Merger with Malaysia not on my agenda: S'pore PM<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE (AFP): Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong
\nreaffirmed yesterday that a merger with Malaysia was not on his
\npolitical agenda, after the prospect of reunification stirred an
\nemotional debate in both countries.<\/p>\n
\"Malaysia and Singapore are two different countries, two
\ndifferent societies, and want to remain so,\" Goh said at a
\nteachers' day rally, adding that both were successful economies
\nwith a bright future.<\/p>\n
Goh's remarks followed an angry reaction at the weekend from
\nMalaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who hit out at
\nSingapore leaders for raising the \"bogey\" of a forced merger as a
\nwarning to Singaporeans.<\/p>\n
\"The reactions on the subject of remerger with Malaysia on
\nboth sides of the causeway were instructive,\" Goh said.<\/p>\n
\"As I have said before, remerger was never on my political
\nagenda,\" he said. \"Singaporeans have also signaled that they want
\nto remain as Singaporeans.\"<\/p>\n
In his speech, copies of which were distributed to the press,
\nhe made no reference to Mahathir's weekend remarks that Kuala
\nLumpur was offended by the comments of Singaporean leaders.<\/p>\n
Mahathir cited a suggestion that Singaporeans had rejected the
\nidea of reunification as they favored a harmonious multiracial
\nsociety with meritocracy as its guiding principle.<\/p>\n
\"They are only trying to show that Malaysia is bad and did not
\npractice meritocracy and that Singaporeans will be punished with
\na merger with Malaysia if they did not perform,\" he was quoted by
\nthe press here as saying.<\/p>\n
\"It implied as though we do not have racial harmony and
\nmeritocracy and that it happens only in Singapore,\" Mahathir
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
He charged that Singapore did not really follow meritocracy,
\nsaying Malays in Singapore were discriminated against and not
\ngiven high posts in the armed forces or the opportunity to become
\nair force pilots.<\/p>\n
The prospect of reunification was raised in June by Singapore
\nelder statesman Lee Kuan Yew, who said Malaysia was fast catching
\nup with Singapore in economic terms and suggested the two
\ncountries could be reunited if Malaysia put merit above race.<\/p>\n
Lee, 72, brought predominantly ethnic-Chinese Singapore into
\nthe Malaysian federation in 1963 as British colonial rule came to
\nan end, but the city-state was expelled just two years later amid
\nfriction over racial rights.<\/p>\n
When Goh referred to the merger idea at an August 18 national
\nday rally, sections of the Malaysian media saw it as an attempt
\nto jolt Singaporeans out of complacency about the island's
\neconomic success.<\/p>\n
In his speech yesterday, Goh cautioned that there was \"no
\nguarantee that life will always be tranquil and pleasant in
\nfuture\" for the city-state recognized as one of the world's most
\nsuccessful economies.<\/p>\n
\"So we are on our own: 650 square kilometers, three million
\npeople, no natural resources, no oil, maybe not even enough
\nwater.\"<\/p>\n
But he expressed confidence about Singapore's ability to
\nmaintain its success, noting that it had the economic
\ninfrastructure it lacked when it separated from Malaysia.<\/p>\n
\"If we could succeed in the last 31 years, we should do even
\nbetter in the next 31 years with the resources and people we now
\nhave,\" he said. \"But this is provided the Singaporeans born after
\n1965 have the values and skills and the commitment and
\ndetermination to take Singapore to greater heights.\"<\/p>",
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