One of the key features of neighbourly relations between Asean regional leaders is for them, upon freshly assuming office, to embark on official visits to fellow Asean countries.
All three Malaysia's prime ministers since 2018 made such rounds of visits although none stayed in office long enough to make full rounds of visits to all Asean countries.
It is in such a spirit that Singapore's recently appointed Deputy Prime Minister, Lawrence Wong, was in Malaysia, this week.
This week also saw new Philippine President, Ferdinand Marcos Junior, making state visits to Indonesia and Singapore.
It is particularly noteworthy that the last such exchange of visits between Malaysia and the Philippines was by former president, Rodrigo Duterte, early in his term.
Given that our last three prime ministers have all given Manila a miss so far, it seems unlikely that Marcos will come to Malaysia anytime soon.
Given the current state of Malaysia-Philippines relations, perhaps both countries need to put in extra efforts to revive such bilateral summits between their leaders.
There are easily enumerated cogent reasons for doing so. Both our countries are founding members of Asean, to begin with.
We also share vital common interests, not least of which is our respective maritime disputes with China.
Our leaders need to compare notes bilaterally because only through a coordinated approach will we have better chances of getting the ear of (and greater leverage with) the regional superpower which has indicated a preference for dealing with our countries individually.
But then, there is, of course, the elephant in the room perpetually bedevilling Malaysia-Philippine bilateral relations: the unresolved Sabah claim.
Looking back, the high point of recent developments between both countries was the understanding struck between Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and the late President Fidel Ramos at the turn of the century.
The understanding reached by both leaders led to a flowering of sorts in relations between Kuala Lumpur and Manila.
Allowing trade and economic matters to take centre stage and even led to the creation of the sub-regional group, the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines- East Asean Growth Area.
Even so, the Sabah irritant intruded. An agreement for the opening of consular offices in Davao and Kota Kinabalu was only honoured by Malaysia.
Some 20 years later, the Philippine consular presence in Sabah is still being awaited, not least by both the sizable legal and illegal Filipino community in Sabah.
There is some question about what the second Marcos presidency will now do regarding the Sabah question, particularly with the recent appointment by Marcos Junior of Dr Clarita Carlos, a political scientist, as his national security adviser.
She rather memorably advocated a recalibration of relations with Malaysia by emphasising the claim to Sabah.
Although Carlos' views were expressed at the height of the Lahad Datu siege of 2013 and in her capacity as an academic, it remains to be seen if those views will colour her policy recommendations in her current government capacity.
Manila's official stance over Sabah since the claim to it was first asserted by President Diosdado Macapagal in the early 1960s has been, it must be said, a fairly realist one of recognising the facts on the ground and avoiding needlessly rocking the boat in bilateral ties.
Will this now change into a policy of a more robust and confrontational stance as Carlos had advocated in her private capacity?
My sense from the early days of the current Philippine administration (less than 100 days) is that a change in what till today has been a rationalist policy stance is not likely.
That said, official engagement — and especially at the top most leadership level — between the two countries ought to be revived.
The writer views developments in the nation, region and wider world from his vantage point in Kuching