Malaysia cautions S'pore not to take it for granted<\/p>\n
JOHOR BARU, Malaysia (AP): Amid a worsening row with
\nneighboring Singapore, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad
\ncautioned the tiny city-state yesterday not to take peace-loving
\nMalaysia for granted.<\/p>\n
\"We feel saddened when there is tension between Singapore and
\nMalaysia,\" Mahathir said in a speech in Johor Baru, which is
\nseparated from Singapore by a thin strip of water.<\/p>\n
\"We try our best to be cordial. We have no ill will against
\nit,\" he said to thunderous cheers from nearly 10,000 people who
\nhad packed an indoor stadium to hear him.<\/p>\n
Many in his party have been urging strong action against
\nSingapore, including suspending new bilateral deals. The dispute
\nis over the location of the immigration and customs facility for
\npassengers crossing the Malaysia-Singapore border.<\/p>\n
Despite Malaysia's opposition, Singapore relocated its
\nrailroad immigration facility last Saturday, causing hardships
\nfor several thousand commuters who now have to disembark twice
\nfor immigration checks.<\/p>\n
Malaysia says it should be allowed to keep its immigration
\ncontrol at the original site because it owns the land under an
\nold treaty.<\/p>\n
In 1989, Singapore decided to abandon the joint checkpoint in
\nTanjong Pagar and move it closer to the actual border, saying
\nthis would facilitate checks on drug traffickers, smugglers and
\nillegal immigrants.<\/p>\n
\"Singapore owns land in Malaysia, but we don't harass them,\"
\nMahathir said.<\/p>\n
\"We are peace-loving but don't take us for granted,\" he warned
\nSingapore, which depends on Malaysia for more than half the water
\nits citizens use. Some politicians have urged that Malaysia use
\nwater as a bargaining tool with Singapore.<\/p>\n
\"They asked us to get out even though we supply them with
\nwater. Please be considerate. We are considerate,\" Mahathir said.<\/p>\n
Singapore has said the dispute over the railroad immigration
\npoint should not be related to the water issue. \"If they don't
\nsell it to us, they don't have anybody to sell it to,\" Singapore
\nMinister for Trade and Industry Lee Yock Suan said Monday.<\/p>\n
In Singapore, an angry citizen wrote a letter offering his
\nservices in case of war.<\/p>\n
\"As a sovereign nation, we are not to be taken for granted. As
\nan operationally ready NSman (national serviceman), I am prepared
\nto defend and die for Singapore,\" said the letter from Chang
\nChern Yuen, a reservist, published in yesterday's Straits Times.<\/p>\n
Relations have been rocky in the past, but there is little
\ndanger of an armed conflict between the two nations, which were
\nunited briefly in 1963.<\/p>\n
The experiment failed two years later but Singapore still
\nremains Malaysia's third-largest trade partner and an important
\ngateway into Malaysia. More than 200,000 Malaysians cross over to
\nSingapore each day to work and 27 trains run daily between the
\ntwo countries.<\/p>\n
Yesterday morning a small fire broke out at the Tanjong Pagar
\nstation still used by Malaysian customs officials. Singaporean
\nauthorities said they could not rule out arson as the cause of
\nthe fire.<\/p>\n
The small fire in the Tanjong Pagar station bordering the
\ncity-state's financial district was put out by the Civil Defense
\nForce about 15 minutes after it was reported yesterday morning,
\nthe force said in a statement.<\/p>\n
\"We are still investigating and therefore not ruling out any
\npossibilities,\" spokesman Capt. Koh Chin Yee told The Associated
\nPress.<\/p>\n
The station was operating normally, with passengers waiting
\nfor the next train as the fire was extinguished. No one was
\nevacuated during the fire, the statement added.<\/p>",
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