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SINGAPORE: Singapore is building on its good bilateral ties with Malaysia, following the recent introductory visit by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak to the Republic.
These were further cemented on Tuesday when Singapore's Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew met Prime Minister Najib and his deputy Muhyiddin Yasin in Kuala Lumpur.
It is Mr Lee's first meeting with Mr Najib since he assumed the prime minister's post on April 3.
In his congratulatory message then, Mr Lee had noted that Mr Najib's father, Malaysia's second Prime Minister, had held the office with great distinction. And Mr Najib now had the opportunity to lead Malaysia to greater heights.
Mr Najib also assured MM Lee that he is firm with the message conveyed to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong during his recent introductory visit and that is he wants to co-operate with Singapore in a broad range of areas.
This was revealed to the Singapore media by Mr Lee's press secretary after Mr Lee and Mr Najib had an hour-long meeting at Putrajaya which was described as good.
Mr Lee's press secretary added that Mr Najib also assured the Singapore delegation that there will be consistent policies over time as he believed investors coming into Malaysia are there for the long haul.
Mr Lee also met Malaysia's new Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin, whom he described as an old friend. Mr Muhyiddin had been Chief Minister of Johor before he entered the Malaysian Cabinet.
Their talks focused on developments in Johor, in the Iskandar Malaysia and Desaru areas. They also discussed educational cooperation as Mr Muhyiddin is also Malaysia's Education Minister.
Meanwhile, ministers accompanying Mr Lee also had meetings with their counterparts.
A key aspect of enhancing closer co-operation between Singapore and Malaysia is to get more people-to-people cooperation to take place.
Singapore feels an area that can be used for this is the arts and culture scene of both countries. This was discussed when ministers Lui Tuck Yew and Dr Rais Yatim met.
They agreed that getting the younger generation involved would promote better understanding on both sides.
Acting Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts, Lui Tuck Yew, said: "We decided that perhaps we should do more and build on what we already have on the arts scene - which is the musical extravaganza - and look at whether we can bring performing groups together and use Iskandar JB and Singapore as venues where they can perform and we can use that to bring the performing artists together and also the people together.
"The other area that we looked at was how students, particularly those who have a great interest in the arts, could find avenues to come together and cooperate, and work on projects and perhaps even in time to come, put up performances."
The ministers also discussed the exchange of news segments, particularly business news, and expanding an MOU on information to include communications.
Mr Lee is in Malaysia for a week-long visit after receiving the Global Aviation Leadership award from IATA on Monday. - CNA/vm
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