Second Minister for Defence Mr Ong Ye Kung, accompanied by Brigadier-General (BG) Chua Boon Keat, Commander of 6th Singapore Division (6 Div), visited the Singapore Army and the Royal Brunei Land Forces (RBLF) troops participating in Exercise Maju Bersama earlier today.

The exercise, conducted in Singapore from 8 to 19 November 2016, involves approximately 350 personnel from the 2nd Singapore Infantry Brigade (2 SIB), 16th Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence Battalion (16 C4I Bn) and 2nd Battalion, RBLF. During the visit, Mr Ong was briefed on the brigade command post exercise, where the SAF and RBLF conducted joint planning; witnessed the urban operations training and also interacted with the troops. Brunei's Deputy Minister of Defence, Yang Mulia First Admiral (FADM) (Rtd) Dato Seri Pahlawan Abdul Aziz bin Haji Mohammad Tamit, visited the exercise on 11 November 2016.

Exercise Maju Bersama underscores the close and long-standing defence ties between Singapore and Brunei. The exercise enhances the interoperability between the two armies and fosters mutual understanding, as Singapore and Brunei commemorate 40 years of defence ties. Apart from bilateral and multilateral exercises, the two armies also interact through frequent professional exchanges, visits and cross-attendance of courses.