Malaysia and Singapore Use a Leaders’ Summit to Ease Tensions

Malaysia and Singapore Use a Leaders’ Summit to Ease Tensions
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, right, shakes hands with Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong after a press conference in Putrajaya, Malaysia, April 9, 2019 (AP photo by Vincent Thian).

The prime ministers of Malaysia and Singapore met for their annual leaders’ retreat earlier this month, an ongoing tradition that is now in its ninth year. The summit allowed the two neighbors to calm some recent diplomatic disputes tied to long-standing issues over territory and shared water resources. In an interview with WPR, Ja Ian Chong, an associate professor of political science at the National University of Singapore, discusses the recent chill, and thaw, in relations between Malaysia and Singapore.

World Politics Review: What caused the rift in recent months between Malaysia and Singapore?

Ja Ian Chong: The exact reasons are unclear, but these are long-standing disputes that resurface from time to time. The most likely explanation for these recent flare-ups is that the current Malaysian government did not agree with certain arrangements that the previous administration accepted or entered into with Singapore.

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