President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, together with Brunei’s Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah and Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, have accepted Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s invitation to attend the annual parade held in Singapore.

The invitations reflect the high value Singapore places on its bilateral relationships with its closest neighbors and emphasize the shared economic and colonial history of the four countries.

“Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia are close neighbors and friends of Singapore and we have deep historical ties with these countries,” a spokesperson from the Singaporean Prime Minister’s Office said.

This quartet of countries is connected by a complex history. Among all the Southeast Asian nations, it is only with Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei that Singapore shares historical ties dating to the 14th century, according to Kwa Chong Guan, a historian and senior fellow at Singapore-based think tank S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS).

Majapahit, the Java-based maritime empire that existed from the 13th to the 15th centuries, ruled over these four territories. Between the 16th to 19th centuries, Singapore had strong connections with Johor, Riau Islands and South Sumatra.

“Colonialism in the last two centuries connected us more than [it] divided us,” said Kwa, explaining that Singapore was the port through which Malayan products such as tin and rubber, and Indonesian products such as oil, were processed and exported.

The celebration also commemorates Singapore’s bicentennial celebrations. The bicentennial marks 200 years since the founding of modern Singapore when Stamford Raffles, a British statesman, arrived on the island and established a trading post of the British East India Company there.

Singapore’s national day celebrations are not all about fireworks and performances as a major segment of the parade is usually dedicated to military demonstrations.

This year, Singapore’s Air Force will debut an Airbus A330 MMRT tanker transport aircraft accompanied by jet fighters, according to Channel News Asia. A massive mobile column from the Singapore Armed Forces featuring tanks and military equipment will march through the city, culminating at the parade venue.

“Display of [Singapore’s] military capability is demonstration of our contribution to regional resilience and defense. The ASEAN Defense Ministers forum is credible to the extent that its members are credible,” said Kwa, referring to the highest defense cooperation mechanism in ASEAN.

Singapore and Indonesia have strong defense ties, particularly in counterterrorism collaboration. At the recent Singapore-Indonesia Leaders Retreat in Bali, Jokowi and Lee expressed a desire to cooperate on an intelligence-sharing facility based on Indonesia’s “Our Eyes” initiative, an intelligence-sharing alliance.

Inviting three key founding members of ASEAN could also be a move intended to demonstrate unity between these ASEAN countries. “[The invitation] is also timely given the importance Singapore has placed on the unity of the ASEAN region amidst the Sino-US trade tensions,” said Yogaananthan S/O Theva, an expert on Southeast Asia at the RSIS.

The Singaporean Prime Minister’s Office did not respond to queries about whether leaders from other ASEAN countries were invited to attend the parade.

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The writer is an intern at The Jakarta Post.

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