Dr Mustafa Izzuddin, a Fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore, said the annual Leader’s Retreat between Singapore and Malaysia had proven to be a success.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong held their seventh bilateral Leaders’ Retreat at Putrajaya on Dec 12.
Writing in Policy Forum, Mustafa said, the holding of these meetings, mainly behind closed doors and away from the glare of media publicity, had made them “conducive for both countries to better address bilateral concerns and negotiate bilateral solutions without the need for politicisation”.
“The primary beneficiaries of positive political atmospherics between the governments of Malaysia and Singapore are their peoples, in economic, psychological and socio-cultural terms.”
As in previous retreats, both leaders reviewed the past, emphasised the present, and prepared for the future of Malaysia-Singapore relations.
The most significant aspect of the latest Leader’s Retreat, he said, was the signing of a legally binding bilateral agreement to launch the highly-publicised high-speed rail (HSR) project connecting Kuala Lumpur to Singapore.
Tenders for the HSR are expected to be called in 2018 and the project is expected to be completed in 2026
This, Mustafa said, “can be seen as not only a cross-strait crown jewel but also the icing on the cake of a maturing partnership in Singapore-Malaysia relations under the leaderships of Najib and Lee”.
The cultural exchanges and people-to-people relations between both nations has further deepened the connection between both nations.
Other Asean countries could not only learn from the manner in which the leaders of Singapore and Malaysia conducted bilateral business, they could also use the HSR as a blueprint to build either intra- or inter-nation rail links, too, he added.
Mustafa predicted that Najib would use the HSR to fish for votes in the next general election, which must be held in 2018.
Noting that the HSR was one of the promises made in GE13, Mustafa said Najib would include it in the election manifesto to not only show his government’s strong political leadership, which had ensured progress on the HSR, but also the domestic benefits the HSR would bring.
He said if the Barisan Nasional won GE14, and even if Najib were to be replaced as prime minister, there would likely be no change to the HSR plan.
If, however, Najib’s ruling BN coalition is defeated, the HSR’s progress could be impeded.
One reason, he said, was that the opposition coalition had stated it would like the project to be postponed until its feasibility and sustainability could be sufficiently proven. Some in the opposition even want it scrapped as they feel the money would be better spent on improving the national interstate rail system, and thus directly benefiting many more Malaysians.
The other reason is that the “volatile political situation following a potential BN defeat may well require the newly elected government to refocus their priorities domestically, resulting in the HSR being put on the backburner”.