Singapore and Brunei mark 50 years of defence ties with joint parade in Muara

Singapore and Brunei marked 50 years of defence relations on October 10, 2026, with a joint military parade at Muara Naval Base in Brunei. Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah attended the ceremony, which brought together personnel and operational assets from both armed forces. The anniversary comes amid continuing bilateral exercises, giving service members opportunities to train together as well as meet their counterparts.

Channel News Asia reported that 256 personnel took part in the parade, with assets from the land, naval and air forces. The ceremony was part of a year-long programme that Singapore’s Ministry of Defence described as including exercises across all three services and new areas of cooperation. The cited accounts describe those activities, but provide no measure of whether the anniversary itself has changed military readiness or produced an operational result.

How Singapore and Brunei built their defence relationship

Formal defence relations began in 1976, according to CNA. The connection dates to the early years of both militaries: the Royal Brunei Armed Forces was established in 1961 and the Singapore Armed Forces in 1965. Singapore’s first Chief of Defence Force, retired Lieutenant-General Winston Choo, trained alongside leaders of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces, CNA reported, citing Singapore’s defence ministry.

The Brunei Prime Minister’s Office reported Wong’s arrival for the golden jubilee celebration and identified the Royal Brunei Navy Naval Base in Muara as its October 10 venue. His visit and the joint parade placed the anniversary at the level of the two countries’ leaders, while the exercises described by their forces show the relationship’s regular military activity.

Exercise Pelican brought the navies together before the parade

Exercise Pelican was first conducted in 1979. Singapore’s defence ministry says it has since brought generations of personnel from the two navies together for training, interoperability and professional ties. It also reported that the navies conducted an inaugural Underwater Demolition Range Demonstration on October 8. Those dates place the naval activities immediately before the anniversary parade.

At Pelican’s closing ceremony, Singapore Navy Colonel Kan Shengyao David said bonds among senior officers had begun through exercises such as Pelican and shared training courses. He said the navies would continue to deepen trust and cooperation. His remarks describe the purpose officers see in repeated contact; the available accounts do not quantify its effect on operations.

Officers describe friendships formed during shared training

CNA interviewed Singapore Army Lieutenant Colonel Shahreel Adam and Royal Brunei Land Force Major Mahmud Afifi Mohn Kifli, who met as coursemates at Singapore’s Goh Keng Swee Command and Staff College in 2023. The officers have met nearly every year since. Shahreel told CNA: “I think we sort of skipped a step a little bit. We jumped from being coursemates to friends almost immediately.”

Their time together began with long hours of military planning and continued over meals, where they talked about food and football scores, CNA reported. The pair met again when Shahreel’s unit trained in Brunei earlier this year and when Afifi visited Singapore for the Shangri-La Dialogue. Their account illustrates how a training course can sustain a professional connection after its participants return to their own forces.

Another friendship CNA reported began at Exercise Airguard in 2016. Singapore air force Major Thng Lizhen and Royal Brunei Air Force Major Noraqidah Efinddi were the first female platoon commanders in that bilateral exercise. Noraqidah said having another female leader as an ally mattered when, early in her career, she was often the only female officer or leader in a room.

“We encouraged each other, learned from one another and, most importantly, knew that we were not navigating those challenges alone,” Noraqidah told CNA. Her experience and the two land officers’ friendship are individual accounts of service across the relationship. The confirmed continuing activity is the programme of bilateral training, including the October naval exercise; the cited reporting does not establish that every participant shares the same experience.