Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said yesterday (Jan. 16) that the era of Malaysia-Singapore relations under former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad was characterised by "confrontational diplomacy and barbed rhetoric" between both countries.

So, what actually happened to Malaysia-Singapore relations during the Mahathir years?

Relations began well when Mahathir first took office

Mahathir was the fourth PM of Malaysia from 1981 to 2003. During those years, his Singaporean counterparts were founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew up till 1990 and Goh Chok Tong from 1990 to 2004.

Even though LKY has said in his memoirs, The Singapore Story, that he made more progress in solving bilateral issues with Mahathir than with previous Malaysian PMs, relations between both countries during the Mahathir years which began well were rocky.

When Mahathir had just taken office, he lifted Malaysia's ban on exporting construction materials to Singapore, allowed Singapore to acquire a portion of Malayan Railway land at Tanjong Pagar station for an expressway extension, and affirmed that Malaysia would honour the 1962 Water Agreement to provide 250 million gallons of water per day to Singapore.

Relations soured over the years

But the relations soured over the years, and Malaysia-Singapore relations reached the lowest point in both countries' history during the second half of Mahathir's premiership.

Some notable unresolved issues that faced both countries during the 1990s and early 2000s include:

• the Pedra Branca dispute
• a deadlock over the implementation of the Malaysia-Singapore Points of Agreement (POA) of 1990
• Issues concerning the CPF of Malaysians working in Singapore
• the water agreements
• construction of a "crooked" bridge to replace the existing Causeway.

The issues were only resolved by PM Lee Hsien Loong and PM Najib in 2010, when they managed to settle outstanding issues relating to the 1990 POA.

[related_story]

Issues on water pricing and agreements

Perhaps the most serious issue that strained relations between Malaysia and Singapore during that era concerned the water agreements between both countries.

In the early 2000s, Malaysia under Mahathir, wanted to revise the price of raw water it sold to Singapore, but faced a legal roadblock.

The 1961 and 1962 Water Agreements allowed for a price review 25 years after the respective agreements were signed. However, Malaysia chose not to review the price of water  in 1986 for the 1961 Water Agreement and 1987 for the 1962 Water Agreement.

Thus, Singapore took the view that Malaysia had lost its right to review the price of water.

But Malaysia did not let up, and things got so bad that Singapore was pushed into releasing the correspondence of between the leaders of Malaysia and Singapore to clarify unfair accusations made by Malaysia on the issue.

In Parliament on Jan. 25, 2003, then foreign affairs minister S Jayakumar said this:

"In setting out the facts, I shall be releasing the correspondence between the leaders of both countries and the diplomatic exchanges. I will also circulate copies of the two Water Agreements of 1961 and 1962, plus a supplementary water agreement in 1990 relating to the building of the Linggiu dam on the Johor River and the purchase by Singapore of treated water in excess of the 250 million gallons per day (mgd) from this river. These are all documents for the record. I have been reluctant to release these documents despite misrepresentation of facts from the other side because we hoped for a win-win outcome. But I have to release them now because this hope is no longer realistic and so much misinformation on the water issue has been put out by Malaysia that needs to be rebutted by conclusive evidence. Despite repeated attempts to clear the air through various MFA Spokesman’s comments and Parliamentary statements by me in this House, Malaysian misrepresentations have not ceased. Recently, there has even been loose talk of war in some Malaysian circles. We therefore have no choice but to set the record straight by releasing these documents for people to judge for themselves the truth of the matter. These documents will clear the air for everyone, especially Singaporeans who travel to Malaysia, read their media and talk to their Malaysian friends. These documents are in two volumes which will be given to Members. Madam Deputy Speaker, I request that they be part of the official records of the House."

You can read the rest of Jayakumar's speech on the issue in Parliament here.

As it stands today, the 1961 Water Agreement expired in 2011, and there has not been any changes to the price of raw water sold to Singapore via the existing 1962 Water Agreement.

Malaysia has also said that they would honour the 1962 Water Agreement, and that any review of water pricing was only possible if Singapore agreed to it.

Public airing of strained relations

The strained relations during the Mahathir era also played out very publicly during those years, with Mahathir often taking every public opportunity to make loose jibes at Singapore, such as the one below.

It is clear that that period of Malaysia-Singapore relations was a tumultuous one.

Moving on from that era

Fortunately for both countries, relations improved after the Mahathir era, when both sides took a less confrontational approach in relations.

In the era under PM Lee Hsien Loong and PM Najib, in particular, relations flourished especially with diplomatic efforts, such as the Singapore-Malaysia leaders' retreat which began in 2010, allowing leaders of both countries to build on ties.

It was at the retreat in 2011 that both leaders jointly announced the settlement of outstanding issues in the 1990 POA.

It was against this backdrop of good relations between Malaysia and Singapore, that PM Najib said at the joint press conference for the latest Singapore-Malaysia leaders' retreat yesterday (Jan. 16) that:

“We believe in good relations with our neighbours, with Singapore, and we have proven that we can bring tangible benefits to the people, if we work closely together.”

At the same press conference, he also comment the past era of relations between both countries:

“We certainly do not want to return to the era of confrontational diplomacy and barbed rhetoric between our two countries. It was an era that we want to forget.”

He added this too:

“We certainly do not want to come back to that era”

 

Top image from NAS.

Here's an unrelated but equally interesting article:

You need to get with the times, both for your bank account and your life