Toast Speech By President Tharman Shanmugaratnam At The State Banquet Hosted In Honour Of The Yang Di-Pertuan Agong Of Malaysia Sultan Ibrahim

Your Majesty, Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia

Your Majesty, Raja Zarith Sofiah, Queen of Malaysia   

Excellencies,

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen, 

1. Selamat Malam dan Salam Sejahtera.
    

2. It is my great pleasure to host this evening’s State Banquet in honour of His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim and Her Majesty Raja Zarith Sofiah. Speaking on behalf of all Singaporeans, we are deeply honoured that Your Majesty has decided to make your first State Visit as King of Malaysia to Singapore.
   

3. Your Majesty is a close and longstanding friend of Singapore. As the Sultan of Johor, Your Majesty played a crucial role in advancing our ties and the friendship between Singapore and Johor. Following Your Majesty’s ascension as the King of Malaysia, Singapore looks forward to continue working closely with you todeepen the relationship between our two countries.
   

4. To kick-off the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Causeway this year, His Majesty and I just unveiled the designs for the stamps to be jointly issued by SingPost and Pos Malaysia to mark its centennial, and viewed a photo exhibition on the Causeway’s long and eventful history. They are timely reminders of how this busiest land crossing in the world is not just a physical connection between our two countries but a symbol of the permanent bonds that exist between us.
    

5. Let us build on these bonds as we look ahead to the 60^th anniversary of the establishment of our diplomatic relations next year. As with all neighbours, we do have issues to work through, but we should not let them alter the vitality of our overall relationship. We should continue to find mutually beneficial and sustainable ways to move forward on these issues, while focusing on our many positive and new areas of cooperation.
    

6. Last year, Singapore and Malaysia announced several new agreements to strengthen cooperation in areas such as trade and investment, research and innovation, tourism, and in emerging fields such as the green economy and the digital economy and payments.
    

7. A key initiative is the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ). Through the JS-SEZ, we aim to explore ways to enhance cross-border connectivity, strengthen the development of our human resources, and drive cooperation in key growth sectors such as renewable energy. In doing so, we hope to strengthen the broader economic inter-linkages between Singapore and Malaysia for our mutual benefit.
    

8. But our bonds go deeper than economic cooperation. Our shared cultural heritage is one to be celebrated and renewed. We have been glad to work together with Malaysia and our other neighbours, in Brunei, Indonesia, and Thailand, to submit a joint nomination to inscribe the kebaya on UNESCO’s Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
    

9. Singaporean fans of the iconic Malaysian singers Ramlah Ram and Qin Yong were rewarded with their performances at The Esplanade just a few months ago. Singaporean performers such as actress Hannah Delisha and singers Taufik Batisah and Adi Putra have also thrilled Malaysian audiences.
   

10. I am glad too that both our countries are grooming a new generation of sportspersons, who are already making their mark in the international arena. And when we are not competing against each other, we often root for each other in international tournaments. Indeed, many in both countries were cheered by the Malaysian men’s badminton team’s performance in the ongoing Thomas Cup in Chengdu, including their decisive win against well-ranked Japan, and the strong fight they put up against China in the semi-finals.
     

11. But an undefeatable manifestation of our cultural bonds must surely be the mutual search for the most sedap laksa, nasi lemak, char kway teow, roti prata or roti canai, and other much-loved dishes on both sides of the Causeway. Indeed, the claims made by both our peoples over the same dishes, as originating on their side of the Causeway, is only a pleasant reminder of our intertwined heritage.
     

12. In fact, our dessert today, aptly named “Harmony Across the Straits”, is the ondeh-ondeh, another delicacy in our shared culinary heritage.
    

13. Whether through educational, sporting or artistic exchanges, or tourism in all its flavours, it is important that we keep up our people-to-people exchanges and ensure that younger Singaporeans and Malaysians grow up with a familiarity, appreciation and good understanding of each other. The completion of the Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link in end-2026 should further boost these relationships.
    

14. Finally, it is critical that we strengthen our partnership as like-minded countries and founding members of ASEAN, in a world of growing great power rivalries and the erosion on the rules-based international order. As Malaysia prepares to take on the ASEAN Chairmanship next year, I am confident that our two countries will continue to work well together to maintain ASEAN’s unity, centrality, and relevance.
    

15. Under Your Majesty’s leadership and with your strong support, we can jointly raise Singapore-Malaysia relations to the next level of cooperation and friendship.

Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is now my pleasure to invite you all to join me in a toast:

To the good health and happiness of Their Majesties

To the peace, progress, and prosperity of Malaysia

To the enduring bonds of friendships between Singapore and Malaysia, and the possibilities that lie ahead.

(Toast)

Thank you.