KL slams S'pore as opposition warns of new rift

KL slams S'pore as opposition warns of new rift

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): A top official from Prime Minister
Mahathir Mohamad's ruling party blasted Singapore on Friday for
allegedly failing to appreciate Malaysia's goodwill towards the
neighboring republic.

At the same time, however, Malaysia's opposition warned
renewed rhetoric on both sides signaled "another new round of
mutual bashing and recrimination" and called for immediate talks
between foreign ministers of the two countries.

Mustapha Yaakub, secretary of the international bureau of the
ruling United Malays National Organization's (UMNO), said
Malaysia had accommodated Singapore over such issues as water
supply and intrusions over its air space by fighter jets.

"Singapore has never shown its appreciation to all this. All
it knows is starting trouble which is clearly against the ASEAN
spirit," he was quoted as saying by the official Bernama news
agency, referring to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
regional grouping of which both states are members.

"If Malaysia were to raise one by one its sacrifices to
Singapore, there would be many," Mustapha said.

His comments followed remarks by Foreign Minister Syed Hamid
Albar on Thursday that Malaysia had ruled out piecemeal
negotiations with Singapore over the unresolved issue of a
disputed railway station deep inside Singapore territory.

Syed Hamid said customs, immigration and quarantine (CIQ)
operations at the station "should be settled as a package as
agreed on earlier by both countries."

Singapore Foreign Minister S. Jayakumar said on Wednesday
Malaysia had a month to present legal arguments justifying why
its facilities should remain at the Tanjong Pagar station, where
the Malaysia-Singapore railway terminates, rather than at a new
site closer to their border.

"We have informed Malaysia that if they do not produce their
legal arguments in one month's time, we will assume that they no
longer wish to pursue their legal claim to be at Tanjong Pagar,"
he told parliament.

But Mustapha asked on Friday: "Is the CIQ issue that big that
they are accusing us of not respecting Singapore's sovereignty?"

Malaysian opposition leader Lim Kit Siang, meanwhile, called
on the two foreign ministers to stop conducting bilateral
negotiations through the media.

"The ministers of both governments may enjoy the publicity and
even plaudits from their respective constituencies for
periodically running down or denigrating each other when one
dispute after another flares up," he said.

But "substantial sections of the ordinary people of Malaysia
-- and probably Singapore -- are quite weary at the prospect of
another diplomatic row," the chairman of the Democratic Action
Party said.

Such rows between the region's two closest neighbors are
"making nonsense of the much-vaunted ASEAN spirit and
solidarity," Lim said, adding the two countries should seek
mediation through ASEAN or some other international framework if
differences could not be resolved.

Malaysia failed to submit its legal arguments on the railway
by an earlier deadline of Dec. 17 but has said its officials
would be ready to discuss the issue after the Muslim fasting
month of Ramadhan, which ended this week.

Singapore broke away from the Malaysian federation in 1965,
and problems over the station and other issues have been a major
irritant in bilateral ties.

The latest flare-up erupted in July when Singapore told
Malaysia it would have no legal authority at the railway station
after Singapore shifted its facilities closer to the border with
the southern Malaysian state of Johor.