Malaysia–Singapore relations are the bilateral relations between Malaysia and the Republic of Singapore, after the separation of Singapore from Malaysia in 1965. Singapore has a high commission in Kuala Lumpur and a consulate general in Johor Bahru, while Malaysia has a high commission in Singapore. Both countries are full members of the Commonwealth of Nations and ASEAN.

Overall, relations between Malaysia and Singapore are warm and cordial, due to centuries of shared history, close sociocultural similarities, personal connections between the citizens of the two countries, and strong economic ties. There are occasional flareups due to differing political views; however these are often resolved without lasting hostility.

Country comparison Flag Coat of Arms Area Population 33,360,000 5,607,300 Population Density Time zones 1 1 Capital Kuala LumpurPutrajaya (administrative) Singapore (City-state) Largest City Kuala Lumpur – 1,768,000 Singapore – 5,638,700 Government Federal parliamentary elective constitutional monarchy Unitary dominant-party parliamentary constitutional republic Official languages Malaysian (Malay) English, Malay, Chinese (Mandarin), Tamil Main religions 61.3% Islam, 19.8% Buddhism, 9.2% Christianity, 6.3% Hinduism, 3.4% other 31.1% Buddhism, 18.9% Christianity, 20% non-religious, 15.6% Islam, 5% Hinduism, 8.8% Taoism and 0.6% Others Ethnic groups 69.1% Malay and Bumiputera (Indigenous), 23% Chinese, 6.9% Indian, 1.0% other 74.3% Chinese, 13.4% Malay, 9.0% Indian, 3.2% other Established 31 August 1957 (Independence from the British Empire proclaimed for the Federation of Malaya) (Independence Day)16 September 1963 (Proclamation of Malaysia) 6 February 1819 (Established by the British)3 December 1959 (Self-government granted from the British Empire)9 August 1965 (Independence proclaimed for Singapore after separation from Malaysia) (National Day) Predecessor States Portuguese Colonial Period (1511–1641) Portuguese Malacca (1511–1641) Dutch Colonial Period (1641–1825) Dutch Malacca (1641–1795; 1818–1825) British Colonial Period (1771–1946) Straits Settlements (1826–1946) (1895–1946) Unfederated Malay States (1909–1946) (1841–1946) Crown Colony of Labuan (1848–1946) (1881–1946) Japanese Occupation Period (1942–1945) Occupied Malaya (1942–1945) Occupied British Borneo (1942–1945) Si Rat Malai (1943–1945) Interim Military Period (1945–1946) Military Administration of Malaya (1945–1946) Military Administration of Borneo (1945–1946) Self–Government Period (1946–1963) (1946–1948) (1948–1963) Crown Colony of North Borneo (1946–1963) Crown Colony of Sarawak (1946–1963) Federation Period (1963–present) (1963–present) British Colonial Period (1819–1946) Modern Singapore (1819–1826) Settlement of Singapore (1826–1942; 1945–1946) Japanese Occupation Period (1942–1945) Syonan-to (1942–1945) Interim Military Period (1945–1946) Military Administration of Singapore (1945–1946) Self–Government Period (1946–1965) Crown Colony of Singapore (1946–1963) State of Singapore (1963–1965) Independent Period (1965–present) (1965–present) First Leader Tuanku Abdul Rahman (Monarch)Tunku Abdul Rahman (Prime Minister) Yusof Ishak (President)Lee Kuan Yew (Prime Minister) Head of State Monarch: Ibrahim Iskandar President: Tharman Shanmugaratnam Head of Government Prime Minister: Anwar Ibrahim Prime Minister: Lawrence Wong Deputy Leader Deputy Prime Ministers: Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Fadillah Yusof Deputy Prime Ministers: Gan Kim Yong Legislature Parliament (Bicameral) Parliament (Unicameral) Upper House SenatePresident: Awang Bemee Awang Ali Basah Parliament Speaker: Seah Kian Peng Lower House House of RepresentativesSpeaker: Johari Abdul Judiciary Federal CourtChief Justice: Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh Supreme CourtChief Justice: Sundaresh Menon National anthem "Negaraku" (My Country) "Majulah Singapura" (Onward Singapore) Currency Malaysian ringgit (RM) Singapore dollar (S$) National carrier Malaysia Airlines Singapore Airlines International airport Kuala Lumpur International Airport Changi Airport Public broadcasting Radio Television Malaysia Mediacorp Human Development Index 0.802 (57th) (very high) 0.932 (9th) (very high) GDP (nominal) $365,303 billion (33rd) $362,818 billion (34th) GDP (nominal) per capita $11,338 (62nd) $65,627 (7th) GDP (PPP) per capita $32,501 (41st) $103,717 (2nd)Foreign exchange reserves $97,614 billion $373,167 billion

Diplomatic relations

Both countries are full members of the Commonwealth of Nations and are founding members of ASEAN.

Bilateral relations Singapore and Malaysia enjoy close bilateral relations, and there is an annual Singapore-Malaysia Leaders' Retreat for bilateral talks between the two countries.

