In a written parliamentary reply, deputy foreign minister Mohamad Alamin said Malaysia and Singapore signed an agreement on the matter in 1995, and it remained the only maritime delineation agreement between the two countries.

“Prior to 1995, the Malaysia-Singapore maritime boundary in the Tebrau Strait, also known as the Johor Strait, was based on the centre of the deep-water channel as stipulated in the Straits Settlements and Johore Territorial Waters Agreement 1927 dated Oct 19, 1927,” he said.

“Therefore, the foreign ministry believes that it is unnecessary to delineate the Singapore-Johor maritime boundary in the Tebrau Strait as the Malaysia-Singapore maritime boundary in the Tebrau Strait has already been demarcated and is still applicable to this day.”

However, he did not say where the present boundary was in the strait.

He added: “Malaysia and Singapore still have (other) segments that have not been demarcated and which are being negotiated.”

He was responding to a question from Wee Ka Siong (BN-Ayer Hitam) on the government’s view of demands to remap the country’s maritime border between Johor and Singapore, especially in the waters of the Tebrau Strait, following an incident in the area in October 2022.

According to a Bernama report, a group of 10 local fishermen claimed they were chased away by Singaporean authorities while setting up shrimp nets in the Pasir Laba area near the Second Link Bridge in Iskandar Puteri, Johor.

Kota Iskandar assemblyman Pandak Ahmad then proposed remapping the country’s maritime border between Johor and Singapore, particularly the Tebrau Strait, as he said the matter involved national security and sovereignty.