Johor's
'Crooked bridge'
Malaysia's surprising 'go ahead' stirs reactions from both sides of the Causeway.
Jan 27, 2006

BBC Story:
By Jonathan Kent
Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia says it will go ahead with controversial plans to build a crooked bridge across half the strait it shares with Singapore.
It took the decision unilaterally after talks about replacing an existing causeway failed to produce agreement.

The plan for the bizarre bridge was first put forward by Malaysia's former leader Mahatir Mohammad.

The bridge is one of many issues to strain ties between Malaysia and Singapore since their union ended.

The Malaysians want to replace the causeway that links it to the island state with a bridge.

The causeway hampers access to ports on the Malaysian side, benefiting Singapore whose economy relies heavily on its port. So the Malaysians now say they will simply replace their half of the causeway.

But because the span is short and the bridge will need to gain height to allow shipping to pass beneath it, it will have to be crooked.

The Malaysians are calling it the "scenic bridge", but say if the Singaporeans want it to be straight and less scenic they will have to come back to the table and agree to replace the whole causeway with a single span.

One Malaysian politician told the Star newspaper that the shape of the bridge would be a reflection of relations between the two countries.

Singaporean sources told the BBC that this statement implies the Singaporeans are straight while the Malaysians are crooked. BBC

Reactions:

Malaysia
Star - Dr Mahathir Mohamad is "very happy" that finally a decision has been made for Malaysia to go ahead with the scenic bridge on its side of the Johor Strait.

The former prime minister is also not surprised that Singapore has not agreed to jointly build the bridge to replace the Causeway.

"I have waited 22 years, and we still have not gotten the permission to even raise (the price of raw water sold to Singapore) from 3 sen to 4 sen. So if you want to wait, you can wait until kingdom come," he told reporters.

In jest, Dr Mahathir said: "I thought it was 'cynic' bridge. Is that how you spell it?"

Singapore
crooked bridge is a blessing
mysingapore.com
Let's count the blessing from the crooked bridge.

1. It takes away the grouching and bitching between the two countries. let them build it and be happy. they have to appease their own people. And we need not finance a bridge that we do not want.
2. Probably they will have to terminate the railway at JB. The train can't possibly climb the crooked bridge. We can then join up with our MRT, maybe under the causeway if it is demolished.
3. A good tourist attraction for both sides.
4. The cost of paying new toll may persuade casual Singaporean visitors not to go in unless it is worth the trip. This will help to ease the jam.
5. Hopefully when the malaysian side raise the toll fee the Singaporean side will not do so as the cost of the bridge is borne by Malaysia only.

But Singapore side can charge a fee for a view of the infamous bridge.
posted by redbean

soc.culture.singapore
Polar bear
Do you think KTM train can go up a crooked bridge? They need to keep the trains running to maintain their claim over the KTM land in Singapore.

SammyBoy forum
noisesed
Malaysians also know Singapore elections coming.. so try to get something out of it, lor.

laksa_boy
Why is the PAP government so against the building of the bridge? Evidently the present causeway can't cope with the increased traffic of recent years as it had done so in the past.

I don't see how splitting the cost 50-50 can be unfair to either country. And what's wrong with a non-straight bridge? PAP into construction aesthetics?

Frankly, they can't even handle taking care of a highway flyover not too long ago. Ships to bypass PSA? The PAP said that the Johor Straits is too narrow to allow big-sized ships from passing.

So, what is the honest reason for being against a bridge replacing the causeway?

prince
Its useful, so that you can drive there, change money, shopping, go massage, eat sea food. Power!!

sgforums
jxjoox
It's all about water isn't it?
New bridge will not have the pipe to carry water. If SG wants water from Malaysia, it can then demand higher water price before building the pipe citing the costs of building the pipe will be very high.

fatum
It's not just about the water ....
The northern chaps just like to squeeze (us).

The water deal is a government to government agreement based on a previously agreed fixed priced ... they can't just unilaterally raise the price like they threaten to do everytime. That's the crux of the whole problem.

