Developing S'pore-M'sia ties must be a long-term commitment: MM Lee

By Channel News Asia

SINGAPORE: Singapore's Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said developing bilateral ties between Malaysia and Singapore must be a long-term commitment.

He was speaking to the Singapore media on Friday after completing the first leg of his Malaysian visit in Kuala Lumpur.

Mr Lee said no private investor would go into huge projects like Iskandar Malaysia and the proposed third bridge linking Singapore and Johor unless there is long-term stability in policy.

Mr Lee, who kicked off his week-long visit to Malaysia in the federal capital Kuala Lumpur, said he has been meeting both leaders in the government and the opposition to get a feel of the new situation under Prime Minister Najib Razak.

He said: "I had to emphasise that it cannot be co-operation today and non-co-operation next year and then backwards and forwards, because these are very big investments both in the Iskandar region and the third bridge to Desaru in the East Coast - from Desaru up to Mersing until Kuantan and Pekan.

"It does not make sense to us if at the same time they punish us by making us barge sand from Vietnam. It's no benefit to them, it's just to cause us extra losses. The final balance must be fair on both sides and not just specific selective areas."

Mr Lee believes that the Malaysian cabinet is solidly behind Prime Minister Najib's policy to co-operate with Singapore in a broad range of areas.

He said: "If there are discordant voices either from the states who may voice some reservations or from whatever high sources within UMNO, then doubts will be cast in the minds of private investors."

Besides expanding the long-term bilateral co-operation, managing the occasional hiccups between both countries is also important.

So Mr Lee has suggested ministers and top officials from both countries meet often so that when the occasional hiccups do occur, they are just a phone call away to get them solved.

The minister mentor also feels that there are no long-standing bilateral issues between the two neighbours which cannot be resolved.

He said: "There were agreements and if there are any doubts about any agreement, it can go for third party adjudication, whether our interpretation as to what has been agreed is right or their interpretation of what is agreed is right.

"There is no need to quarrel, as in the case of Pedra Branca - both went to the international court of justice and was resolved. There are no legacy issues. "These are firm agreements made by two parties, seriously intended, signed by both parties knowing what its content meant. There is now a difference in when is the operational date, etc. We can send it to a third party adjudicator."

Mr Lee said that he leaves Kuala Lumpur with some guarded optimism about bilateral ties between Malaysia and Singapore.

Mr Lee was also asked for his views on the outcome of last year's general election in Malaysia. He said it has been a tectonic shift and the analysis has been that the urban Malays voted this time for the opposition together with the Chinese and Indian voters.

He added that much will depend on how the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition reacts to this changing trend of Malay voters.

Mr Lee said: "In the towns, they are now well educated and many engineers and professionals have joined to become members of PAS or Parti Keadilan and they are patient people.

"Year by year, there will be more people moving from the countryside to the towns, therefore more and more people will be educated and will be sceptical and critical. So they are quite sure time is on their side." - CNA/vm