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.