Lee Kuan Yew to visit Malaysia

Lee Kuan Yew to visit Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters): Several niggling issues including water supply and customs and immigration arrangements await Singapore's Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew during a four-day informal visit to Malaysia due to start on Sunday.

The two countries, joined briefly within Malaysia from 1963 before a split in 1965, have bickered over such matters for years without reaching agreements.

Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar, interviewed by Singapore's The Straits Times newspaper this week, reported some progress and said Lee's second visit in 12 months was a possible catalyst for more.

Points at issue include the ownership of precious railway land in Singapore, customs, immigration and quarantine facilities in the island state, Central Provident Fund savings of Malaysians working in Singapore and a new agreement on Malaysia's supply of water to Singapore across the Johor Strait.