Singapore calls for ties equals with KL

Singapore calls for ties equals with KL

SINGAPORE (AFP): Singapore has called for a relationship of
equals with Malaysia, saying it should not be expected to play
the role of a "small brother" to its larger neighbor, amid
strained bilateral ties.

Foreign Minister Shanmugam Jayakumar said the small city-state
was committed to a "long-term relationship with Malaysia based on
mutual respect, trust, reciprocity and mutual benefit."

In a speech to parliament, reported here yesterday, Jayakumar
cited an editorial in a Malaysian Chinese-language newspaper
which wrote that Singapore, being a tiny island, should know the
importance of maintaining good ties with neighbors.

"What the Chinese newspaper implied is, we should behave like
a small brother," Jayakumar said in his speech yesterday.

"That cannot be the basis for a durable relationship between
sovereign nations," the foreign minister said.

Ties between the two countries have been strained since March
over former Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew's description
of the Malaysian state of Johore as a place notorious for
"muggings, shootings and car-jackings."

The remarks sparked protests in Malaysia, prompting Lee to
apologize twice and withdraw the remarks from a court affidavit
backing his suit against a political opponent who fled to Johore
saying he feared for his life here.

Kuala Lumpur has declared that it would take time for
relations to be restored to normal.

"During this squall, the (Singapore) government and the people
have been calm, measured and restrained," Jayakumar told
parliament.

"We have not demonstrated on the streets. We have not hurled
obscenities at Malaysian leaders. We have not issued threats or
pilloried Malaysians," the minister said.

"But as our MPs have said, it is important that our restrained
reactions should not be misread or misunderstood -- that we are
weak, that we can be intimidated or cowed, that only one side has
emotions and sensitivities."

Predominantly ethnic-Chinese Singapore joined the mostly-Malay
Malaysian federation in 1963 as British colonial rule came to an
end, but the city-state was expelled just two years later amid
friction over racial rights.

Relations between the two countries have often been uneasy
since then.

Jayakumar said the two societies had evolved differently and
adopted different political styles and approaches in the 32 years
after their separation.

"It is important to recognize these differences so that we do
not misunderstand or misread each other," he said.

He said such differences were bound to spill over into
bilateral ties from time to time, adding: "The question is:
despite this complicating factor, can we work together for common
benefit? The answer surely must be 'yes'."

The minister said relations between Singapore and Malaysia
were too important to be allowed to drift.

"Cooperation will benefit both Singapore and Malaysia. But it
must be cooperation as equals and for mutual benefit," he said.

Jayakumar's speech came near the end of the inaugural session
of Singapore's ninth parliament which was dominated by debate
over the strained relations with Malaysia, connected to this
island of three million people by a causeway.