DPM Teo Chee Hean at a Special Lecture at Universiti Brunei Darussalam

Yang Berhormat Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Kerna Dato Seri Setia (Dr) Haji Awang Abu Bakar bin Haji Apong 
Minister of Education

Yang Mulia Dato Seri Setia Haji Awang Yusoff bin Haji Awang Ismail

Deputy Minister of Education

Yang Mulia Dato Paduka Dr Haji Zulkarnain bin Haji Hanafi
Permanent Secretary(Higher Education) and
Vice Chancellor,Universiti Brunei Darussalam

Excellencies
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen

I am delighted to be in Brunei again this time at the invitation of His Royal Highness Crown Prince Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah for the Young Leaders Programme. This is the third run of the Programme, which was initiated by His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah, the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Negara Brunei Darussalam, and Mr Lee Hsien Loong, Prime Minister of Singapore, in 2012. I first visited Brunei in 1976, and have visited Brunei many, many times over the last few decades. It is always good to be back in Brunei to meet many old friends and see the developments here, not least in UBD, which has grown by leaps and bounds. I am particularly happy to speak to all of you here today at the Universiti of Brunei Darussalam, which is the fastest rising university in Asia, according to the Quacquarelli Symonds Asian University Rankings^[1]. So congratulations on that!

Ties that bind

Singapore and Brunei enjoy a very special relationship, which predates the independence of our two countries. Our fates have been entwined for longer than many people are aware of. We have a common British heritage since the 1800s. This has meant that Brunei established a strong relationship with Singapore for trade and other linkages, including for the annual Hajj pilgrimage. These bonds have grown stronger over the centuries.

After the Second World War, young Bruneians came to Singapore to continue their education. This became another rich source of friendship and kinship ties, as many of these Bruneians returned home with Singaporean spouses. These ties have lasted through the decades and continue to be important.

In fact, the Asrama Kerajaan Brunei Singapore alumni, comprising Bruneian students who had stayed in the Singapore Hostel in Tanglin Hill, made a nostalgic visit to Singapore just a few days ago and met their old Singapore friends. We are very happy that their ties still continue till today with many such visits by Brunei alumni.

The foundation of our special relationship was laid by the late Seri Begawan and Mr Lee Kuan Yew. Mr Lee first met Seri Begawan in 1960, when our first President, Yusof Ishak visited Brunei. At that time, our two countries faced similar strategic circumstances and challenges, with the colonial era coming to an end. There were important decisions which both leaders had to make for the futures of their people. As the two smallest states in Southeast Asia, we had to focus on securing our countries’ futures in what was then a tumultuous region. Both negotiated to join Malaysia. In the end, Singapore decided to join the federation in 1963, while Brunei chose not to do so. In the process, both leaders got to know each other very well, and left an enduring friendship as their legacy for future generations. As His Majesty observed at the State Banquet hosted in his honour during his State Visit to Singapore in April 2014, and I quote, “For almost half a century, Brunei and Singapore have witnessed a deepening and expansion of our special relations. This friendship which began when my father first met Mr Lee Kuan Yew fifty four years ago has developed over time and across generations… (growing) to the all-encompassing relationship from the leaders to the peoples. …”

Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s last visit to Brunei was in February 2009. During that visit, he had the honour of delivering the first Sultan Haji Omar Ali Saifuddien Lecture. Mr Lee spoke at length on the history and foundation of our special relationship, which still holds true today, as it did then. His Majesty was one of the last foreign leaders to have an official meeting with Mr Lee Kuan Yew in April 2014. Although Mr Lee was frail, he was determined to meet his old friend.

After Mr Lee’s passing earlier this year, His Majesty was the first foreign leader to visit and pay respects at the family’s private wake. His Majesty also attended the State Funeral Service. We deeply appreciate His Majesty’s presence, which demonstrates the depth of the personal friendship between our leaders and the special ties between our two countries.

Singapore has just celebrated our 50th anniversary of independence on the 9th of August. It was a momentous occasion for our young nation. We were deeply honoured by the presence of His Majesty at this year’s National Day Parade. Singapore is grateful to our friends who have helped and supported us in our nation-building journey. In particular, Brunei has always been there for us. This is something we will always treasure and be thankful for.

To showcase our longstanding friendship, I had the honour of launching a photo exhibition together with Ambassador-at-Large at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Her Royal Highness Princess Hajah Masna earlier today. The exhibition traces our bilateral relationship through the decades through photographs and newspaper archives. I hope all of you will find the time to visit the exhibition at the Art Gallery Waterfront. I am told that there are some other photographs from private collections, including some from the Tanglin Hill alumni, and if you ask nicely, they will let you have a look!

Bilateral relations

Over the past five decades, both Brunei and Singapore have made tremendous progress. Under His Majesty’s leadership, Brunei continues to prosper. Singapore too has transformed. In the process, our partnership has blossomed. We have expanded our bilateral cooperation to encompass many areas, including trade, foreign affairs, defence, finance, culture and education.

As small countries, both of us value free trade and a stable international order. Whether it is in negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which has been successfully concluded with the urging of both Brunei and Singapore, or strengthening ASEAN, we continue to work closely together to promote these ideals. Indeed, ASEAN continues to be the cornerstone of our two countries’ foreign policy. As small countries in Southeast Asia, we know that a strong ASEAN means that the voices of all ASEAN countries are heard. And that collectively we have a louder voice than we would each otherwise have. We have collaborated very closely within ASEAN through the years. We both instinctively understand the importance of regional stability and we know that more can be achieved if we integrate as a community.

