KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 21 — The largest ever arts festival organised by Singapore and Malaysia was launched by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his Malaysian counterpart Datuk Seri Najib Razak yesterday.

The “Titian Budaya: Bridging Cultures” arts festival — a four-month cultural season featuring more than 400 artists who will showcase their work at various venues throughout Malaysia — is part of a series of events to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Singapore-Malaysia diplomatic relations.

Members of the public can expect to see visual art, handicrafts, film, theatre and music during the performances and events.

Speaking at the launch of the festival today, Lee — who is visiting Kuala Lumpur to attend the 27th Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit and Related Summits — noted that the “Titian Budaya” festival will celebrate the “vibrant” arts and culture scene in Malaysia and Singapore.

“You all know the old Malay proverb, bagai aur dengan tebing — like the bamboo and the river bank each relying on the other for mutual survival,” said Lee, referring to the close ties between the two countries.

Lee noted that Singapore and Malaysia have close cultural ties. Malaysia’s National Visual Arts Gallery has agreed to loan some of its artwork to the National Gallery of Singapore, which will also feature other works by Malaysian artists.

He said that as close neighbours, there will always be ups and downs in the bilateral relationship. “But what is more important is that we are willing to work with each other and for each other,” he said, adding that Singapore and Malaysia have close economic ties and are each other’s second largest trading partner.

On his part, Najib said in his speech that the “Titian Budaya” festival “gives new meaning to the Singapore-Malaysia relationship that has been predicated on a long and shared history,” adding that as Singapore and Malaysia have both reached a certain level of development, the peoples of both countries are beginning to enjoy the finer things in life such as the appreciation of arts and culture.

Najib said that cultural richness is abundant in both Singapore and Malaysia, and there is a lot that both countries can share with each other.

“Malaysia is truly honoured to co-host an arts initiative on this unprecedented scale,” said Najib in a statement before today’s launch.

“‘Titian Budaya’ has aptly highlighted the common cultural roots that are shared between Malaysia and Singapore … It is our vision to cultivate a meeting ground to breed the next generation of artists while fostering a common sense of a local and regional artistic identity that will help shape our countries’ cultural and intellectual milieu,” he added in the statement.

Regina De Rozario, a participating Singaporean artist and member of interdisciplinary arts duo Perception3, said that she was honoured to be invited to the event.

“It is a good opportunity to see what similarities there are between contemporary Singaporean and Malaysian artists,” De Rozario said.

“I think we (Singaporean and Malaysian artists) have shared concerns in terms of national identity and what that means to us, the spaces in our immediate environment, as well as cultural artefacts that we are endeavouring to put down and document,” Rozario added.

Lee noted that the term “Titian Budaya,” which means bridging cultures in Malay, may suggest that there is a wide gulf between the two countries. But this could not be further from the truth, he said.

“In fact, we are close together. We share deep historical, familial and cultural links. We share the same passion for shopping, music and food,” said Lee.

“We may argue over whose nasi lemak is better but both nasi lemak are quite good,” said Lee, adding that for decades, Singaporeans and Malaysians have shared cultural icons.

He listed several artistes who are well known across both sides of the causeway, including Malaysian pop sensation Yuna, Malaysian actress Jo Kukathas and Singaporean idol Taufik Batisah. Taufik will be performing during the Titian Budaya Night in Kuala Lumpur on December 8.

To applause all around, Najib added: “I am confident that that this will truly be a bridge that will not be controversial and bring us closer and closer together.” — TODAY

*Scheduled events of “Titian Budaya” can be found at www.titianbudayasg.com