PRIME Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his Malaysian counterpart Najib Razak agreed here on Friday to turn a page on bilateral ties and move relations forward in a productive manner.
The Malaysian leader, who wound up his two-day visit to Singapore on Friday night, agreed that 'legacy' problems which both sides inherited had to be set aside - or steps need to be taken to resolve them.
In particular, both sides pledged to look at how to implement a stalled 18-year-old Points Of Agreement (POA) on the development and status of railway land in Singapore, the interpretation of which Malaysia disputes.
During 1-1/2 hours of talks with PM Lee Hsien Loong at the Istana on Friday morning, Datuk Seri Najib held out another promising initiative - a possible new bridge linking the eastern part of Johor and Singapore.
This would greatly improve Singapore's links with the Iskandar Malaysia economic corridor in Johor and ease overcrowding and jams on the Causeway, both Mr Lee and Mr Najib said at a press conference after their meeting.
Evidently mindful that previous suggestions about replacing the Causeway with a bridge had been a thorny issue in bilateral ties, Mr Najib indicated that he did not intend to resume such a project - which his predecessor Abdullah Badawi had in any case cancelled.
'I told (Mr Lee) that I wouldn't want to go down the same route and end up with another problem or another disappointment,' he told reporters from the Singapore, Malaysian and international media.
'I think we should agree (on) what we need to do. We agree on the objectives first, then let's look at how we achieve that objective. There could be other ways of achieving that objective. We talked about perhaps enlarging the Causeway or having a rail link. Whatever it is, as long as the objectives are met.'
To move ties forward, Singapore and Malaysia are putting faith in a new 'iconic' business project in Johor to be developed by both sides.
These are preliminary ideas and details will be worked out by ministers on both sides.
Read the full story in The Straits Times today.
