SINGAPORE: After a Malaysian politician seemingly took issue with Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan’s explanation on why the city-state will not negotiate with Iran for the safe passage through through the Strait of Hormuz, she received backlash online, with netizens telling her in effect that she should mind her own business.

Dr Balakrishnan said this in Parliament on Tuesday (April 7), in response to a question from Workers’ Party MP Fadli Fawzi as to whether Singapore would look into agreements with Tehran or pay tolls for its vessels. 

“There is a right of transit passage. It is not a privilege to be granted by the bordering state, it’s not a licence to be supplicated for, it is not a toll to be paid,” the minister said, calling it an example of Singapore “upholding principle, not taking sides.” 

However, Nurul Izzah Anwar, the daughter of Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and Deputy President of the People’s Justice Party (PKR), characterised Singapore’s refusal as “revealing and regrettable,” according to her April 8 statement.

She said that it rejects diplomacy in favour of a narrow strategic stance, adding that it abandons dialogue, deemed by Malaysia as essential.

Moreover, she called Iran’s control over the Strait of Hormuz “an attempt to seek a durable peace,” adding, “Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s engagement on this matter is rooted in safeguarding regional stability, energy security, and the broader interests of Southeast Asia. To suggest otherwise, even implicitly, is to dismiss the very tools that have long preserved peace in our region.” 

Malaysia has said that it has a “good diplomatic relationship with the Iranian government,” and PM Anwar thanked the president of Iran after tankers were allowed to pass through the Strait. 

On April 7, its foreign ministry confirmed that the first of seven Malaysia-owned commercial vessels that had been stranded in the Strait was already on its way to its final destination. Additionally, ships from Pakistan, India, and China are als...