Malaysia's relationship with neighbouring Singapore is poor and subject to violent fluctuations, Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said in remarks published today.

"(The relationship) is not good. I think it is a relationship full of uncertainties," Syed Hamid told The Star newspaper in an interview.

While Malaysia believed in good neighbourliness, Singapore was trying to "score points all the time" and had on many occasions done things that were inconsiderate, he said.

Syed Hamid cited as an example the fact that Malaysia was forced to move out of its naval base in Singapore 10 years ago, accusing the island republic of reneging on an agreement made before its independence from the Malay Federation in 1965.

Singapore increased the rental three-fold in 1991, he said, adding that although Malaysia had spent millions of dollars on the base it was not compensated when it was forced to withdraw.

Relations between Malaysia and Singapore should be deeper than with the other eight members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) because of their shared history, but Singapore tended to give negative signals to other countries in an effort to belittle Malaysia, Syed Hamid said.