S'pore-Malaysia ties seen as anchor to ASEAN stability
S'pore-Malaysia ties seen as anchor to ASEAN stability
SINGAPORE (AFP): Strong Singapore-Malaysia ties are the anchor
for stability in Southeast Asia with three of their biggest
neighbors -- Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand -- buffeted
by political troubles, senior officials said Tuesday.
Hishammuddin Hussein, the Malaysian minister of youth and
sports, said warming relations between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore
must be pursued in the context of the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN), where both are members.
"Firstly, let us not forget the regional context in which we
live," he told a bilateral business forum here.
"We are definitely in the heart of Asia -- an Asia that is
undergoing considerable changes politically, economically,
socially and spiritually.
"A frank and unemotional understanding of our neighborhood
should underpin all our mutual endeavors."
Singapore Minister of State for Defense David Lim noted that
Singapore and Malaysia were the quickest to emerge from the Asian
financial crisis that struck the region in 1997.
"This makes cooperation between our two countries all the more
essential, not just for our own prosperity but the prosperity of
the region," Lim told the forum.
Hishammuddin said Indonesia "remains in a state of socio-
economic and political uncertainty" despite its recent democratic
gains.
The Philippines is battling a Muslim separatist rebellion in
the southern Mindanao region near the maritime border with
Malaysia, and Thailand is preparing for general election, he
added.
The Thai ballot is scheduled for November, but the government
is under pressure to call an early vote.
"As politics grows ever more complicated and interconnected,
it is incumbent on Malaysia and Singapore as the core of the
original ASEAN to work together," he said.
Other ASEAN members are Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and
Vietnam.
The gathering of Malaysian and Singapore businessmen was
organized to deepen bilateral ties which received a shot in the
arm last month when Singapore founding father and Senior Minister
Lee Kuan Yew visited Kuala Lumpur for the first time in a decade.
Hishammuddin warned that economic dislocation as economies
adapted to the Information Technology age was driving some people
to dangerous forms of religious extremism -- an apparent
reference to emerging brands of Islamic extremism such as the Al
Ma'unah cult in Malaysia and the Abu Sayyaf in the Philippines.
"What concerns me now is if that religious and spiritual
consciousness is translated into something more than mere
consciousness, if it is translated into an agenda -- be it a
political agenda," he said.
As Hishammuddin and Lim, cracked jokes about the traditional
rivalry between Malaysia and Singapore, they also called on their
countries to put behind differences sparked by events leading to
Singapore's independence from the Malaysian federation in 1965.
"We are free of the historical baggage of our elders ...
Unhampered by the distrust of the past, we have to seize this
moment and forge the links afresh," Hishammuddin said.
He called for a meeting of religious teachers from the two
countries and sports activities for the youth, in an effort to
"depoliticize the channels of communication."
Lim said that the evolution of bilateral ties should be
allowed to take their natural course and not be hastened.
"Because when you try to hurry along, in the processes ... you
then begin to sweep things under the carpet. One of these days
you have to lift the carpet and see all those things," he said.