Singapore and Malaysia Armies Conclude 20th Edition of Bilateral Exercise

The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) Chief of Staff, General Staff, Brigadier-General (BG) Lim Hock Yu and the Malaysian Armed Forces Deputy Chief of Army, Lieutenant-General Dato' Seri Panglima Hj Ahmad Hasbullah Bin Hj Mohd Nawawi co-officiated at the closing ceremony of Exercise Semangat Bersatu this afternoon. The exercise, the 20th edition in the series, was conducted in Pahang, Malaysia from 11 to 17 December 2014.

This year's exercise involved around 340 personnel from the 3rd Battalion Singapore Guards and Malaysia's 1st Royal Ranger Regiment. The exercise included professional exchanges and culminated in a combined battalion field training exercise. In his closing speech to the participants, BG Lim commended the successful conduct of the exercise and highlighted that the exercise has been a "key contributor towards our warm and growing bilateral defence relations". He said, "The deepened understanding of how we can work together, and more importantly, the friendships that emerged between soldiers from both countries are invaluable." BG Lim added that the SAF looks forward to hosting their Malaysian counterparts for the next edition of the exercise, which will be held in Singapore.

Exercise Semangat Bersatu provides an excellent opportunity for both armies to strengthen their professional interactions and underscores the warm and long-standing defence relations between Singapore and Malaysia.