ESM Goh: Let's build more political and goodwill bridges between Malaysia and Singapore

Singapore: Responding to recent comments from Malaysia’s Prime Minister Dr Tun Mahathir Mohammad, who said that there is a need for three or four more bridges between Singapore and Malaysia to manage the traffic flow, Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong said in a Facebook post that what is needed are “political” and “goodwill bridges.”

In a post on his Facebook account on March 21, the former Prime Minister acknowledged what Dr Mahathir had said earlier this week, even saying that the “cost-benefits” of building such bridges need to be examined.

Mahathir wants to build more bridges between Malaysia and Singapore. Their cost-benefits should be studied. In the…

Posted by MParader on Thursday, 21 March 2019

But while this is being done, he stressed the need for “more political, goodwill bridges between leaders, Members of Parliament and our two peoples.”

The reason for this, he wrote, is that Malaysians and Singaporeans are not as close as they used to be, and future generations may even be further apart from each other.

“Our two peoples have grown increasingly apart since Separation, and successive generations will find each other more unfamiliar.”

ESM Goh said he believes in strong and close ties between Singapore and Malaysia, simply because the two counties will always be neighbors.

“I favour closer and stronger links between Malaysia and Singapore, both physical and political. We are neighbours, and forever will be.”

The News Straits Times reports that Dr Mahathir’s had said on Tuesday, March 19, at a question-and-answer portion during the Invest Malaysia 2019 event, that at least three to four bridges between the two countries are needed to ensure smooth traffic flow. But he added that Singapore is not in favor of building additional bridges. According to Bermama, the reason for this is something he cannot understand.

And while several other officials in Malaysia have suggested that another link between the two countries would be necessary, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Singapore, it has gotten no proposal from Malaysia for building a new bridge.

At present, there are two links connecting the countries—the Tuas Second Link and the Causeway.

Dr Mahathir also remarked that in contrast, a third connection is already being planned with Penang, via an underground tunnel. Traffic there is of a lesser volume than that of Malaysia and Singapore.

He said, “Even Penang, which has a smaller population than Singapore. Traffic is much bigger than Penang’s. We only have one causeway and a bridge. We need at least three to four more bridges.”

Many netizens agreed with Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong about the kind of bridges that must be built between Singapore and Malaysia.