On Apr. 29, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Indonesian President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo met for the last time in their present roles in Bogor, Indonesia for the seventh Leaders' Retreat.

Both PM Lee and Jokowi are in the midst of transitioning leaderships, with PM Lee handing over to Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, and Jokowi handing over the presidency to his Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto after the latter won a presidential election.

As such, this Leaders' Retreat was different from before, as both leaders brought their successors along, to essentially double up on leadership. Leaders Squared, so to speak.

The four men took to social media to share their experiences:

PM Lee

PM Lee will be the first of the four to step away from power, with his transition scheduled for May 15.

He thanked Jokowi for hosting the Singaporean delegation, and paid tribute to the "excellent progress" in bilateral relations in the past decade, when both men were leaders at the same time.

PM Lee noted the various achievements made in the bilateral relationship, both the ones that had just been settled, such as the Memorandum of Understanding on mangrove ecosystems, and a join update on defence cooperation; as well as those that were long in the making, such as the Extended Framework.

The Extended Framework had first been brought up in 2019, and finally begun to be enforced in March 2024, and dealt with long standing issues related to airspace, defence, and extradition.

"Indonesia is our largest neighbour and the largest economy in ASEAN.

Its prosperity and stability will uplift and benefit the rest of the region."

President Jokowi

Jokowi's post trended towards the various different MOUs signed.

In addition to the defence agreement, he also pointed out economic and investment agreements, as well as support for building facilities in the new Indonesian capital of Nusantara.

He also pointed out cooperation and development in the halal food industry, as well as the health sector, particular through the construction of hospitals and clinics.

Jokowi also extended an invitation to Singapore to attend the 10th World Water Forum in Bali.

Succession

Wong's post focused on the leadership transition, saying that the unique timing allowed the rare concurrent meetings of the two long serving leaders and their eventual successors at a single event.

Wong affirmed the excellent state of bilateral affairs, while thanking Jokowi for his hospitality.

He also said he looked forward to working with Prabowo in order to build stronger bilateral ties.

Prabowo, who was just last week confirmed as president-elect by the Indonesian Election Commission, shared a collection of photos of the "eight-eyes" meeting that the four men shared, in place of the usual one to one meeting between PM Lee and Jokowi.

Cabinet Joinery

Singapore's foreign minister Vivian Balakrishnan also shared pictures of the cabinet ministers of both countries meeting in Bogor Palace, showing the Leaders' Retreat was for more than just the heads of government.

Eight cabinet ministers from Singapore were present, including Vivian, Education Minister Chan Chun Sing, Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen, Manpower Minister Tan See Leng,  Health Minister Ong Ye Kung, and Family Development Minister Masagos Zulkifli; as well as Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean.

Also, this is neither here nor there, but PM Lee saw a deer while walking the grounds of Bogor Istana, which he said  was once the residence of Sir Stamford Raffles. 

"Our histories are intertwined in so many ways!"

Picture by Terence Tan/MCI

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Top image via Terence Tan/MCI