Remember when Minister Mentor (Lee Kuan Yew) himself went to Kuala Lumpur and negotiated another water deal, and got snookered by Mahathir after he got back? How to cut a clean deal with a group who keeps shifting the goalpost?

jxjoox
Yes, the contract is in place. Which is why I said, they build the bridge so they can demand from us higher water price.

sbst275
They are just pushing their own internal problem.
Johor some areas are facing long term water shortages yet they are doing nothing about it

AF2005
DR M is losing his mind and cannot remember what he said. He wanted to raise the water to M$6-$10, not 3-4 sen.

Our LKY offered 60sen, DR M refused. Dr M wanted to wait until we throw in the towel as no water we die, so he never wanted to sign the water contract along, till Singapore kneels down and beg.

That moment never arrived. Johor even transfered the authority to federal KL to decide so that KL can get the income of water sale. The earlier water agreement was signed between Johor and Singapore and not federal government.

They sell to Selangor about 30sen-40sen. Even till today Selangor feels its still expensive. 60 sen was a good deal. If not Johor would have more money in its pocket, can even be more than federal KL income.

Whatever increase will translate to whatever johor buys back for treated water. Not to mention Singapore PUB invested more than $100 million in ongoing water infrastructure projects in johor to maintain and increase supply.

All these assets will go to johor government once the contract ends. But federal KL wants a big piece of the cake.

Now they want to make southern Johor suffer even more by diverting money to the M$1b bridge. Kelantan resisted because of the income from oil revenues. Federal KL took quite a lot and left a few bucks for Kelantan.

That's why Kelantan is always resisting KL. Toll money collected going to huge and every officials wants a bit of the actions.

lionnoisy
There will be grave consequence if any water pipes touched without the explicit consent of Singapore.
HOW TO LAY THE PIPES EVEN IF S'PORE AGREES TO THE SCENIC BRIDGE
There are only 2 options.
1. This will reduce the depth of water level for navigation if put them on seabed.
2.Are the water pumps strong enough to pump up the water running along the bridge?

chikopek
Singapore government should take a harder approach towards their Malaysian counterparts.

HardwareZone.com
azixerina
I have 2 questions:
1. Why is Malaysia pushing so hard on the new bridge?
2. Why is Singapore reluctant to consent on the new bridge?
Perhaps this is just another political ploy that commonly shared by both politicians; especially when the anticipated General Election is around the corner.

Malaysia
Media statement by opposition Democratic Action Party (DAP) Ronnie Liu Tian Khiew

Another national folly!
Malaysia must not proceed with plans to build the crooked bridge to replace its half of a causeway linking the country to Singapore. Such a bridge serves nobody but the ego of the former PM Mahathir Mohamad.

We are very disappointed with the announcement made by the deputy PM Najib Tun Razak. The crooked bridge could strain bilateral relations, which have warmed since the exit of Mahathir Mohamad in 2003.

In a Reuters report, Najib was quoted of saying "Yes, the bridge will proceed," Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak told reporters. "At the same time, the negotiations with Singapore are on-going too."

"In the event we can successfully conclude negotiations with Singapore, the bridge can be a full bridge," he said.

Mahathir had unveiled the unusual plan to build a crooked bridge to replace half of the 500-metre causeway spanning the Johor strait in 2003 after the island state rejected his original plan to jointly build a bridge to replace the entire causeway.

Singapore opposes the original plan on grounds of cost and has also raised environmental concerns over bridge.

As talks on the issue have dragged on, Malaysia made a serious mistake by going ahead with a key part of its M$1.1b ($293m) project, a customs, immigration and quarantine centre at Johor Baru, the main gateway to Malaysia from Singapore.

There is an ongoing process in place, agreed to by Singapore and Malaysia to discuss the bridge and other bilateral issues. We should not go ahead with the crooked bridge to risk another round of disputes between the two neighbouring nations.

Calling it a "scenic bridge" does not really help to resolve the matter. We should work through more discussions before hurrying into a big and irreversible mistake.

We urge PM Abdullah Ahmad Badawi stick to his earlier decision (he aborted the plan after much protest from DAP and the UMNO MP Sharir Samad) and not to proceed with the crooked half-bridge under political pressure mounted within his party, UMNO.

He should know that such a bridge is not a bridge. It will certainly become the eighth "wonders" of the modern day history if built. DAP
Jan 27, 2006