Singapore’s Wong and Malaysia’s Anwar say both countries’ ties can be Asean model
- Singapore PM Lawrence Wong and his Malaysian counterpart Anwar Ibrahim say they hope to settle outstanding issues by their next retreat
Singapore and Malaysia on January 11 signed an agreement on a new Johor-Singapore special economic zone under which both sides will work towards boosting the cross-border flow of goods and people, and supporting investments on both sides of the Causeway.
“What we are doing between Singapore-Malaysia and between Johor-Singapore is also in many ways what Asean ought to be doing to strengthen our economic integration as one community. So I’m very hopeful that Malaysia and Singapore can provide that strong anchor for a stronger and more integrated Asean community,” said Wong.
On the issues of maritime boundaries between Singapore and Malaysia, Anwar said he understood their complexities and hoped they could be resolved by the next bilateral leaders’ retreat.
“It is something that we as good neighbours have to get and I am a bit ambitious. I want this to be able to showcase to the region and the world how good neighbours should behave and interact so I look forward to that sort of final amicable resolution,” Anwar said.
Singapore and Malaysia have been trying to resolve their maritime boundary delimitation issues and implementing the International Court of Justice’s 2008 ruling on Pedra Branca, Middle Rocks and South Ledge.
Following the leaders’ retreat last October, then Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Anwar noted that a technical working group on the agreement between both countries to delimit precisely their territorial waters’ boundary held their first meeting in June 2023.
Singapore had protested against Malaysia’s maritime boundary extension in October 2018, saying it resulted in Malaysian government vessels making repeated incursions into Singapore waters, with the city state responding by extending its port limits within its territorial waters.
Another outstanding issue for the two countries is water. Under the 1962 Johor River Water Agreement, which is in effect until 2061, Singapore pays Malaysia for the right to draw up to 250 million gallons of raw water per day from the Johor River. It then provides Johor daily with treated water up to 2 per cent of the imported water.
In November 2023, the Malaysian government said it sought to review the agreement due to “certain issues”.
Leaders from both countries have previously agreed to resume discussions on the prices of raw and treated water, without prejudice to each other’s long-declared positions on the right to review prices under the current agreement.
On Wednesday, Anwar quipped that these issues “should have been resolved yesterday”. He added: “But we understand the complexities, we appreciate the need to resolve this amicably. Notwithstanding some minor differences, it should not deter us from exploring new avenues and working together.”
Wong, who is in Kuala Lumpur as part of a series of introductory visits to Southeast Asian capitals, said his meeting with Anwar was a good opportunity to take stock of outstanding issues and guide officials from both countries in their continuous discussions in a constructive manner, taking into account “the importance of the overall relationship”.
“Whatever differences we may have on these issues should not affect or colour how we treat the overall relationship and certainly should not detract from the possibilities of pursuing new areas of cooperation. That’s the spirit which we have in thinking and addressing these issues,” said Wong.
He added that, if these issues cannot be resolved completely, the two leaders look forward to being able to “see very good progress” across all of them by their retreat later this year.
Asked about Malaysia’s focus when it assumes chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in 2025, Anwar said the region had achieved consensus on meeting new challenges in digital and energy transitions and partnerships to anchor Asean as a “cohesive force”.
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He added: “There’s an outstanding issue to achieve the five-point consensus in Myanmar, and I think that is the resolve for all Asean countries, that this must be a priority too… It’s not very simple, but then it will be great if we can get this engagement going with the clear undertaking of the five-point consensus.”
The five-point consensus was agreed upon by Asean leaders in April 2021 after the Myanmar military seized power in a coup in early 2021 and deposed the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. It includes the immediate cessation of violence in Myanmar with all parties exercising restraint, constructive dialogue among all parties to seek a peaceful solution and mediation of the dialogue process facilitated by a special envoy of the Asean chair, with the assistance of Asean’s secretary-general.
Wong’s introductory visits to Southeast Asian capitals started in Brunei on Tuesday - his first overseas official trip since he was sworn in as prime minister on May 15.
His predecessor, Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who is the son of modern Singapore’s founding father Lee Kuan Yew, made similar introductory visits to Brunei and Malaysia when he took over as prime minister in August 2004.
