‘We have a kiasu neighbour’: duelling videos put new take on Malaysia and Singapore’s war of words
- The countries’ dispute over maritime and airspace boundaries has entered a very modern battleground, with each side releasing a video to shore up their position
- The comments section is filled with barbs being gleefully hurled across the Causeway
Malaysia’s intensifying tiff with Singapore over air and sea borders has entered a very modern battleground – a duelling campaign of videos, with government departments from both sides releasing content in a bid to shore up their positions with their domestic constituencies.
Malaysia’s Ministry of Transport yesterday released a 95-second video on its Facebook page, which at the time of writing has more than 300,000 views, detailing its grievances with the new Instrument Landing System (ILS) at Seletar Airport.
“Hi Singapore, Seletar Airport is yours, but Pasir Gudang, Johor, Malaysia is ours. So please hear us out. To Malaysians, please watch and share this – there are reasons why Malaysia has to oppose the ILS of the Seletar Airport which Singapore wants to implement from January 3, 2019,” said Transport Minister Anthony Loke in the video.
Malaysia is against Singapore’s plan to use a radar system that would require planes landing in its secondary civilian airport, Seletar, to make their landing approach over Malaysia’s southernmost tip in the state of Johor. It says the plan was only recently conveyed to Loke and will inconvenience businesses and residents in Johor as well as limit its industrial development.
Singapore Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan later told reporters Malaysia was using a “technical excuse” to change the airspace agreement which was brokered in 1973 and there were “a few inaccuracies” in the video’s depiction of ILS.
But Khaw acknowledged Malaysia had taken steps to descalate tensions over the maritime border issue by withdrawing several state vessels from the disputed area although one ship remained. This vessel’s presence created “unnecessary risks” and could lead to “accidental escalation on the ground”, he warned, according to a report in The Straits Times.
Last week on December 6, the Singapore government released footage by its Ministry of Defence purportedly showing Malaysian government vessels encroaching into Singapore waters. It insisted on the immediate withdrawal of these vessels.