Top Military Award Conferred on Indonesian Defence Minister

Indonesian Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto was conferred Singapore's highest military award, the Darjah Utama Bakti Cemerlang (Tentera) [Distinguished Service Order (Military)], by President Tharman Shanmugaratnam at the Istana this afternoon. Prior to the investiture, Mr Prabowo inspected a Guard of Honour at the Istana.

Mr Prabowo was conferred the award for his significant contributions towards strengthening the close and long-standing bilateral defence relations between Indonesia and Singapore. Under his leadership, the Defence Cooperation Agreement between the two countries was ratified, which represented a significant milestone in bilateral defence relations. Mr Prabowo promoted closer collaboration between both defence establishments, including overseeing the conduct of key bilateral and multilateral exercises such as Exercise Safkar Indopura and Exercise Super Garuda Shield, as well as high-level visits. Both defence establishments also worked together on multilateral platforms such as the ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting (ADMM) and ADMM-Plus.

The investiture was attended by Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen, Senior Minister of State for Defence Mr Zaqy Mohamad, Chief of Defence Force Vice Admiral (VADM) Aaron Beng, as well as other senior government officials and military officers from Singapore and Indonesia.

Mr Prabowo, who is in Singapore from 21 to 22 November 2023, called on Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong this afternoon after the investiture. Dr Ng also hosted Mr Prabowo to lunch, during which they discussed regional security developments and ways to further strengthen our bilateral defence relationship.