SINGAPORE - Deepening both personal connections and cross-border connectivity was the order of the day for Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar, Malaysia’s King, on the second and final day of his state visit to Singapore.
Sultan Ibrahim spent the morning of May 7 catching up with Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong over breakfast, together with senior Malaysian officials.
They were joined by Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, National Development Minister Desmond Lee, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Indranee Rajah, Manpower Minister Tan See Leng, and Senior Minister of State for Manpower and Defence Zaqy Mohamad.
A day earlier, the King met President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, and the leaders welcomed the longstanding and multifaceted bilateral ties and the good progress made in joint cooperation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on May 7.
DPM Wong said, following his meeting with the King, that Malaysia is the Republic’s closest neighbour and key partner, with deep ties underpinned by a shared history.
“I will continue to pay close attention to furthering our countries’ relations as prime minister and look forward to bringing our bilateral relations to greater heights,” said DPM Wong, who is set to succeed PM Lee on May 15.
The King then paid a visit to Parliament House, where he received a warm welcome from MPs and Speaker of Parliament Seah Kian Peng.
Mr Seah noted that Sultan Ibrahim played a crucial role in ensuring that supply lines between Johor and Singapore stayed open during the Covid-19 pandemic, and that his visit to the Republic came at a time of strong bilateral relations, with the two neighbours keen on expanding cooperation into new areas, such as energy.
Sultan Ibrahim observed part of the question time, and saw office-holders answer questions filed by eight MPs in the wake of the April 22 fatal six-vehicle crash in Tampines.
It was the first time a Malaysian king visited Parliament while it was in session. It capped off the regular exchanges between lawmakers from both sides over the years, such as in October 2023 when Mr Seah hosted his counterpart, Datuk Johari Abdul, then Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat, Malaysia’s Parliament.
In the afternoon, the King was joined by his wife, Queen Raja Zarith Sofiah, for a train ride on the Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL).
Hosted by Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat, the royal couple rode from Springleaf to Woodlands North, where they then visited the underground concourse linking the TEL station to the Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link.
The King has long kept an eye on the RTS Link project. In November 2020, he launched the project’s ground-breaking in Johor, and he made it a point to visit the Woodlands North terminus during his official visit to Singapore as Johor sultan in July 2022.
The next generation also figured in the royal couple’s itinerary for their final day in Singapore.
The Queen spent her morning at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH), where she was briefed about the hospital’s programmes with Temasek Foundation for mothers and at-risk newborns.
These included the Therapeutic Touch for Infants’ Health Programme where senior volunteers are trained to care for pre-term, sick and neglected babies at KKH’s neonatal wards.
Together with Temasek Trust chairwoman Ho Ching, the wife of PM Lee, the Queen also toured the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit and the KK Human Milk Bank.
The latter, an initiative with Temasek Foundation, developed the world’s first donor human milk freezer locker, where registered donors and recipients can drop off and pick up breast milk 24/7.
While the King concluded his state visit here on May 7, commemorative activities will soon kick off, ahead of the centennial of the Causeway in June 2024. The two countries will celebrate 60 years of diplomatic ties in 2025.
During the visit to Parliament, Mr Seah said: “I am confident that His Majesty’s visit is a precursor to even stronger ties between Singapore and Malaysia.”
