Singapore, Brunei mark 50 years of defence ties with joint military parade

SINGAPORE: Singapore and Brunei marked 50 years of defence relations on Saturday (Oct 10) with a joint military parade involving personnel from both countries.

Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah attended the parade at Muara Naval Base, which brought together 256 personnel from the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) and Royal Brunei Armed Forces (RBAF), Singapore's Ministry of Defence said in a news release.

The parade featured contingents from the land, naval and air forces of both armed forces, as well as a sail-past involving three vessels - the Republic of Singapore Navy's maritime security and response vessel Protector, the Royal Brunei Navy's patrol vessel KDB AS-SIDDIQ and offshore patrol vessel KDB DARUSSALAM.

Two Republic of Singapore Air Force H225M medium-lift helicopters and three Royal Brunei Air Force S-70i Black Hawk helicopters also took part in a fly-past.

Many of the personnel at the parade had participated in bilateral exercises leading up to the joint military parade, said MINDEF.

Defence Minister Chan Chun Sing, Chief of Defence Force Vice-Admiral Aaron Beng, Brunei's Minister of Defence II Halbi Mohd Yussof and RBAF commander Major-General Muhammad Haszaimi Bol Hassan were also present.

Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah was accompanied by Crown Prince Al-Muhtadee Billah, Prince Abdul Mateen and Prince Abdul Malik.

Following the parade, Mr Wong and Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah jointly launched and toured a commemorative gallery highlighting milestones in the two countries' defence relationship over the past five decades.

The parade is part of a year-long series of activities marking the golden jubilee of Singapore-Brunei defence relations.

These have included bilateral exercises involving their armies, navies and air forces, as well as cooperation in new areas.

Among the initiatives were Exercise Vanguard, the Binturan Bridge and an underwater demolition range.

During his visit to Brunei, Mr Wong also met SAF personnel training in Temburong and spoke to servicemen about their training experiences. He was accompanied by Mr Chan and senior SAF officers.

Singapore and Brunei's bilateral defence relationship is "underpinned by strong leadership, institutional and people-to-people ties, with both defence establishments interacting regularly through high-level visits, bilateral exercises, professional exchanges and cross-attendance of courses", said MINDEF.

Singapore remains committed to working with Brunei Darussalam to develop new and mutually beneficial areas of cooperation, while nurturing these close ties between future generations of SAF and RBAF personnel, it said.