Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's National Day Rally speech on Malaysian relations served as a reminder of the importance of the 1962 Water Agreement.

This can be seen in the different way that PM Lee spoke on Aug. 19 about infrastructure projects, as opposed to his response to Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's suggestion to change the Agreement.

On Aug. 13, Mahathir mulled over the idea of raising the price of raw water sold to Singapore by more than tenfold.

Mahathir's main bone of contention was that the price of water sold to Singapore, a foreign country, was lower than the price of water sold from Johor to Melaka, a fellow Malaysian state.

However, PM Lee gave little ground on this matter. During the Rally, he said:

"Dr Mahathir has said that he wants to review the 1962 Water Agreement. This is not a new issue, it's come up before when Dr Mahathir was previously PM.

And you know Singapore's view. The Water Agreement is sacrosanct, and we must proceed strictly in accordance with its terms."

Message loud and clear -- Singapore will not entertain any notion of changing the Agreement.

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Mutual benefit and agreement

However, PM Lee chose to take a different tack when discussing infrastructure projects.

He emphasised the the mutual good of the High Speed Rail (HSR) and the Rapid Transit System Link (RTS) to Johor, saying:

"We entered into these two projects in good faith, after careful negotiations, because they benefited both countries."

Mahathir has made several public statements about cancelling the HSR project.

He believes that the HSR is too costly for Malaysia as the government is currently faced with about RM1 trillion (S$337 billion) in debt and liabilities.

But PM Lee pointed out the meeting between Singapore's Minister for Transport Khaw Boon Wan and Malaysia's Economic Affairs Minister Azmin Ali on Aug. 11 to find a "constructive way forward."

He added:

"Both the HSR and RTS Link have legally binding Bilateral Agreements. These set out clearly the duties of each party, and what happens if either party wants to change or to terminate the agreements.

Both sides have to carry out what has been agreed to, unless we mutually agree to vary the terms."

While these infrastructure projects, like the Water Agreement, are legally binding, it shows Singapore's willingness to engage in further discussion on the issue.

Unlike water, there is some room for changing the terms -- if both sides agree.

It demonstrates that while Singapore will be a good neighbour and negotiate with Malaysia due to their change in priorities, water security is something we do not take lightly.

No "I" in team

PM Lee also took the time to give a shoutout to other members of the Malaysian government, not just Mahathir.

He mentioned working with current Malaysian Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who was Chief Minister of Johor when the Linggiu Dam was built.

He happened to visit Muhyiddin while the latter was in Singapore for medical treatment.

PM Lee also mentioned meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Wan Azizah Wan Ismail during his recent trip to Putrajaya, as well as her husband Anwar Ibrahim, the man widely tipped to replace Mahathir as Prime Minister.

After all, Mahathir is already 93 years old, and has said that he will serve as PM for "two years or more", depending on the people's wishes.

When Mahathir steps down, it's likely that another member of the Pakatan Harapan coalition will replace him as the big boss.

Perhaps this was why PM Lee chose to emphasise Mahathir and his team, not Mahathir alone, in future Singapore-Malaysia relations:

"We have done substantial projects with successive governments and brought tangible benefits to both Singaporeans and Malaysians.

And I hope that with Dr Mahathir and his new team, we can build on our deep partnership, look ahead, and make further progress together."

You can read a summary of his speech on Malaysian relations in the Facebook post below: