Former Indonesian Armed Forces chief given Singapore’s top military award
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President Tharman Shanmugaratnam conferred Singapore’s top military award on former Indonesian Armed Forces chief Yudo Margono at the Istana on Jan 30.
PHOTO: MINDEF
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SINGAPORE – President Tharman Shanmugaratnam conferred Singapore’s top military award on the former Indonesian Armed Forces chief Yudo Margono
Admiral (Ret) Yudo, who was the commander-in-chief of the Indonesian National Defence Forces (TNI) from 2022 to 2023, was given the Darjah Utama Bakti Cemerlang (Tentera), or Distinguished Service Order (Military) award, said the Ministry of Defence (Mindef).
The award was for “his significant contributions in strengthening the close and longstanding defence relations between the Singapore Armed Forces and the TNI”, Mindef added.
The ceremony was attended by Minister for Defence Ng Eng Hen, Chief of Defence Force Vice-Admiral (VADM) Aaron Beng, as well as other senior government officials and military officers from Singapore and Indonesia.
Mindef noted that under Adm (Ret) Yudo’s leadership, defence ties between both armed forces grew from strength to strength.
Both militaries participated in bilateral exercises such as Exercise Safkar Indopura
The ministry added that Adm (Ret) Yudo strengthened bilateral coordinated patrols between both countries’ navies to improve maritime security in the region.
He also helped enhance cooperation between both armed forces within multilateral frameworks, which contributed to regional peace and stability.
Both defence establishments worked together on regional platforms such as the Asean Chiefs of Defence Forces Meeting, the Information Fusion Centre and the Counter-Terrorism Information Facility.
Adm (Ret) Yudo, who is in Singapore from Jan 29 to 31, called on Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong following the ceremony.
He also called on Dr Ng and VADM Beng, and inspected a guard of honour at Mindef.
“During the calls, they reaffirmed the close and longstanding bilateral defence ties and expressed commitment to deepen the bilateral defence relationship,” Mindef said.
In 2022, Adm (Ret) Yudo was also conferred the prestigious military award
The award was given for his outstanding contributions in forging ties and friendship between the Indonesian Navy and the Republic of Singapore Navy.
