Setting course for new direction

IT has become standard practice for a new leader of an Asean nation to make a brief official tour of each member country, which involves making a 'courtesy call' on his or her counterpart.

However, when bilateral relations are somewhat strained, as it has been for some time between Malaysia and Singapore, such a visit raises speculation that something beyond diplomatic niceties could be afoot.

It was partly to play down expectations of substantial negotiations that led diplomats on both sides of the Causeway to stress that the meeting between Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Goh Chok Tong on Monday was basically an open-ended first step. There was certainly not enough time in the one-hour meeting for the two leaders to resolve the "dead knots" between the two countries.

However, while they did not get down to the details, there were encouraging signs that things could get better. If Goh had just exchanged pleasantries with Abdullah for a few minutes and given him a perfunctory handshake and a stiff smile before saying goodbye, he could not have been accused of breaching decorum. Instead, Abdullah was given the pomp and ceremony of an official visit and a warm personal welcome from Goh. Singapore has reciprocated the Prime Minister's overture by offering to broaden official contacts between the two countries.

More importantly, a sure sign of irreconciliable differences is when both parties in a dispute refuse to talk to each other directly and use a third party to mediate. Although Goh has said that "you can't untie" the "dead knot" issues which have entangled bilateral relations, the fact that he agreed to Abdullah's proposal to continue discussions when he preferred arbitration suggests that there is cause for optimisim about the thawing in relations between the two countries.

It is true that there has been precious little to show in the many years of talks except acrimony and the hardening of positions. Which is why the way out of the cul-de-sac that both countries have found themselves stuck in is to think out of the box, as Abdullah has suggested.

Time, of course, will tell what these fresh ideas and different approaches will be and whether they will finally undo the deadlock of the last few years. But Abdullah's visit will have begun the process of unloading the historical baggage that has burdened relations thus far.

-- New Straits Times, Kuala Lumpur