Earlier today (July 19, 2018), Dr Mahathir told Channel NewsAsia in a doorstop interview that the Singapore-Kuala Lumpur High Speed Rail (HSR) project is likely to be postponed to a later date:

JUST IN: Dr Mahathir says too costly to unilaterally terminate KL-Singapore High Speed Rail so they are looking at deferring or reducing the cost but deferment more likely. pic.twitter.com/vePrj95EDF

— Sumisha Naidu (@sumishanaidu) July 19, 2018

This is what he said:

"At the moment when we look at the financial situation of the country, we thought we couldn't go ahead with that.

But having studied it.... the implications of unilaterally discarding the contract and the cost of it... we decided that maybe we will have to do it at a later date...or we may have to reduce the price, but reduction of the price, I think, is very difficult as far as we can make out, so it will have to be deferred."

Change in tone from previous announcements

This reply is a change from Mahathir's previous statements to the media that the HSR is too costly for Malaysia to bear as it is currently facing upwards of RM1 trillion in debt and liabilities. Mahathir recently told Channel NewsAsia that his government wishes to bring that amount down to around around RM300 billion to RM500 billion.

Doing away with expensive infrastructural projects - even those that were already signed for - was one of the campaign promises that the Mahathir-led Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition made in order to win in the election.

Representatives to meet in July

Mahathir's response comes a few days after his Economic Affairs Minister Mohamed Azmin Ali told the media that the fate of the HSR is uncertain, saying that it is not a "terrible project" and "any infrastructural project will benefit both Malaysia and Singapore".

Azmin also confirmed that a Malaysian representative will be sent to Singapore to discuss the fate of the HSR by the end of July.

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Singapore's Ministry of Transport (MOT) also confirmed on July 19 that the Malaysian government has informed them that the latter will confirm the date for the July meeting soon.

This comes on the heels of Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan's recent reply in Parliament that Malaysia did not send any official reply to Singapore regarding the termination of the HSR project and that Singapore will exercise its right to compensation if it is terminated.

From termination to deferment, who knows what the fate of the HSR will be? Guess we'll wait and see.

The ups and downs of the Singapore-Kuala Lumpur High Speed Rail:

Top image via Twitter.