Malaysia and Singapore further opened their borders to each other’s citizens and residents on April 1, restoring pre-Covid travel protocols for fully vaccinated individuals. But the initial euphoria quickly dissipated when photographs and videos of badly behaving owners of Singapore-registered vehicles went viral. There were a handful of incidents like reckless driving, pumping subsidised petrol meant for Malaysians only, and so on, but human nature being what it is, many Malaysians conflated the perpetrators of these isolated but widely shared incidents with the entire population of a country. It doesn’t matter that hundreds of thousands of Singaporean visitors, friends and relatives are generally well-behaved in Malaysia. Some people will see what they want to see. It doesn’t help, of course, when opportunistic politicians wade in to muddy the waters. Whenever Malaysians and Singaporeans get caught up in spats like these – from trivialities like who has the better street food and the perceived condescending attitude of Singaporeans, to more serious issues like water supply, territorial disputes and air space – people of both countries forget how close the two countries really are, not just geographically, but also historically and culturally. When we consider the recorded past – all seven centuries of it – the island of Singapore and the Malay Peninsula have been together much longer than they have been apart. The sultans of Melaka justified their right to rule by claiming descent from the legendary kings of Temasek (the ancient name of Singapore). The present royal family of the state of Johor, the Malaysian state immediately north of Singapore, are direct descendants of Temenggong Abdul Rahman, an important official in Singapore who played an instrumental role in establishing the British presence on the island in 1819. The low-carb diet is no recent fad. China’s version dates back 2,000 years For much of the 19th and early 20th centuries, Singapore was the de facto “capital” of British-held territories in Southeast Asia, which included the Malay Peninsula and the northern third of the island of Borneo. The port city also used to be the cultural hub of the Malay world, attracting its writers, artists, musicians and entertainers with its cosmopolitan milieu, infrastructure and opportunities. The border crossing between Singapore and Johor was, pre-Covid-19, one of the busiest in the world, with 450,000 people a day crossing the two checkpoints. Modern Malaysia and Singapore were founded less than 70 years ago in the mid-20th century, a duration that is a mere tenth of their shared 700-year history. Despite being separate, equal and independent nations, the two countries are symbiotic in a manner that is rarely encountered in present times. Hated by generations of Chinese, their reappearing statues teach not to forget Around 2,700 years ago, two feudal states, Yu and Guo, in central China, had a similarly close relationship. The state of Jin, their powerful northern neighbour, wanted the ruler of Yu to allow Jin troops to march through his domain on their way to invade Guo. A senior official of Yu advised his lord: “The relationship between the states of Yu and Guo is like that between lips and teeth. Without lips, the teeth will be cold. If Jin conquers Guo, could we survive?” Tempted by the promises of riches and the spoils of war, the ruler of Yu ignored the advice and allowed Jin troops to pass through his state. Just as the Yu official predicted, soon after conquering Guo in 655BC, the Jin army turned round and annexed Yu as well. The saying “without lips, the teeth will be cold” has since been used to describe the shared interests and destinies between two close entities, not just states. In the case of Malaysia and Singapore, there is as yet no external actor whose actions recall that of the state of Jin. There are, however, inner saboteurs in both countries who inadvertently, or deliberately, ulcerate the goodwill and common interests between the two peoples.