Earlier today, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong met Dr Mahathir Mohamad in Putrajaya.

PM Lee met Dr Mahathir at the Perdana Leadership Foundation in Putrajaya at about 11am and took his leave at about 11.40am. This is PM Lee’s first time meeting Dr Mahathir since the Pakatan Harapan coalition won the election on May 9.

PM Lee spoke about this meeting in Parliament on Wednesday and said that he would visit Dr Mahathir and tell him that he looks forward to working with him again for “mutual benefit”.

Similarly, on Thursday, Dr Mahathir said that his government was still figuring out its stand on certain issues. This was in response to questions on the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail (HSR) project, and whether it would be discussed during his meeting with Mr Lee.

An agreement to develop the HSR was signed at the end of 2016.

The meeting was also attended by Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, both prime ministers’ wives, Mrs Lee and Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Ali, and Singapore High Commissioner to Malaysia Vanu Menon.

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It was reported that at the start of the meeting, PM Lee said, “You are our nearest and closest neighbour, so when this happened I thought I would come up soon, touch base, renew our links”.


obbana@theindependent.sg