Preface

Summary

Ever since Singapore departed suddenly from the Federation of Malaysia on 9 August 1965 to emerge as an independent sovereign state, relations between the two immediate neighbours have not always remained on an even keel, sinking to the worst level during the later period of the Mahathir administration. It was not until Abdullah Badawi assumed the position of Prime Minister on 30 October 2003 that the strained bilateral ties began to take a clear turn for the better.The purpose of this book, a project undertaken under ISEAS Malaysia Study Programme, is to document the series of important events that have taken place in the last twenty-eight months which have contributed to the warmer relations presently enjoyed by the two countries. Building good neighbourliness, viewed in a wider context, among two or more members of ASEAN will help to hasten the process of economic integration in bringing peace and prosperity to the 550 million population in the region.

The book has been structured in such a manner as to incorporate eight chapters dealing with background, bilateral ties, official visits, people-to-people contacts, public sector economic ties, private sector economic ties, educational and sporting events, and future relations. To add an extra dimension to the book, we have decided to include four appendices, with the first two containing the speeches by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia and the President of Singapore on the occasion of their state visit to each other's country and the other two containing the comments of some personalities from the two countries on the current status of bilateral ties. These comments reflect the newclimate of bilateral relations. We hope the book will interest readers who seek a closer understanding of the marked improvement in friendly relations between Singapore and Malaysia under Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi.

We would like to thank Professor Shamsul Amri Baharuddin, Director, Institute of the Malay World and Civilization, Universiti Kebangsaan, Malaysia, for contributing the Foreword and the other Malaysian personalities for sharing their thoughts on bilateral ties included in Appendix C. At ISEAS, our thanks go to Ms Ng Boon Yian, Research Associate, for assisting in the preparation of the manuscript and Mrs Triena Ong, Managing Editor of the Publications Unit, for overseeing the publication of the book. Any opinions and shortcomings in the book are entirely ours.