Indonesia and Singapore Celebrate 50 Years of Diplomatic Relations

On September 7, Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong met visiting Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo at their annual Leaders’ Retreat as both sides commemorated the 50th anniversary of the establishment of their diplomatic ties. The much-anticipated meeting between the two heads of state saw both a symbolic celebration of their relationship as well as substantive progress being forged in various realms as well.

The relationship between Indonesia and Singapore – Southeast Asia’s largest state and its smallest, respectively – has traditionally tended towards being quite prickly. Indeed, it took nearly a year for Indonesia to even officially recognize Singapore’s independence from Malaysia following Jakarta’s violent opposition to the creation of Malaysia, known as Konfrontasi. Even in recent years, there have been occasional irritants on issues ranging from airspace control to the annual haze problem.

Nonetheless, the two countries have still maintained a cordial relationship that has grown to be quite robust; a testament to the reality the two leaders noted that they were neighbors by geography but partners by choice. Singapore is Indonesia’s largest foreign investor, Indonesia and Singapore are each other’s largest sources of tourists, and, despite sensitivities on the security side, both sides continue to try to manage the relationship through steps such as the conclusion of a landmark maritime boundary treaty that recently came into force.

The sunny side of bilateral ties was naturally on full display in the commemoration of the 50th anniversary, both symbolically and substantively. Symbolically, there was plenty of ceremony that accompanied the commemoration of Indonesia-Singapore relations, which was referred to as RISING (combining the acronym from Republic of Indonesia, RI, with the shortened form of Singapore, SING, in an indicator of the growing trajectory of ties).

The theme of the Leaders’ Retreat, “Trusted Partners, RISING together,” reflected this spirit.

In line with that theme, both sides planted a Sunda Oak tree – known for its sturdiness and deep roots – dubbed the RISING tree, following their interactions at the Singapore Botanic Gardens, which Lee said in his remarks had “a lot of potential to grow and flourish over the years.” The two leaders also witnessed a joint flyover by their two air forces at the Marina Bay Cruise Center Singapore that was meant to convey their deep defense ties.

Turning from symbolism to substance, both sides looked to evaluate and make progress across the economic, security and people-to-people realms and work towards further collaboration, according to statements issued thereafter by the two governments. The bulk of the focus was unsurprisingly on economics, and they discussed progress regarding projects such as investments and skills training, digital economy, and initiatives to support Indonesian development including in power generation. A number of agreements were also inked in these areas.

Significantly, Jokowi and Lee also pledged to open negotiations on a new bilateral investment treaty (BIT) as a step towards further strengthening economic cooperation and investment flows. Lee also outlined other areas of focus during his opening remarks at the Singapore-Indonesia Investment Forum at the Marina Bay Cruise Center on September 7, including cruise tourism being worked on by the Bilateral Cruise Interagency Task Force set up last year.

On the security side, terrorism dominated the discussion, with both sides pledging to work together more both bilaterally and regionally to combat radicalization and violent extremism amid the rise of the Islamic State and the advances it has been making in Southeast Asia. But in a sign of the growth of defense ties in other areas as well, both sides witnessed the signing of an MOU on disaster risk management between the Singapore Civil Defense Force and Indonesia’s National Disaster Management Authority to enhance operational linkages between them.

Both leaders also discussed the transboundary haze problem, a non-traditional security issue that has continued to be an irritant for the two countries periodically. Lee said he appreciated Jokowi’s efforts in trying to tackle the forest and land fires causing the haze and reiterated that Singapore was committed to working with Jakarta to address it.

On people-to-people ties, both countries looked to make progress on areas like education and culture. On education, there were three MOUs signed between Singapore’s Ministry of Education (MOE) and Indonesian entities: one on education cooperation with the Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture (MOEC), one on higher education cooperation with the Indonesian Ministry of Research, Technology, and Higher Education (MORTHE); and one on vocational education and training with the Indonesian Ministry of Industry (MOI). 

And on culture, Lee said that Singapore’s Ministry of Culture, Community, and Youth was working with MOEC on a framework to boost cultural cooperation between the two sides. Indonesia and Singapore are also said to be working towards a marquee cultural event in 2018 to cap off the RISING50 celebrations.

To be sure, there is no shortage of obstacles facing Indonesia and Singapore as they seek to forge this greater cooperation. Even if Singapore and Indonesia are committed to addressing specific issues, long-held prejudices rooted in the vast asymmetry of capabilities between them; deeply-rooted suspicions about the intentions of each other; and differences in the nature of the two policies – the former a small, organized, and technocratic city-state, and the latter a large, overly bureaucratic, and decentralized archipelago, will be difficult to overcome.

Getting past all this will demand that both countries continue to choose to be optimistic about the opportunities that lie ahead while being realistic about the challenges that remain. Making progress, like forging partnership, is a strategic and deliberate choice as much as it is a series of policy commitments.