Leaders of the two countries

Socio-economic relations

As of 2015, Singapore is Malaysia's biggest trading partner, with imports and exports totalling approximately US$28 billion. Conversely, Singapore's biggest trading partner is China, followed by Hong Kong and Malaysia respectively. Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has suggested that both nations can promote regulations and e-commerce, and encourage electronic payments.

Specifically, Malaysia's southernmost state of Johor has enjoyed close bilateral relations with Singapore. Both territories neighbour each other and share natural resources such as water. In addition, Johor and Singapore, together with Indonesia's Riau Islands, form the SIJORI Growth Triangle. Singapore is consistently one of the top sources of foreign direct investments into Iskandar Malaysia, an economic corridor spanning much of southern Johor. Meanwhile, almost 300,000 Malaysians from Johor transit across the two border crossings between Johor and Singapore - the Causeway and the Second Link - on a daily basis, either for work or education opportunities.

In 2018, Singapore Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean during his visit to Sabah said that they were keen to assist the latter in technical and vocational education in efforts to build up skills for state youths to meet the needs of the state's industries with an invitation to Singapore were also delivered to Sabah Chief Minister Shafie Apdal and other state officials to further discuss about working together on technical skills development for the state youths. Further in 2019, Sarawak opened its trade and tourism office in Singapore to boost investment with several other trade deals were also signed between the two. During a visit by Singapore's senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry Chee Hong Tat to Sabah State Administrative Centre in August, he said Sabah has been an important partner for Singapore over the years and hopes to elevate the relations into further levels with the setting up of a Sabah trade office in Singapore. During the meeting, Chee adding that Singapore are keen to investing in developing tourism hospitality facilities as well on cruise tourism. Sabah Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry Junz Wong also said that Sabah was in the process to form a strategic alliance with Singapore to facilitate and create platforms for the business community of the two and discovering potential trade in agriculture-based manufactured food products.

Tourism Singaporeans account for a majority of tourist arrivals into Malaysia, at nearly 13 million . Malaysia was also Singapore's third largest market in terms of inbound visitors, contributing 8.5% of the total tourists in the city-state in 2012; tourists from Kuala Lumpur, Sarawak, Penang, Sabah and Perak formed the bulk of Malaysian tourist arrivals into Singapore in that year.

According to a study conducted by the Singapore Tourism Board, Malaysians tend to view Singapore as an extension of their lifestyle rather than a holiday destination, due to the close geographical proximity, cultural similarities and family ties between the two countries. Aside from leisure, 41% of Malaysian tourists in Singapore cited meetings, incentives, conferencing and exhibitions (MICE) as their purpose of visit.

Cultural relations Malaysia and Singapore share significant historical and cultural affinities, as both countries have multiracial populations consisting of Malays, Chinese and Indians, and had experienced British colonial rule. These are in addition to cross-border family ties due to migration between the two countries. In recent years, more arts and cultural activities have been jointly organised by artists from both sides of the Causeway, including the Titian Budaya showcase in Kuala Lumpur in 2015 and the Causeway Exchange during the George Town Festival that year.

In particular, Singapore is culturally linked with its former fellow Straits Settlements, Penang and Malacca - both of which are now among the 13 Malaysian states. Aside from being governed directly by the British as crown colonies until the mid-20th century, the three territories are renowned for their cosmopolitan populaces, which include the Peranakans. There has been a recent resurgence of Peranakan culture, fuelled by conservation efforts at historic sites and the mass media. One of the key regional events aimed at promoting Peranakan culture is the International Baba Nyonya Convention, which was last held in Penang's capital city of George Town in 2017.

Security relations

Singapore and Malaysia are part of the Five Power Defence Arrangements (FDPA), along with New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom, in which the five nations are to consult one another in the event of an armed attack on either Malaysia or Singapore. An Integrated Air Defence System (IADS) for both Malaysia and Singapore was set up at RMAF Butterworth in the Malaysian state of Penang in 1971.

Both countries, along with Indonesia, help each other respond to threats by Jemaah Islamiah (JI).

Transport links The two countries are connected by the Johor–Singapore Causeway and the Tuas Second Link. The Second Link is a bridge connecting Singapore and Johor, Malaysia. In Singapore, it is officially known as the Tuas Second Link. The bridge was built to reduce traffic congestion at the Johor–Singapore Causeway which have been operated since 2 January 1998. The twin-deck bridge supports a dual-three lane carriageway linking Kampong Ladang at Tanjung Kupang in Johor to Jalan Ahmad Ibrahim at Tuas in Singapore. The span over water is . On the Malaysian side, the bridge is connected to the Second Link Expressway (Malay: Lebuhraya Laluan Kedua Malaysia-Singapura), also known as Linkedua Expressway, which links from Senai North Interchange Exit 253 at North-South Expressway, Senai Airport and Taman Perling, Johor Bahru via its extension known as Johor Bahru Parkway. In Singapore, the bridge connects to the Ayer Rajah Expressway.

On 7 April 2014, during a joint press conference with Lee Hsien Loong, after the annual Malaysia-Singapore Leaders' Retreat in Putrajaya, Najib proposed a Friendship Bridge between the two countries to strengthen and enhance the relationship between both countries.