SINGAPORE — Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat said on Tuesday (Feb 25) that he hopes the various political parties in Malaysia will “come to some agreement expeditiously”.

Mr Heng, who was the first Singaporean leader to comment on the situation across the Causeway, was asked by the media to comment on the political developments of Singapore’s neighbour during a visit to the Parkroyal on Kitchener Road.

“It is a domestic matter and I hope that the various parties will come to some agreement expeditiously," he said.

“We will respect the decision of the Malaysian leaders and that we will work with the government of the day. I will very much hope that we can continue our co-operation quickly."

Malaysia was thrown into a political turmoil over the last 48 hours with Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad unexpectedly resigning his premiership, after political manoeuvring from some politicians upset the Pakatan Harapan coalition, which was elected to power in May 2018.

Malaysia’s King, Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin, has accepted his resignation, but Dr Mahathir agreed to stay on as the interim leader in the meantime, until a new leader is found.

Mr Heng said the situation in Malaysia is evolving rapidly and that the Singapore Government is monitoring developments closely.

Reiterating that Malaysia is Singapore’s closest neighbour, Mr Heng said that both countries are working on several projects together, such as the Johor Bahru–Singapore Rapid Transit System, as well as the Kuala Lumpur–Singapore High-Speed Rail.

A ministerial taskforce has also been set up between both countries to tackle the Covid-19 outbreak that has affected both countries.

“We will work with the government of the day to advance the many areas of bilateral co-operation that we’ve embarked on, particularly in dealing with the Covid-19 outbreak and dealing with the very important changes that are going on in the global economy, to strengthen our global economy,” added Mr Heng.

COVID-19 OUTBREAK

Asked about the Covid-19 outbreak at home, Mr Heng said that the sentiment among many workers and enterprises is one of uncertainty, as many are unsure how long the outbreak will last and how severe its impact will be.

Covid-19, which originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan, has now spread to 36 other countries and territories and infected more than 80,000 people and killed over 2,700 of them, mainly Chinese nationals.

Mr Heng, who is also Finance Minister, urged all affected workers and businesses to make full use of the measures that were announced during his Budget Speech last Tuesday.

Among them is a S$4 billion Stabilisation and Support package, which includes wage subsidies for Singaporean workers, waivers of rental payments for tenants of Government-owned properties and tax rebates for owners of commercial properties.

“I will urge everyone to just take whatever that is already on the table and all the measures which are already out there, make full use of it.

“Make use of this downtime to raise our skills level, to change our operations and if the situation does get worse, we will have the measures to take further action,” said Mr Heng.

When asked to address feedback from several retailers and food and beverage outlets who lamented that there was no direct help in terms of rental relief in the Budget, Mr Heng reiterated what he said last Tuesday.

“We do have a lot of support for some of the sectors but where the measures are not flowing down to the tenants, I urge landlords to do their part (to pass on savings from tax rebates) to their tenants,” he said.