Moving S'pore-Malaysia ties beyond mood swings

By Irene Ng

SINGAPORE: Every so often, it has been the lot of Malaysia and Singapore to prove all over again that their ties tend to be ruled by mood swings.

One moment, the mood can be bitter and heavy; in another, all sweetness and light. The scowls vanish; the smiles appear. Then, a "wrong" word, and it's back to blows.

Almost like a puppet on a string, bilateral relations get pulled this way and that by the invisible hands of history, and are hypersensitive to the tweaks of domestic politics, as well as the temperament of their politicians.

It is not unreasonable, therefore, for some to wonder how much store they should put on the feel-good mood created by Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi's first official visit last week.

While it is prudent to be vigilant, the visit's significance, however, should not be understated -- precisely because of the way bilateral relations tend to be susceptible to mood swings.

First, take the fact that his visit took place at all.

Consider the prevailing mood then: His three-day visit on Feb. 7, with a 40-member entourage in tow, came hot on the heels of anger in Malaysia over Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong's comparison of achievements of Malays here and in Malaysia.

Barely two weeks before, on Jan. 26, Singapore's High Commissioner to Kuala Lumpur, K. Kesavapany, was summoned by the Malaysian Foreign Ministry to explain Goh's speech.

The speech, which traced the progress of Malays here, sought to show that Malays in Singapore are not marginalized.

To Singapore leaders, it was not an irrelevant comparison. Besides, since late last year, the Malaysian media had published articles charging that Malays here are marginalised under the country's meritocratic system.

All this made for a testy time.

That Datuk Seri Abdullah came, despite that, and with a warm smile and a ready handshake -- and that Singapore gave him and his delegation the red-carpet treatment -- points to a laudable effort on both sides to move ties to higher ground, beyond the prevailing mood.

Also noteworthy is the timing: Datuk Seri Abdullah arrived just three days before the Feb. 10 deadline for the relocation of the Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM) railway station in Tanjong Pagar.

After the Malaysian DPM's four-eye meeting with Goh, the Singapore PM emerged to tell the media that he was happy to extend the deadline. Both leaders wore smiles.

To appreciate its significance, it would be useful to contemplate what would have happened had Datuk Seri Abdullah postponed his trip again and the deadline was up.

For some time now, both countries have been quarreling over their different interpretations of their obligations under the Points of Agreement on railway land, which sets out, among other things, the deadline for the relocation of the KTM railway station in Tanjong Pagar.

No doubt, Singapore, which prides itself on upholding the rule of law, would have felt obliged to enforce it.

The effect on bilateral relations is unlikely to be pretty.

Instead, what both countries have established today is a demonstrated commitment to look -- and act -- beyond the occasional mood-swing.

Datuk Seri Abdullah's recurrent theme throughout the trip was to build contact points at various levels. It was also a prominent theme in Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew's visit to Kuala Lumpur last August.

Lee had then noted that the younger leaders lacked the old boys' network which bonded the older leaders who studied in the same schools. He called for more interaction between both sides.

Taking this up, Datuk Seri Abdullah brought with him several younger leaders, including Youth and Sports Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, who is UMNO Youth chief.

With his carefully-scheduled visit, the message went out that, while neighbors may quarrel over specific issues, that does not mean that they cannot continue to cooperate at the different levels and lay the foundation for stronger ties in the future.

Hence, the importance of the discussions on youth exchanges and projects such as getting schools from both countries to link up through the Internet. There was also a new emphasis on getting chief ministers on board.

His visit also showed that, even if both countries may not move up as fast as they would like to in resolving their outstanding package of issues, it doesn't mean they cannot move sideways and expand cooperation in other fields.

This has led to initiatives in new areas, such as the life- sciences and info-communications sectors, and most exciting, a common electronic immigration clearance using a smart card.

This differentiated approach to managing bilateral relations has much to commend it.

That said, those who expect tangible progress on the outstanding bilateral issues may, however, be disappointed.

But then, the Malaysian DPM was not here to negotiate any deals.

Nonetheless, during his two meetings with Goh, their talks on the outstanding issues were said to be useful in clarifying the proposals on the table, and each country's position on them. This would help to keep up the momentum of discussions, and to minimize the possibility of crossed lines later.

Another key point during their talks was the stress on a time limit for discussions.

Now that there is an avowed political will at the top level to resolve the issues urgently, the test is when the officials would revive their stalled meetings to iron out the technical details.

But, perhaps, the more important question is not how long before the outstanding issues can be settled, but whether this feel-good mood will last long enough for progress to be achieved.

It is a positive sign that, while the mood is optimistic, both countries seem eager to get cracking and, at the same time, to build more links at various levels.

As Goh said at the welcome dinner, there would be the occasional ups and downs in bilateral relations.

He believed, however, that both sides could work to reduce the mood swings. "If we take a pragmatic and long-term view of bilateral relations, recognize and accept our inherent differences, and work to extend common interests on the basis of mutual respect and benefit, we should be able to reduce the number of hiccups, and soften their severity when they occur," he said.

The key to better ties is personal relationships between the political leadership of both countries, he said.

To that end, he said he would send some Singapore ministers to KL on an informal basis to build on Datuk Seri Abdullah's visit.

The reality of bilateral "hiccups" also led Datuk Seri Abdullah to assert, at his press conference, that it was important to emphasize what both countries have in common and to expand this common ground.

These far-sighted sentiments bode well for the future.

In that sense, with Datuk Seri Abdullah's 55-minute flight from KL to Singapore, bilateral ties have traveled not an inconsiderable distance.

-- The Straits Times/Asia News Network