SINGAPORE – Myanmar’s state counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi arrives in Singapore on Wednesday (Nov 30) for a three-day official visit at the invitation of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

Her visit takes place during the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Singapore and Myanmar, and reciprocates Mr Lee’s trip to Myanmar in June.

The high-level trip comes amid growing co-operation between the two countries, and coincides with the mutual lifting of visa requirements for their citizens. The waiver takes effect on Thursday (Dec 1).

While here, Ms Suu Kyi will call on Acting President J Y Pillay and Mr Lee. She will be given an official welcome at the Istana, where she will be hosted to an official dinner by Mr Lee.

Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong and Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean will also host her to meals.

This is Ms Suu Kyi’s first visit to Singapore since assuming the post of state counsellor in April this year (2016), in the new civilian government that came to power last November (2015).

She was last here in September 2013 while she was leader of Myanmar’s opposition and head of the committee on rule of law, peace and tranquillity of Myanmar’s Lower House of Parliament.

During the visit, Ms Suu Kyi will attend IE Singapore’s Global Conversations dialogue with Singapore businesses. In addition, she will visit the Singapore Botanic Gardens where an orchid will be named after her, a traditional honour for visiting foreign leaders.

Ms Suu Kyi, who has pledged to tackle corruption at home, will also receive a briefing by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau while here.

On Thursday (Dec 1) evening, she and Mr Lee will be the guests-of-honour at the opening ceremony of the Asian Civilisations Museum’s new exhibition of Myanmar artefacts. Titled “Cities and Kings: Ancient Treasures from Myanmar”, it will run for three months.

She will end her trip on Friday (Dec 2) with a visit to a hawker centre, where she will be hosted to breakfast by Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan.

Officials have been tightening regulations on street hawkers in Myanmar’s largest city and former capital Yangon, and Yangon Chief Minister Phyo Min Thein and Myanmar officials visited Singapore in July (2016) to study how Singapore builds and operates its hawker centres.

Ms Suu Kyi will be accompanied by Union Minister for Commerce Than Myint, Kyaw Tin and officials from Myanmar’s Ministry of National Planning, President’s Office and Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

charyong@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on Nov 29, 2016.
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SINGAPORE – The children of a Malaysian property tycoon are tussling in the High Court over four family-owned companies, one of which owns 32 units in Bukit Timah Shopping Centre valued at about $68 million.

Eight daughters of the late Mr Loong Yoke Phin, who collectively hold 49.84 per cent of the shares in the four companies, have sued their only brother and his four sons, as well as another sister, for minority oppression.

The eight sisters, aged 64 to 54, are seeking to cash out their stake either by selling their shares to the defendants at a price to be determined by independent valuers or by winding up the companies.

Among other things, they allege that the majority camp – eldest brother Long Shin, 66, his four sons, and third sibling Sweet Ying – had excluded them from management of the companies and had denied them dividends from rental income of more than $5.4 million.

Sweet Ying died from cancer at the age of 62 on Jan 14 (16), a week after the lawsuit was filed. Her son has been named as a defendant in her place.

The defendants, represented by Senior Counsel Lok Vi Ming, contented that the suit amounts to an “abuse of process” as the family disputes have been resolved in a settlement agreement signed in June last year (15).

But the plaintiffs disagree.

Their lawyers from Lee Bon Leong & Co argue that the document was just an interim agreement and they still had the right to file proceedings if the parties failed to reach a final settlement.

A hearing to determine whether the 2015 agreement is legally binding started in the High Court on Tuesday (Nov 29).

The eight sisters have filed similar proceedings in Malaysia dealing with companies and properties there.

Their father willed his wife and son larger stakes in the companies compared to his daughters. The matriarch later gave her shares to her son before she died.

Each sister has 6.23 per cent, their brother holds 39 per cent and each of his sons holds 1.23 per cent.

The eight sisters claim that after the death of their father in 2008, with their majority control, their brother and third sister ran the companies to benefit themselves.

But the defendants say that the companies, while family-owned, were never meant to be family-run. When he was alive, the patriarch made all final decisions and made it clear to his children that there can be “only one tiger on any mountain”.

The patriarch had instructed his son to take charge after his death and told his daughters to support their brother. The defendants say the patriarch wanted his business to continue after his death and never intended his companies to be wound up.

The trial continues.

selinal@sph.com.sg

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SINGAPORE – The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) and the Government will start proceedings to recover the armoured vehicles seized in Hong Kong once the reasons for their detention are made clear, said Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen.

Speaking to reporters at Choa Chu Kang camp where he was briefed on a new military blimp, Dr Ng said officials from shipping firm APL will meet Hong Kong customs officials on Tuesday (Nov 29).

The nine Terrex Infantry Carrier Vehicles and other equipment were en route on an APL vessel from Taiwan to Singapore after a military exercise when they were seized last Wednesday (Nov 23) in Hong Kong.

Dr Ng said officials will monitor the meeting closely, and hopes the reasons and legal basis for the detention will be made clear there.

Officials will decide on the next steps based on its outcome, he added.

He also urged people not to speculate on reasons for the seizure.

