Singapore, Aug 8 (DPA) The marriage was unhappy and short-lived. In September 1963, Malaya and Singapore tied the knot to form the state of Malaysia which also included Sarawak and Sabah.
But what seemed to be a logical finalisation of century-long strong economic ties between neighbours came to an end just two years later, as rising fears among Malays over Singapore wanting to dominate the new state led to a break-up.
Singapore was kicked out of the federation. On Aug 9, 1965, the tiny island at the foot of the Malaysian peninsula became the independent Republic of Singapore, which celebrates its 44th birthday this weekend.
“Singapore had independence thrust upon it,” said Lee Kuan Yew, the city-state’s then prime minister.
Although his fears that an independent Singapore “was simply not viable” proved unfounded, relations between Singapore and Malaysia remained strained for decades after the split.
But now the tide seems to have turned, with an introductory visit by Malaysia’s new Prime Minister Najib Razak to Singapore in May and a trip by Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew to Malaysia in June breaking new ground.
“It was a taboo not long ago for top Malaysian politicians to mention their southern neighbour in complimentary terms,” said K. Kesavapany, director of Singapore’s Institute of South-East Asian Studies.
When Datuk Nik Aziz, chief minister of Malaysia’s Kelantan state and spiritual leader of the opposition Parti Islam SeMalaysia, met with Lee, he praised the city-state for its anti-corruption stance and its success in keeping the city clean.
A press photo showed Nik Aziz shaking hands with Lew and giving the thumbs-up.
“It illustrated vividly the changes that have taken place in Malaysia and how Malaysian leaders view Singapore,” commented Kesavapany in the Straits Times newspaper.
During his visit to Singapore premier Najib said “thorny bilateral issues” should not hamper whatever progress could be achieved in other areas.
He called for closer cooperation in economic fields and also suggested a third bridge between the two countries, thus touching one of those “thorny issues”.
The bridge project to replace the ageing Causeway had been brought up by former Malaysian premier Mahathir Mohammad but was scrapped by his successor Abdullah Badawi in 2006 after it ran into opposition from Singapore.
Hence, Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong reacted cautiously to Najib’s suggestion, noting that he “explained the history of this problem” to his Malaysian counterpart and leaving it to a joint ministerial committee to study the project.
It was the outspoken Lee Kuan Yew who clearly expressed Singapore’s position.
The third link “does not make sense to us if at the same time they punish us by making us barge sand from Vietnam”, he said, stressing Singapore’s desire that Malaysia lift its 12-year-old ban on sand exports to the growing city-state.
“The relationship is one of co-dependency enmeshed in race and national pride,” said Jim Baker, a history and economics teacher at the Singapore American School.
Despite all the unsolved problems inherited from the past, both sides heavily depend on each other economically and share common interests in the region.
The neighbours, it seems, are now willing to improve their ties.
But new obstacles keep coming up, as, for example, the Sultan of Johor, the closest Malaysian state to Singapore, who has already rejected the proposal for a third link.
And from the back seat former Malaysian premier Mahathir, who exchanged verbal blows with Lee Kuan Yew over several issues during his administration, still drops vitriolic remarks in his popular blog on all matters related to Singapore.
During his visit to Malaysia, said Mahathir, Lee had made clear that Singapore regards itself the centre of the region.
“The rest are peripheral and are there to serve the interests of this somewhat tiny Middle Kingdom,” Mahathir claimed.
