KUALA LUMPUR : Singapore and Malaysia have progressed in moving their bilateral relations forward.
Speaking at a joint news conference, Singapore's Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong and Malaysia's Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi say they had a frank and candid discussion on the outstanding bilateral matters.
On water, both leaders say officials and ministers will submit proposals based on the existing water agreements.
On Malaysia's proposal to replace the Causeway with a bridge, Mr Goh said he has seen a drawing of a straight bridge proposal and is prepared to bring the idea back to Singapore for further discussion before giving his views.
On Malaysian railway land in Singapore, the leaders said they are prepared to look at possibilities of joint development of idle land for commercial benefits to both countries.
Finally, on allowing Singapore's air force to use Malaysian air space, Mr Goh said the Malaysian premier was prepared to consider the matter.
Likewise Singapore would be happy to consider releasing CPF savings held by Malaysians who have worked in Singapore, once the air space issue is resolved.
The leaders say they will be reviewing the issues within the next two months.
They say the intention is to ensure relations continue to move forward and make progress for the benefit of the peoples of both countries. - CNA
Allowing RSAF to use MY air space.... Hmm....
Singapore, Malaysia to start joint projects to build ties among young
SINGAPORE: Adventure and leadership camps will be coming the way of Singapore and Malaysia students next year.
The initiative was announced by the Education Ministers of both sides at their first meeting in Singapore on Monday.
The initiative aims to build closer ties among the younger generation in the two countries.
Under the plan, schools on both sides of the Causeway will be paired up for projects outside the classroom, from adventure camps like those at the Outward Bound School to IT projects and even joint efforts in a third country.
All these in the name of building bridges.
Malaysian Education Minister Hishammuddin Hussein Onn said: "As we all know, the building of bridges or causeways, for that matter, is of course a sensitive topic between our two countries."
"In education, when we talk about creating bridges - whether it's a straight or crooked bridge - it's a matter of mind," said Singapore's Education Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam.
"Let's just get down to creating the links, creating the experiences together, creating the opportunities for young people from both sides to get to know each other personally," he added.
Speaking at the Singapore-Malaysia forum, the ministers agreed that educating the next generation cannot be left to chance.
Mr Hishammuddin said: "On bilateral relations, if you teach them wrongly, they grow up with certain prejudices.....if translated into something worse, would create even bigger difficulties for us neighbours. Whether we like it or not, the bridge and causeway are always going to be there. Whether we like it or not, we are going to be neighbours for all time, so it is important to invest in the people."
Mr Tharman said: "If you look at universities abroad, Singaporeans and Malaysians meet at overseas universities, they become friends for 3-4 years together - it's not difficult to achieve that and it happens on its own."
"But, we shouldn't leave it to overseas universities and schools to achieve this. We can achieve this directly with each other. We can deepen the 2-way exchange and have Singapore students go over, know more about Malaysia and make friends from young," he added.
The Singapore-Malaysia forum may be the first meeting between the two education ministers but it got off to a good start, with the proposal to build bridges for the future generations.
The two ministers will meet again in February after their ministries have worked out details on the bridging plans for students.
Mr Hishammuddin has also extended an invitation to Mr Tharman for a visit across the Causeway.
Students from secondary schools, junior colleges and universities are likely to be involved in the two-way camps and projects.
Singapore and Malaysia to promote cultural cooperation
KUALA LUMPUR : Information, Communications and the Arts Minister Dr Lee Boon Yang called on the Malaysian Minister for Culture, Arts and Heritage Dr Rais Yatim in Kuala Lumpur on Monday.
The ministers discussed the promotion of further cultural cooperation, including museum collaborations and exchanges of performances and visual arts exhibitions.
They agreed that such exchanges would help build an important "cultural bridge" between the 2 countries.
They also agreed to share both countries' cultural calender so that Singapore artists would be better informed of arts and cultural activities taking place in Malaysia and vice versa.
This would facilitate greater artistic collaborations.
PAS is not happy esp abt the combat aircraft agreement....
