Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (Pak Lah) missed a great opportunity to stop the construction of the Customs, Immigration and Guarantine (CIQ) Complex when it was just off the ground at the time of taking over the premiership from Dr Mahathir Mohamed.

He allowed indecision to drag on until the fast shaping CIQ Complex increasingly assumed the look of a white elephant without the bridge to Singapore. There were two viable alternatives then: construct a full bridge with Singapore's concurrence or build a land connection from the causeway to the CIQ Complex.

When it was apparent that the stalemate with Singapore could not be resolved, there was only one viable option left - to go for the land connection. Why didn't the government do just that? Why embark on a preposterous third alternative of a crooked half-bridge?