Follow us on Telegram for the latest updates: https://t.me/mothershipsg

President Halimah Yacob will make a state visit to Malaysia from Mar. 20 to 22, her first state visit to Malaysia.

Tree planting and orchids

The visit comes at the invitation of the Malaysia's King, Yang di-Pertuan Agong Abdullah Ahmad Shah, who invited Halimah to Malaysia when he made a state visit to Singapore in October 2022, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said on Mar. 18.

Halimah will be accompanied by her husband Mohamed Abdullah Alhabshee, and will be hosted to a State Banquet in her honour.

The Agong and Halimah will also plant a Gelam Tree in Malaysia's Istana courtyard, and Halimah will also have a new orchid named in honour of her and her husband.

The tree planting and orchid naming will be the first time such a ceremony is part of an official state visit to Malaysia.

Halimah will also meet Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who called on her when he visited Singapore in January this year.

She will also meet the Sultan of Perak Nazrin Shah in her capacity as Chancellor of the National University of Singapore. The Sultan is the Chancellor of the University of Malaya.

Halimah will also meet with Singaporean and Malaysian business leaders, as well as overseas Singaporeans.

Revisiting

The visit comes after a number of prominent visits to Singapore by Malaysian politicians in recent months.

Anwar visited in January this year, and is likely to make another state visit later this year for the Singapore-Malaysia leaders' retreat.

Ministers for Transport Anthony Loke, and for International Trade and Industry Tengku Zafrul have also been in Singapore for conferences.

The Agong also visited in September 2022 to attend the Singapore Grand Prix.

But Halimah is not the only Singaporean leader meeting Malaysian royalty.

Foreign minister Vivian Balakrishnan paid a visit to the Sultan of Johor just last week on Mar. 13, where they discussed cross border issues such as projects to use rail and ferry links to ease Causeway congestion.

Related stories

Top image via Istana Negara/Facebook