Category: ASEAN

In The Star today:

The Nation reported that all “white” elephants found in Thailand must be presented to the king and become his sole ownership.

“White elephants are regarded as auspicious. The more a monarch acquires during a reign, the more prosperous and happy his kingdom will be,” according to The Nation.

Are you thinking what I’m thinking?

If no, Malaysia does have a “white elephant” in Johor. Since the Thais see white elephants as auspicious, they’d appreciate Malaysia offering our white elephant to them as, er, gift of friendship.

While I’m relieved that the Malaysian government has stopped the bridge talks with Singapore and directly crossed out the possibility of Malaysia acceding to unacceptable Singaporean demands, I’m extremely disappointed with the Malaysian government’s decision to cancel the bridge altogether (tag). I found it out through TV3. Bernama has more:

KUALA LUMPUR, April 12 (Bernama) — The government has decided to stop the construction of the bridge to replace the Johor Causeway that links Malaysia and Singapore, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced Wednesday.

He said the government had also decided to stop all negotiations pertaining to the bridge. Construction of the bridge, also known as the “scenic bridge” began early this year, to replace half of the Johor Causeway on the Malaysian side.

Though the reason for quitting the negotiation has been given, reason for the bridge cancelation is still a mystery. Hence, tomorrow’s local papers will be of extraordinary interest. The Malaysian government must clear out the air.

Before tomorrow comes, I’d like to say, historical heritage is not a proper reason and I will not accept such incoherent reasoning.

As stated earlier, I’m for a bridge, straight or otherwise. And no, if there’s still anybody that thinks the bridge would be a cul-de-sac, it is not. At the same time, I’m against bowing to Singaporean impossible demands. You could say, I’m being hawkish on this matter.

p/s – ReCom.org is down (again!) but it should be back up in less than a day.

pp/s – as if one disappointment is not enough, Malaysia lost 1 – 0 to Japan in Hockey World Cup Qualifier in Changzhou, China. This makes it hard for Malaysia to qualify for the World Cup.

ppp/s – the Prime Minister answers the mystery:

PUTRAJAYA, April 12 (Bernama) — Malaysia decided to stop the construction of the “scenic bridge” meant to replace the Malaysian half of the Johor Causeway because of its legal implications and complications, said Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi Wednesday.

The Prime Minister said the Cabinet deliberated on the project at its weekly meeting today and felt that there would still be legal implications and complications to resolve afterward should Malaysia proceed with the project.

“Problems will arise when we have to cut the causeway, the water pipes and railway track and connected them to the new bridge. The problems will continue,” he told Bernama when asked to explain why Malaysia did not just build the bridge in its own territory without negotiating with Singapore.

So, does this mean we could only have a bridge in 2060 when the water contract ends?

I’m not sure how to react to the announcement that Malaysia and Singapore have agreed in principle to build a straight bridge in order to replace the Causeway. Reason is, Malaysia relented on two points: airspace and sand supply.

In return of Singaporean cooperation for a straight bridge, Singapore wants to use Malaysian airspace to train its air force and a guaranteed sand supply to continue its reclamation projects. Without going too deep into the issue, I’d say this as highly unreasonable; I feel it’s impossible to meet. That impossible demands and the need to fuel economic growth in southern Malaysia are the reasons why I support a construction of a bridge to replace the Causeway, without Singaporean cooperation.

Concerning air space, I simply don’t trust the Singaporean government and their military even less. Hell, I don’t trust my own government. Singapore says it wants to use Malaysian airspace for training purposes. However, it isn’t too hard for Singapore or anybody for that matter to turn this little maneuver into some sort of espionage missions. I don’t know what high value targets are there in Johor but I bet Singapore would know if Malaysia is to allow Singapore to conduct “training” in Malaysian Johor airspace.

More interesting is sand supply. Singapore has been aggressive in reclaiming lands from the sea; the reclamation projects have attracted Malaysian and Indonesian attention. Both have expressed concerned about the projects but Singapore ignored it. Malaysia was especially concerned with Singaporean reclamation at Tuas in the west and at Pulau Tekong in the east; both border Malaysian state of Johor. In 2003, both countries went to the International Court of Justice to resolve the issue once and for all. The ICJ in turn sided with Singapore with reservations.

Regardless of the result, it doesn’t matter because Singapore had to stop its reclamation effort, thanks to Indonesia. Previously, Indonesia provided the raw materials Singapore needed for its reclamation project. Like Malaysia, Indonesia was suspicious of the Singaporean effort. In the end, Indonesia cut off the supply, fearing Singapore redrawing the Singaporean-Indonesian border. The projects are still on hold. Now, Singapore needs to find a new source of sand. And guess who Singapore is turning to now?

If Malaysia agrees to supply Singapore the sand, it would be an odd thing to do. Malaysia is against Singaporean reclamation project. For Malaysia to supply the sand and enable Singapore to continue a project that Malaysia is so vehemently disagree of, is, again, odd. It defies logic.

Perhaps, this is because Malaysia knows that Singapore could get the sand that its need from somewhere else. We know how Singapore managed to buy a company of strategic importance in Thailand. Given that, it wouldn’t be hard for Singapore to get some sand from Thailand. Maybe here’s is just Malaysia doing a “hey, why not make some money out of it?” act.

Unless Singapore could sweeten the pot – like allowing Malaysians that work in Singapore to withdraw money that the Singaporean government has been withholding – I definitely believe a crooked bridge is a better deal. Of course, a straight bridge is good but circumstances make it not too favorable.

With the bent bridge, Malaysia gets a little less of what it wants without giving Singapore anything. If Malaysia accedes to Singaporean demands, Malaysia would get what it wants by giving too much to Singapore.