I am writing to urge the government and the state governments of Johor, Malacca and Negri Sembilan to abandon and to oppose the proposed high-speed rail link between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore because the project would have no economic benefit to us at all, in fact, it would be detrimental to us, politically, socially and environmentally not to mention the problems of national security.
Like the massive influx of dubious tourists from China, the government should view the project from the national security standpoint, rather than the perceived economic benefits.
At this juncture we must wonder why Singapore has been pressing for the ‘return’ of Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM) lands in the republic because if it also shares the vision of a fast rail link between the two countries, then the old KTM track could be easily upgraded to make way for an electric train like the ETS service between Kuala Lumpur and Ipoh. That should suffice.
Politically, many people would share my view that this proposed high-speed rail would be another step to integrate Malaysia with Singapore, not the way around. As it is half of Johor has already become ‘part’ of Singapore where a lot of lands in south Johor, particularly in the Iskandar area, have been bought over by Singaporeans.
For years, Johor Baru’s economy have become so dependent on Singaporeans who come over to splash their Singapore Dollar which doubles in value when it crosses over the causeway. Along the way the local economy becomes so distorted for the local Johoreans who sometimes have to pay Singapore prices for foods and services in their own city and state.
Insofar as the fast rail link is concerned, it will pass through Johor, Malacca and Negri Sembilan. This will surely bring about problems to these states.
It is true that Malaysians from these states who work in Singapore may be able to commute daily to Singapore, Singapore, too, may use it to ‘park’ their foreign workers in towns in these states because space is very limited there.
I am sure the Malaysian government is aware that foreigners or rich mainland Chinese will form half or more than half of Singapore’s population. There is a growing hatred by Singaporeans towards these imported population which allegedly deprive them of jobs.
With both countries hosting large numbers of foreign workers, I am sure both governments do not want these foreign workers from similar countries to converge every weekend, or else we are going to see more and more of the Little India incident that shocked Singapore recently. Surely the Malaysian police will not welcome this new scenario.
As for business travellers, I am sure they would still use the airlines that are quite plentiful.
As for tourism is concerned, Singaporeans with families would still drive to Malaysia.
We all know that any economic project between states or states will automatically result in various social cultural problems. For instance, the Indonesian island of Batam is a ‘colony’ of Singapore when it opened up to Singapore companies to set up shops there, plus the cheap labour.
At the end of the day, in view of the recent disclosure that Singapore has been spying on us (not to mention Israeli Mossad’s presence there), it would be well-advised that Malaysia should keep Singapore at arm’s length, politically and economically.
There are realities that we can learn. For instance, Spain and Britain could easily make movements easy between (British) Gibraltar and Spain but relations turn ugly from time, so also between the United States and Mexico. Even Hong Kong does not open its door wide open to tourists and economic migrants from China.
