The Straits Times - 13 June 2009
It makes no sense for bilateral ties to be sunny one day, stormy the next, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said at an interview with Singapore journalists in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday. This is an edited transcript of his remarks.
MR LEE: This is my fourth day, we're off to Ipoh tonight. I leave Kuala Lumpur with some optimism, guarded optimism, because we have to see the words translated into action.
Prime Minister Najib said in Singapore that he wants cooperation with Singapore. He told the PM, let's work together. He repeated the same to me.
I had to emphasise that it cannot be cooperation today, non-cooperation next year and then back again, backwards and forwards, because these are very big investments both in the Iskandar region and the third bridge to Desaru and the east coast, from Desaru up to Mersing, up to Kuantan and Pekan, massive projects requiring huge investments, the returns can only be calculated in decades, not in terms of years.
So it must be a long-term commitment and it must mean cooperation across the board, not just selective cooperation where it's win for one side, less win for the other.
We either cooperate across the board and stay that way for decades or we revert to the old position where from time to time, we might work together, from time to time, we will not be working together. But no private investor will go into huge projects, which require decades to recoup, unless there's long-term stability in the policy.
The third bridge from Changi, it's for technical discussions. It does not make sense to us if at the same time, they punish us by making us barge sand from Vietnam. It's no benefit to them; it's just to cause us extra losses. So if it is cooperation, it must be across the board and the final balance must be fair on both sides and not just in specific, selective areas.
I was encouraged because I met the Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin, and he repeated the same things, so obviously, the matter has been discussed in Cabinet and this was confirmed when I met the three vice-presidents (of Umno), Minister for Defence, Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Regional Development and they told me exactly the same.
In other words, Prime Minister Najib Razak had not only said this in Singapore, but had come back and briefed his Cabinet on his new policy. So as far as the Cabinet is concerned, they are solidly behind this policy, but as I said, if there are discordant voices, either from the states who may voice some reservations or from whatever high sources in Umno, then doubts will be cast in the minds of private investors.
The government will continue because we have promised an iconic project, we will carry on with that. But private investors do their long-term calculations; when they put these massive investments in, they need to be certain the policy will last decades.
Then we don't have to send our economic plants to Vietnam, to China, to India or to Batam, which we thought it wise to do because there were times when, whether it's rhetoric or otherwise, our investors felt they were not welcome.
When hiccups do occur, how should both sides react?
Mr Lee: My suggestion, which they have welcomed, is that there should be a lot of to-ing and fro-ing between the ministers and even the top officials, so even before hiccups reach the stage of third party notes, ministers can just pick up the phone, speak to each other and sort them out, which was the way it was done in the early years. But that generation, we went to the same schools, same colleges...so there was an easy relationship. Now we are separately educated.
Before, we used to have Malaya-Singapore Cambridge University Association or Oxford University, now we have two associations. So I suggest that both have joint celebrations, their national day, our national day, Hari Raya, Chinese New Year, Deepavali. In other words, let there be some bonding which will make the relationship easier.
Malaysia is our closest neighbour. Many Malay men have married Malay women from Singapore. Many Chinese have married men and women from Malaysia and they visit each other, so it does not make good sense to have this ambivalent relationship where one day, the weather is sunny, and the next day it's wet and flooding.
You spoke about guarded optimism. Is that how you feel also about the resolution of long-term bilateral issues?
Mr Lee: There are no longstanding bilateral issues which cannot be resolved. There were agreements and if there's any doubt over any agreement, it can go for third party adjudication, whether our interpretation of what has been agreed is right or their interpretation of what is agreed is right. There's no need to quarrel. As with the case of Pedra Branca, both went to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), resolved.
There are no legacy issues. These are firm agreements made between two parties, seriously intended, signed by both parties, knowing what its content meant. There's now a difference in when is the operational date etc, we can send it to third party adjudication, either the international arbitration court or the ICJ or even any of the renowned arbitration centres. The thing can be resolved. But if we start arguing and say that this is a legacy issue, forget about it, it is not resolved.
Given the results of last year's general election in Malaysia, would you say there is uncertainty on the political front? What's your reading, having met some of the opposition leaders?
Mr Lee: Everybody knows there's been a tectonic shift and the analysis has been that the urban Malays, especially the educated young Malays, voted this time for the opposition, together with the Chinese and Indians.
I met Hadi Awang (president of Parti Islam SeMalaysia or PAS). He told me, in Kelantan we are very fair to all races, the Chinese temples, Indian temples, Chinese are given ownership of land, so there's no discrimination. He believes that same policy can spread across Malaysia, not just in Kelantan.
That's left to be seen, what Umno does to win back Malay, Chinese and Indian support, which this time went to the other side.
Hadi Awang said in the countryside, rural Malays are not educated, therefore they still depend on the patronage of Umno, so they still stay loyal.
In the towns, they are now well educated, many engineers and professionals have joined and become members of PAS or Parti Keadilan Rakyat and he's said we're patient people, year by year, there'll be more and more people moving from countryside to towns. Therefore, more and more people will be educated and be sceptical and critical, so they are quite sure that time is on their side.
It really depends on how Umno and Barisan Nasional (BN) react. I do not believe they are going to stay put, because then as PM Najib has said, they're in for problems.
The opposition has made great inroads. Are you concerned about that and what are the implications for Singapore?
Mr Lee: If I'm not concerned, why should I be here? As I told you, it's a tectonic shift which (opposition coalition) Pakatan Rakyat did not expect, neither did BN, and both sides have done their analysis and come to the same conclusions.
The town Malays and town Chinese and Indians want more transparency, no double language and a more inclusive society. So Prime Minister Najib has said, 'One Malaysia'.
The Chinese press, whom I met separately, said they first reported it as one multi-racial Malaysia and then they were corrected to say One Malaysia, that is to say we share one Malaysia but the communities remain distinct, as Malays, Chinese, Indians. It's a different set-up.
Is this a trip down memory lane for you?
Mr Lee: In part, because I haven't been to Seremban for 40 years. I used to go there and practise in Seremban in the courts, so I had some nostalgia to see some of the places.
The Menteri Besar was happy to see me, arranged for a coach, personally escorted me. He'd also like us to carry our investments up from Malacca to Seremban.
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