With all due respect to his excellency, the Sultan of Johore is spouting nonsense when he said that the Singapore-Johore Causeway should be demolished because, apparently, it was a conspiracy by its former colonial masters, the British, to block the waterways in the Straits so that it will benefit Singapore's southern coastline's port development at the expense of the Port of Tanjung Pelapas. In the first place, his excellency probably thought of the Tanjung Pelapas port as nothing more than for docking sampans by fishermen, until Singapore showed how to profit from having a deep-water coast. Secondly, with or without the Causeway, AP-Moeller-Maersk and Evergreen did move over to PTP, didn't they? Will his excellency be happy only if Keppel becomes a shell?I don't know which quack advised him on his history, but it is bad advice and bad history. I have not come across any academic who has studied and published on Singapore-Johore / Singapore-Malaysia history and politics with this radical interpretation of history. That the Sultan said that the British hoodwinked his ancestors is a telling admission that they now think that somebody else could be hoodwinking their children today. It is a sad. I personally do not think that the Malays are without common sense . The Sultan should stop portraying them as such.
In this respect, I wonder if the Sultan is not being more like Mahathir, whom he criticised not too long ago, counselling him to stop making noise. Besides, how can Singaporeans contribute to the success of SJER without a bridge? or are Singaporeans not welcome even before the first foundation stone to SJER is laid? If so, it does not augur well for the success of the SJER. I believe Singapore values every opportunity to work together with others for mutual benefit, including Johore. But if the other side doesn't want to play ball, it can do nothing but to turn to others who want, like Batam. Let it not be said later that Singapore is not a friendly neighbour.
The Sultan should be careful with his words and history. It may return to haunt him.
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3 comments:
His Excellency The Sultan is RIGHT !! Please read the book SAUDI BABYLON by mark Hollingsworth.
I am not going to analyse in depth but the BRITISH have all along in history been the MASTERS of the 'divide and rule' syndrome. Look at the history of Africa and the Middle east. Who do you think drew up the boundary lines between countries?
I am shocked that someone in your position do not even know this. By the way, are you an 'ang moh'?
I don't disagree that the British have adopted a 'divide and conquer' strategy, but they are not the only colonial power to have done so. Isn't it interesting to note that many of M'sia's royalty were schooled in British Universities? Isn't it interesting that Hong Kongers left Hong Kong in droves to settle in places like Malaysia, Singapore, Canada and Australia just before the British quit Hong Kong? Hong Kongers were actually more worried about 'their own people' and felt more comfortable with the British around.
I am not saying that the Brits are angels either. Here, as in most cases, the truth lies somewhere in between. To argue this case, as you pointed out - whether they were a force for good or evil in this world, whether they oppressed people, etc, - would require reams and reams of paper (bytes in today's measure). There is probably enough written on this already and we can argue till the cow comes home.
My doubt is about the Sultan's premise that the Singapore-Johore Causeway was built by the Brits to stop the Malaysians (specifically, the Johoreans) from using the Straits of Johore for shipping, thus stifling the development of its ports (for example PTP) in favour of the ports in Singapore. I would be happy if anyone can point me to a study that supports this premise. Otherwise, the Sultan is making baseless statements.
There is not a drop of ang moh blood in me. But as our late S Rajaratnam would say, I write as I please. Correct me if I am wrong, bash me if I am disrespectful, but if I am right...
I dont know about that history.. but i do know that we need to abolish the current tambak johor.. it's blocked the water to flow swiftly and made the selat tebrau dirty.. it has been built and there for so many years - i do not know how long, but as long as i have lived in this world of johor - so i assume the hole under the tambak has been blocked, by sand, or rubbish..
regarding singaporean contribution towards sjer, malaysian proposed to demolished the tambak and replace it with better bridge.. anyway we already have the 2nd link for the time being.. so for environmental sake, why dont' we bring down the tambak?
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