S'pore marks independence

S'pore marks independence

SINGAPORE (Reuters): Singapore celebrated 33 years of independence yesterday but a simmering row with Malaysia highlighted the strained relations since the city-state split from the Malaysian Federation in 1965.

Ties have soured over the moving of railway checkpoint posts and last Saturday night, Singapore leaders took the opportunity at celebratory dinners to reply to rhetoric from their northern neighbor.

Singapore moved its immigration and customs clearance facilities from the central Tanjong Pagar Railway Station to the north, closer to the border, and has asked Malaysia to do the same.

But Malaysia has resisted, saying that Tanjong Pagar lies within its own territory, causing a diplomatic deadlock. Under a conditional treaty, the railway land on which the station stands belongs to Malaysia.