Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong met with Dr Mahathir Mohamad here today, the second Asean leader to call on the new prime minister following the Pakatan Harapan electoral victory on May 9.
The 30-minute meeting was held at the Perdana Leadership Foundation, where Dr Mahathir is currently operating.
Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei was the first Asean leader to call on Dr Mahathir, making the visit last Monday.
Clad in batik, Lee and his entourage including his wife, Ho Ching, arrived at the PLF at 11 am, triggering a frenzy among the hordes of reporters from the local and international media who have stationed themselves at the PLF entrance since May 10.
Lee was greeted upon arrival by Mahathir at the PLF lobby.
Mahathir, 92, was sworn in as Malaysia’s seventh prime minister after leading the Harapan coalition to a stunning 14th general election victory, thus becoming the oldest prime minister in the world.
Last Wednesday, Lee announced in the Singapore Parliament that he would visit Malaysia to meet Mahathir.
He was quoted by Channel NewsAsia as saying that he looked forward to working with Dr Mahathir again for mutual benefit.
Lee said Singapore had worked with Mahathir and several members of his team before and completed several joint projects, including the Second Link at Tuas, during Mahathir’s previous tenure as the prime minister.
Meeting Wan Azizah, Anwar
The Singaporean prime minister also met with deputy prime minister-designate Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail in Putrajaya.
Wan Azizah, accompanied by her husband, PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim, met Lee and his wife, Ho Ching for an hour.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Wan Azizah said it was an honour to meet Lee and his wife and that the meeting was “good.”
“The meeting also stressed on bilateral relations between Malaysia and Singapore as neighbours in the region,” she told reporters.
Meanwhile, Anwar said it was a pleasure to meet Lee, who he had known during his days as the finance minister dan deputy prime minister.
“To me, it is a real pleasure to see and meet with Lee. Essentially we believe in stronger bilateral relationship with Singapore as Mahathir also stressed on that,” he said.
- Bernama
