Comment: The S'pore-M'sia relationship is *cough* as good as it's ever been

The current state of the Singapore-Malaysia relationship is a little like a quick exchange we got to witness last week.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim came to Singapore for one day to attend the 12th annual Singapore-Malaysia Leaders’ Retreat, meeting with Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.

2 Strepsils

Anwar appeared to have a bit of a cough or hoarse voice.

He otherwise remained in good spirits, conversing effortlessly through the Joint Press Conference he held with PM Wong.

But midway through his prepared speech, he coughed to clear his throat, then told the gathering that “I was given two strepsils by Prime Minister Wong, and I told him ‘I’m sure Singapore can do a little bit better’ after that”.

It was, of course, a joke, but in that moment, there was a hint of truth about the Singapore-Malaysia relationship, a flash of a true reflection in a bilateral mirror.

A little bit appreciative, a little bit… disappointed?

Cough cough

The relationship between the two is probably in the best place it's been in decades.

But in the comment and its circumstance, there was some kinship, some generosity, some appreciation, a little disappointment, and also a warm, but not overly so, ribbing of a partner.

At the risk of overanalysing an off-hand comment, I will say this: I think we should take everything Anwar said at face value. The comment was of so little consequence that I would find it hard to think about what his quips actually meant.

In that, he acknowledges the (very) small gift, its necessity, and an (equally minor) disappointment in that it was only two strepsils.

But the fact that he could make the joke at all belies a comfort in the relationship that facilitates everything that was displayed at the Joint Press Conference.

Used to it

Conversations with those not paying direct attention to the Retreat had some saying, “Was that it?”

But they meet every year, and as Singaporean and Malaysian PMs have done for 12 years.

The point of the Leaders’ Retreats is to ensure that the two leaders and two sides speak so often that bringing up topics of concern becomes second nature.

And the pair meet remarkably often, around seven times this year, so they're really familiar with each other (Two Asean summits, two leaders retreats, Anwar visited for the Shangri La Dialogue, and they were both at APEC and G20 at the same time, although it wasn't a bilateral meeting).

Hell, PM Wong met Anwar more times this year than I've managed to meet my best friend this year.

Holds no water

The Retreat has even managed to somewhat neutralise the water issue, not so much in that everything is resolved, but there is confidence in the systems put in place to resolve it.

Anwar said it well: “The effectiveness of our communications and the level of trust, water is no longer a contentious issue as far as Malaysia is concerned”.

The two countries, at least at a leadership level, are clear-headed about how the current relationship benefits them.

Anwar even spoke about the price mechanism for Singapore’s purchase of raw water, but said the issue was not brought up at length because doing so would “affect a negative impact on the consumers in Johor”.

Let's just say in the past, the comments might have been very pointed.

And the entire conference touched on all the ways that a more benign relationship allowed remarkable things.

Anwar was effusive in his description of investment in the JS-SEZ, saying he used it as an example of what could be achieved when neighbours trusted each other at multilateral fora.

An albatross around our necks

But just as the “disappointment” of only two strepsils, there is the ghost of tensions past.

Just as Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong explained at the Albatross Files exhibition on Dec. 7, the relationship was born into, and born of, tension.

To trace the relationship from where Malaysia’s first Prime Minister was contemplating arresting the man who would be Singapore’s first PM, to this very moment where Malaysia’s 10th PM was exchanging jokes, jibes, and a hug with Singapore’s fourth PM, is remarkable.

In a world that feels like it's increasingly going crazy, maybe we should just sit back and watch two national leaders have a perfectly reasonable relationship, where everything just makes sense.

(But also, we checked, you’re not supposed to have more than one Strepsil tablet every two to three hours, and the whole Retreat was only about six hours long).

Top image via Mothership