During his tenure as prime minister, Dr Mahathir Mohamad had anything but a cordial relationship with his counterparts across the causeway.

najib mahathir pak lah umno 2009 agm final day 280309 07 But this changed when his handpicked successor Abdullah Ahmad Badawi took over the reins in 2003. Diplomatic ties between the two nations received a fresh boost.

With his trademark sarcasm, Mahathir had once attributed this to his successor's penchant for playing golf as the former preferred to ride horses instead.

Then Abdullah did the unthinkable. He cancelled the crooked-bridge project in 2006, citing the huge federal deficit then.

Mahathir ranted, raved and finally declared open war on Abdullah.

During his term, Mahathir had insisted that he would build the S-shaped elevated bridge on Malaysia's side of the border after Singapore saw no reason to demolish the existing causeway.

Singapore had said it was prepared to agree to the bridge plan if a balance of benefits could be struck for both sides.

Now after playing a pivotal role in ensuring Abdullah's premature exit from the pinnacles of power, Mahathir is once again tossing about the crooked bridge plan and stoking diplomatic tensions.

Do we need S'pore's permission?

In his latest blog posting, the 83-year-old statesman commented on recent news reports of how Chinese businessman in Johor Baru and an Umno Youth leader there calling for the bridge to be built.

Last day of Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Najib Abdul Razak takes over as prime minister in Putrajaya "When the previous prime minister (Abdullah) stated that the people of Johor did not want the crooked bridge or any bridge, no one said anything, much less protest.

"Is it because no one in Johor at that time really wanted the bridge, or is it that no one dared to differ from the open-minded and liberal ex-PM or the press did not dare to report the real opinions of the people?" he asked.

Mahathir noted that for a very short while, there were complaints regarding the Custom, Immigration and Quarantine complex.

"No one explained that the inconvenience was due to the complex being designed to complement the proposed bridge but when the bridge was cancelled, a temporary road was built to join the complex with the causeway.

"This caused a misfit as the two could not be properly linked together. Hence the inconvenience. In addition the traffic problems near the causeway remained unsolved.

"Does the government need to ask Singapore for permission to build the now desirable crooked bridge? Is Malaysia free to do things in its own territory? Are we really independent? I wonder," he added.

Ex-customs officials want the bridge

johor singapore new crooked bridge causeway 270106 In a related development, the Persatuan Bekas Kastam Malaysia (Perbekas) has also lent support for the crooked bridge.

Perbekas president Abdul Rahman Manan said the organisation views with great concern the traffic congestion at the CIQ complex.

Calling on the matter not to be politicised, he added: "The current situation is not only inconveniencing tourists, car and lorry drivers, but also customs, immigration and health officials."

Yesterday, a former Johor-born minister and a close ally of Abdullah, Shahrir Samad, had voiced his opposition against plans to rekindle the project.