Defence cooperation is an important pillar of our relationship. Given the challenges in the global and regional environments, we have to continue working together to safeguard our collective security. In April this year, our Armed Forces commemorated the 20th anniversary of the Ex Maju Bersama joint exercise. I would like to express our deepest appreciation to His Majesty, the Government and the people of Brunei for generously allowing the SAF to train in Brunei over the years. Generations of Singapore soldiers have trained in Temburong, appreciated the beauty of Brunei’s verdant jungles and also the friendship of the Brunei people. These will remain forever etched in their minds. Our professional interactions also include regular bilateral exercises, and the training of several hundred Bruneian armed forces personnel who attend training courses in Singapore annually. But apart from the professional exchanges between our armed forces, the most valuable long-term benefit from these interactions has been the enduring friendships built between our people over the years. This was how my own journey of friendship began nearly 40 years ago, in 1976, when as a young naval officer, going on my first long sea voyage, we called at Muara naval base in a Republic of Singapore Navy Ship.

Another unique and longstanding arrangement is our Currency Interchangeability Agreement, which allows for our currency to be used as customary tender in the other country. We will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Agreement in 2017. At a time of global and regional economic uncertainty, this Agreement remains of value to both our countries. It provides a measure of stability and reassurance as other currencies have fluctuated wildly during this period. It is also a tangible expression of the ties that bind us together.

There are numerous other examples of collaboration, which reflect not just the depth of the relationship but the comfort level shared by both countries. We continue to learn from each other’s experiences. In January 2014, the Singapore Maritime Academy and Brunei’s Ministry of Education signed an agreement to set up the Brunei Maritime Academy to transform the image of technical education. In March this year, Brunei’s Ministry of Development and Singapore’s Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources signed two Memoranda of Understanding to exchange experiences and provide training and capacity-building in the area of sustainable built environment. In April this year, then-Second Minister for Foreign Affairs and Home Affairs Masagos Zulkifli, who is here with us and is now taking the Environment portfolio, led a delegation from Singapore’s Malay Language Council to Brunei. He also brought religious teachers from Singapore to learn from their Bruneian counterparts’ experiences. Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports Pehin Hazair Abdullah visited Singapore in early September for the launch of Singapore’s ‘Bulan Bahasa’ or ‘Malay Language’ month. Of course, it would be remiss of me to not mention the DPMM FC’s participation in the S-League. They are a strong, well-managed and competitive team, and have contributed to the higher standards of football in Singapore. They are currently leading in the S-League and we wish them all the very best, even though I wish our Singapore teams could keep up with DPMM!

Looking Ahead

Just as we celebrate our past, we should also look ahead to the future. There are many ways to further enhance our bilateral relationship. I think it is important we should start young. One way is to facilitate more interactions between our young people.

Our school twinning programme started in 2006 with seven pairs of schools from Brunei and Singapore, and more than doubled to 15 pairs of schools by 2013. We can explore how to grow this further. Today, among the audience are participants of the Second Singapore - Brunei Youth Leadership Exchange Programme. Please identify yourselves – we had a nice selfie this morning! As our “Next-Gen” leaders between 19 and 35 years of age from the private, government and social sectors, I hope this programme will help enhance your understanding and appreciation of national policies, bilateral relations and regional concerns. My own experience is that by sharing and learning from friends from another country with not so different backgrounds, we can use it as a mirror to learn about each other and ourselves. I look forward to meeting you after this session and hearing your views on how relations can be taken forward.

We also have institutionalised exchange programmes in a variety of other ways, like the Brunei – Singapore Defence Scholars Leadership Development Programme which I started with Pehin Yasmin when we were both in our respective Defence portfolios. We have also invited Bruneian officials to training programmes in our Ministries. Most recently, two Bruneian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade officials completed our Ministry of Foreign Affair’s Foreign Service Basic Programme alongside Singapore officials. So again, they are starting out in their careers and they are starting to get to know each other from young. We welcome and encourage officers from both countries to learn together and grow together.

There are numerous visits and exchanges between our office-holders and officials every year. We should also encourage our younger office-holders to participate in these visits to gain a better understanding of the special relationship as well as forge new friendships. This is an important investment in strengthening friendships for the future. Indeed, I have brought along my younger colleagues to Brunei for the First and the Third Young Leaders Programme in 2013 and 2015, while His Royal Highness Crown Prince Billah made a similar visit to Singapore in 2014 and also brought along younger leaders from Brunei. This is in line with our mutual commitment to enhancing relations between the next generation of leaders. We look forward to welcoming Crown Prince Billah to Singapore next year. This is of significance to me because I have benefitted personally from being brought along by my seniors, whether in the military or senior political leaders like Mr Lee, and learning from them during the many interactions.
And now when I visit Brunei, I meet up with many old friends as well.

In an uncertain and rapidly changing world, the depth and strength of our relationship will provide a steady anchor for both our countries.

As the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew said, and I quote, “This association has endured and flourished because it is based on mutual respect and trust, and utmost good faith. Future generations of leaders and officials should build upon and enrich this special relationship.”

Let us continue to seek new opportunities to support, help and learn from each other. Let us build on this firm foundation and continue to strengthen our special relationship for the next five decades and beyond. The basics of our special relationship are not difficult to understand and there is no special ingredient. It is based on mutual respect and learning from one another. And we start from a young age. Looking at the many young faces in the audience, I have every confidence that this will continue.

Thank you.

[1] Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) moved up 57 places from 171-180 in 2014 to 118 this year in the Quacquarelli Symonds Asian University Rankings.

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