KUALA LUMPUR - Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said on Thursday (May 19) that he hopes full connectivity will be restored between Singapore and Malaysia following the reopening of the borders between the two countries.

Air travel has resumed to more than 180 flights a week to seven destinations across Malaysia, about 40 per cent of the pre-pandemic flight connectivity levels of around 500 flights a week, said Dr Balakrishnan.

“We hope in the next few weeks and months, to see a full resumption of air connectivity. On land, the Causeway and the Second Link have been open and especially over the long holiday weekends, there has been extensive flow of traffic. Not quite at the level of pre-pandemic yet, but I am sure that will increase over time,” he told reporters on the last day of his three-day visit to Malaysia.

A new ferry service from Desaru to Tanah Merah is also being explored, he added.

Dr Balakrishnan said that Malaysia and Singapore enjoy a strong and close relationship that has been able to withstand the Covid-19 pandemic.

Such a close relationship has also made it easy for Singapore to maintain bilateral ties with its neighbour, despite the changes in government since the 2018 general election.

“The strength of the bilateral relationship, the closeness of the interaction, if anything, has been strengthened, and the levels of trust increased by actual performance during the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said. 

“The fact that we both worked together, we were able to support each other, that we came through for each other at critical moments, made all the difference.”

During his visit, Dr Balakrishnan was granted an audience with Sultan Nazrin Shah, the deputy king of Malaysia and the Sultan of Perak.

He called on Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob and met Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah and chairman of the National Recovery Council Muhyiddin Yassin, who was the previous prime minister, as well as former PM Najib Razak.

He was also invited by Senior Minister and Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein to join Malaysia’s Covid-19 Ministerial Quartet for their final task force meeting, and met Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin, Finance Minister Zafrul Aziz, Communications Minister Annuar Musa and Transport Minister Wee Ka Siong, among others.

During the interview, Dr Balakrishnan was asked if it was challenging for Singapore to develop and strengthen bilateral ties amid the uncertainties and unpredictability of the political situation in Malaysia.

While he noted that Malaysian politics has been undergoing “a challenging and complicated time” since 2018, he said ties between the two neighbours spanned many years, and that he has known Datuk Seri Ismail and Datuk Seri Hishammuddin for almost two decades. “These relationships have spanned both good times and tough times. It is a relationship that is close,” he said.

“As political leaders on both sides, our primary duty is to advance the interests, the security and the opportunities for our respective people,” he added. "But being friends, having a long history of interaction and engagement, ensures that we can communicate effectively without misunderstanding, and that we can collaborate effectively and bring about the fruition of projects of mutual benefit. All in all, I would still characterise our relationships as close, dependable, trustworthy.”

Bilateral projects, including the Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS), for which construction is well underway, as well as the aborted Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail (HSR), were also discussed.

He said “good progress” has been made on the RTS, which would improve land connectivity between Johor and Singapore in a transformative way.

“We are looking forward to, hopefully, the establishment of full passenger services by the end of 2026,” he said.

As for the terminated HSR, he said: “On the Malaysian side, they are exploring some new ideas. We will wait for their proposals; we will examine their proposals with a fresh pair of eyes on a clean slate.”

Dr Balakrishnan reiterated that both countries have been reliable partners during the pandemic.

“The last two years have been difficult for people on both sides of the Causeway, but one key element which has come through is the fact that both sides, Malaysia and Singapore, have been steady, reliable, dependable partners throughout the crisis,” he said.

Supply chains had been kept open throughout the pandemic, with the flow of essential services, food, medication and logistics maintained uninterrupted. The two countries are now looking into new areas of collaboration, including high-tech agriculture, increasing food supply, the digital economy and the creative economy.