Historic meeting for Lee and Nik Aziz
(The Straits Times) KOTA BARU, June 15 — Two veteran politicians met for the first time yesterday in the state capital. Singapore Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew met with Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat for an hour at Kota Darul Naim, Kelantan's government complex that houses the office of the mentri besar and the state assembly hall.
Nik Aziz is the state's mentri besar as well as the spiritual leader of the opposition PAS, which won control of Kelantan in 1990.
Lee and Nik Aziz posed for pictures before settling down to converse.
They exchanged a few pleasantries in Malay before a translator took his place between the two leaders.
Lee, who is turning 86, arrived from Penang on Saturday evening, and is in Kuantan, the capital of Pahang, today for the last leg of his eight-day visit to Malaysia.
Nik Aziz, 76, told reporters later that he had asked Lee how he should address his guest, since it was their first meeting.
“In Malaysia, we call people Your Excellency, Datuk or something. He said (in Singapore) we are all the same, so I called him 'Encik Lee'.”
In turn, he said Lee called him “Nik Aziz”.
Lee's press secretary Yeong Yoon Ying said that the Minister Mentor and Nik Aziz spoke about strengthening ties between Kelantan and Singapore.
Lee also “shared Singapore's experience in implementing the English language policy and the importance of English in global affairs”, said Yeong.
Yesterday, Lee also toured Kota Baru by car, and met with Datuk Husam Musa, Kelantan's Executive Councillor in Charge of Finance and a former PAS vice-president.
Nik Aziz, Kelantan's mentri besar since 1990, is revered in the state and respected in Malaysia for living a simple life and running a clean government.
The mentri besar said that he would like to thank Lee, “a leader who is respected internationally”, for coming to Kelantan and for inviting him to Singapore. He said he declined due to health reasons.
The opposition party PAS, with nearly a million members, is the biggest party in Malaysia after Umno, which is part of the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition.
PAS is a member of the three-party Pakatan Rakyat alliance which controls four of Malaysia's 13 states and more than a third of the seats in the federal Parliament.
The mentri besar said Lee told him he had come to Kelantan “to see for himself” developments there, “whether it is the same as what has been written by the newspapers”.
Lee had asked how PAS would view Singapore if it comes to power, said Nik Aziz. His reply was that he would treat everyone “the same, as can be seen in Kelantan”.
With Lee in Kelantan were Minister for Finance Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Minister for Education Ng Eng Hen as well as Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Education and Home Affairs Masagos Zulkifli.
Acting Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts Lui Tuck Yew flew back to Singapore from Penang earlier for some ministry engagements.
In a short speech, Nik Aziz said Singapore is known for its anti-corruption stance and “a champion of democracy”.
“Singapore is also very strict in keeping the city clean, and these aspects are good things that we can emulate,” he said.
Tharman in his speech yesterday said that he hoped Singapore and Kelantan could build on their relations.
“Whatever happens in Malaysia politically, we would like to maintain the best of relationships between Singapore and all the respective parties in Malaysia,” he said.
