Golf boosts Singapore relation with KL<\/p>\n
Agence France-Presse, Singapore<\/p>\n
Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Singapore's Prime
\nMinister Goh Chok Tong and their key officials played a round of
\ngolf here on Sunday seen as another sign of warming bilateral
\nties.<\/p>\n
Despite a slight drizzle, Badawi teamed up with Goh to beat
\nthe pairing of Singapore's Foreign Minister S. Jayakumar and his
\nMalaysian counterpart Syed Hamid Albar at the Sentosa golf
\ncourse.<\/p>\n
\"We had a good round of golf. You're going to know for the
\nrecord that the two prime ministers beat the two foreign
\nministers,\" Goh told reporters.<\/p>\n
Badawi, who arrived here on Sunday for a social visit,
\ndescribed his trip as an \"opportunity to socialize and to meet
\nour friends\" in Singapore.<\/p>\n
\"I really enjoyed very much today playing golf again at this
\ncourse and in good company.\"<\/p>\n
The day trip also included an informal lunch between the
\nofficials.<\/p>\n
Badawi was accompanied by his newly appointed Deputy Prime
\nMinister Najib Razak, other top ministers and their spouses.<\/p>\n
It was Badawi's second visit to the next-door neighbor in two
\nweeks since taking over from Mahathir Mohamad in October. His
\nlast visit here was on Jan. 12.<\/p>\n
Sunday's visit also came a day after Goh, members of his
\ncabinet and their spouses traveled to Johor Bahru just across a
\ncauseway to celebrate the Lunar New Year with Badawi and other
\nMalaysian officials.<\/p>\n
Officials said they hoped stronger personal ties would help in
\nthe resolution of a series of long-running disputes that have
\nsoured relations since Singapore was evicted from the Malayan
\nFederation to become an independent state in 1965.<\/p>\n
\"It's always good to have this opportunity for informal
\ninteraction to become even more comfortable with each other,\"
\nsaid Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who met
\nhis counterpart Najib separately.<\/p>\n
\"I think it helps us deal with the problems, complicated
\nissues which we have to resolve. And if we have a good working
\nrelationship, it makes a good difference.<\/p>",
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