to address challenges such as illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing.  

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Luechai’s trip lasted from January 20 to January 22 and consisted of a series of interactions. He met with a range of Singaporean officials including Chief of Defense Force Melvyn Ong, Chief of Navy Lew Chuen Hong, and Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen. Singapore’s defense ministry did not disclose any details about the private deliberations, noting that Luechai’s visit “underscores the close and long standing bilateral defense relations between the two countries.”

Close Singapore-Thailand bilateral relations are also reflected in the extensive cooperation among agencies. The Singapore-Thailand Enhanced Partnership (STEP), launched in 1997, provides the framework for long-term strategic partnership in economic cooperation, defence relations, people-to-people cooperation and the Civil Service Exchange Programme (CSEP). Under the CSEP, regular study visits and training programmes are conducted between both countries.

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Singapore and Thailand want to deepen their economic relations and promote greater business-to-business cooperation in the coming years, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Thursday, following a retreat with his Thai counterpart Prayut Chan-o-cha, reported the BT June 2015.

Speaking during a dinner banquet at the Istana held in Mr Prayut’s honour, Mr Lee hailed the strong economic ties between their two nations, with bilateral trade having grown steadily over the last decade to reach about S$30 billion.

Thailand was Singapore’s ninth-largest trading partner last year. Singapore is now its second-largest foreign investor and was its top investor from South-east Asia in 2013. Singapore’s total investment in Thailand reached S$18.9 billion as at end-2013.

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“I hope we will do more and our companies will find fresh opportunities to invest and to work with one another,” said Mr Lee, as he welcomed Mr Prayut on his two-day introductory visit to Singapore, a year after the 61-year-old former army chief assumed office following a coup.

At a joint press conference, Mr Prayut said that both Singapore and Thailand had the potential to expand bilateral trade and investment cooperation.

He invited businesses in Singapore’s private sector to invest in designated special economic zones along the border areas between Thailand and its neighbouring countries, as well as in various infrastructure projects on transport and logistics in Thailand.

Among the highlights of the first day of his visit was the signing of four bilateral deals, one of which was a revised agreement containing improved terms for an avoidance of double taxation on income earned in one country by a resident of the other.

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This double-taxation agreement, inked by Law and Foreign Minister K Shanmugam and Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Tanasak Patimapragorn, replaced the one signed in 1975.

The two governments also signed an agreement on cruise tourism, with the aim of having more sailings to tap on the growing demand for cruises in the region.

The Singapore Manufacturing Federation and the Federation of Thai Industries, meanwhile, agreed to work together to strengthen business relations and promote economic cooperation between their organisations.

Mr Lee noted that the good ties were not just between the two governments, but their peoples as well. Last year, some 800,000 Singaporeans visited Thailand, and more than 500,000 Thais came to Singapore. Thailand is the 10th largest source market for visitor arrivals into Singapore.

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Touching on the political situation in his country, Mr Prayut thanked Mr Lee and the Singapore government for their understanding and confidence in the political and economic stability of Thailand.

During the retreat for the leaders of both countries, Mr Prayut took the chance to update Mr Lee on the progress of Thailand’s political reform process as the country looks to hold a general election in 2016.

“The return of Thailand to order and stability will help contribute to the overall stability and security of Asean, as well as to bilateral relations between Thailand and Singapore,” said the Thai leader.

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Mr Lee remarked that Singapore, as a “close friend” of Thailand’s, was happy to see that the Kingdom was stable and making progress.  The Thai leader is expected to make another visit here in two months, for Singapore’s Golden Jubilee celebrations on Aug 9.

Thailand was one of the first countries to establish diplomatic links with Singapore back in September 1965, just a month after the Republic’s independence.

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KB Teo is a former diplomat with the Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  He attended the UN General Assembly as part of the MFA delegation.