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border dispute between Malaysia and Singapore has resurfaced, with Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad himself getting involved in the public spat this week. We praise Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong for not responding openly to Mahathir’s claim, as the latter is simply singing the same old song. Exaggerating the long-standing problem would be counterproductive for both sides.

As a senior leader, Mahathir, who turned 93 in July, needs to change his confrontational and hostile approach toward Singapore and act as a mature statesman. The advice of one of the founding fathers of the United States, Benjamin Franklin, to not “throw stones at your neighbors’, if your own windows are glass” is apt.

The territorial conflict between the two neighbors resumed on Wednesday when Mahathir denied Singapore’s claim that the planned expansion of the Johor Baru Port violated its sovereignty. Malaysia also announced its intention to reclaim the airspace over Johor State, which Singapore has managed since 1974.

Despite the frequent quarrels in public, Malaysia and Singapore are close not only in terms of geography, but also in economic terms and trade relations. Singapore is Malaysia’s most important trading partner according to 2017 data, while for Singapore its neighbor is third after China and Hong Kong.

The two neighbors were often involved in open disputes, especially when Mahathir was prime minister from 1981 to 2003. When he regained power last May, he teased his neighbor, saying the people of Singapore “must be tired of having the same government and the same party since independence”.

Lee Kuan Yew, Lee Hsien Loong’s father, announced Singapore’s partition from Malaysia in 1965. Singapore’s founding father, who served as prime minister for 25 years until 1990, and Mahathir often expressed their contempt for each other in public. But it would be more difficult for the younger Lee to face Mahathir.

Indonesia also has to cope with border disputes with its neighbors, including these two fellow ASEAN members. Fanning the flames of the conflict, however, might backfire as it could harm relations between the two neighbors.

In his keynote speech at the APEC CEO Summit in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, last month, Mahathir cited the old saying: “Prosper thy neighbor and not beggar thy neighbor.” Those words of wisdom should be heeded by Malaysia and Singapore for the sake of bilateral relations.