ABSTRACT
Association of Southeast Asian Nations increasing attention to developments involving Vietnam in the 1970s and 1980s offered some respite from the pressures of the immediate region and also allowed for the establishment of significantly higher levels of comfort through familiarity and accommodation. In this regard, the installation of Suharto's New Order regime in Indonesia was perhaps one of the most important regional developments for Singapore. The diminution of threats through a credible deterrence and skilful bilateral diplomacy and the appropriation of opportunities from the larger hinterland is invariably a function of leadership skills. The relationship between Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia is also a little more complicated than two sets of bilateral relationships. In the bilateral relationship between Singapore and Malaysia, this historical overhang is often negative and typically harkens back to the period between 1963 and 1965 when Singapore was part of the Federation of Malaysia.