“Until the facts are established, any speculation is premature, unwarranted and I think indeed unfair on the Hong Kong authorities or any other country. We should all wait for the facts,” he said.

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SAF armoured vehicles seized in Hong Kong port

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Dr Ng, who said the Terrex vehicles do not contain any controlled military items which require special permits, added that the Terrex has been transported by commercial carriers ever since it was introduced.

He said that Singapore has not suffered any loss or detention of equipment prior to this incident.

Using commercial carriers to transport military equipment is a norm for militaries of other countries, Dr Ng said. This is the most cost effective way to transport equipment, as only commercial carriers with their vast networks have the capability, he added.

On Monday, China has voiced unhappiness over the vehicle seizure incident and called on Singapore to adhere to the One China policy.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said in Beijing that the Chinese government is opposed to countries with whom it has diplomatic ties to have any form of official exchanges with Taiwan. China regards Taiwan as a renegade province.

Dr Ng said that “Singapore fully respects and supports the One China policy”, and will continue to act in a manner consistent with this policy.

He cited the positive role the Republic has played in improving cross-strait relations, citing two meetings between Taiwan and China that were hosted here – the 1993 meeting between China’s envoy Wang Daohan and Taiwan’s Koo Chen-fu, and the 2015 meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and then-Taiwanese leader Ma Ying-jeou.

Asked if this incident would affect Singapore’s training arrangements overseas, Dr Ng said: “Our training overseas has never been secret, people know where we train openly. We adhere to the One China policy.

“Any training matters between us and other countries are bilateral,” he added. “We should not unnecessarily, until the facts come out, muddle the picture and impute various motives. So let’s wait for the facts.”

He added that the SAF will continue to train overseas based on existing agreements between countries.

roysim@sph.com.sg

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SINGAPORE – Singapore will not allow any single issue to hijack its longstanding, wide-ranging relationship with China, Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan said on Tuesday (Nov 29).

Dr Balakrishnan, the keynote speaker at The Straits Times Global Outlook Forum, was responding to questions about recent frictions in Singapore-China ties, including last week’s seizure of nine Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) armoured vehicles by the Customs authorities in Hong Kong.

Senior officials on both sides understand that the relationship is “longstanding, multi-faceted, mutually beneficial” and will not allow any single issue to hijack it, he said at the forum at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel.

Dr Balakrishnan added: “I wouldn’t overreact to that… we expect commercial providers of services to strictly comply with the law.

“It will be a footnote on how to do things strictly, carefully and by the law. It’s not a strategic incident.”

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SAF armoured vehicles seized in Hong Kong port

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Last Wednesday (Nov 23), Hong Kong Customs officials seized the SAF Terrex Infantry Carrier Vehicles and related equipment that were on board a container ship belonging to shipping firm APL. The SAF vehicles were bound for Singapore after a military exercise in Taiwan.

The SAF conducts overseas training in a dozen or so territories and hires commercial shippers to transport military equipment to and from Singapore.

A spokesman for Hong Kong’s Customs and Excise Department had told The Straits Times that “suspected controlled items” were found on board the vessel during a search.

On Monday, China said it has made representations to Singapore voicing unhappiness over the incident.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at a regular media briefing in Beijing that Singapore should “strictly abide by the laws of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), and co-operate with the SAR government on all necessary follow-ups”.

He said: “The Chinese government has always firmly opposed countries that have diplomatic ties with China to have any form of official exchanges with Taiwan, including military exchanges and co-operation.

“We asked that the Singapore Government strictly abide by the one-China principle,” he added.

At the forum, Dr Balakrishnan said Singapore has believed in the One-China policy since it established diplomatic relations with China 25 years ago and this has not changed.

He said: “If you are truly close, there will be things you disagree about from time to time.

“Fortunately or unfortunately for Singapore, we are very transparent, we call a spade a spade. It doesn’t mean we are shifting our position or deliberately trying to poke people in the eye.”

Replying to a question from the audience about how Singapore will respond to the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s remarks that the Republic should adhere strictly to the One-China policy, Dr Balakrishnan said Singapore does not conduct foreign policy by reflex.

Singapore’s training arrangements with Taiwan are long-running and are not a secret, he said, pointing to the large number of Singaporean men who have trained there since 1975.

“We all know, and China knows, that we’ve had special arrangements with Taiwan for a long time, and what we are doing there is no longer a secret,” he said.

It would be a “surprise” if China kept silent about this arrangement, he said, but added that he has told his Chinese counterpart that Singapore values its longstanding relationships.

“One thing in Chinese culture is you never forget your old friends, people who were there with you in the beginning, people who were there with you through thick and thin, and surely in Chinese culture you appreciate this concept of loyalty to old friends,” he said.

“And at the same time, you know full well where I stand, that I believe in One China and we will not deviate from that.”

On an issue like the territorial disputes in the South China Sea, Singapore’s own circumstances and history inform its position on the importance of freedom of navigation and overflight, and of international mechanisms to resolve disputes, he said.

yanliang@sph.com.sg

leowhma@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on Nov 29, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.