It went through 3 Ex Premiers on Malaysia side, and two from Singapore side when the baggage have finally been opened. It involves in the end trading the lands that straddle Singapore a swarth of prime real estate,snaking and chugging thru residential estates and many commercial buildings with a startling change.
The dinosaur aged old railway train which belong to Malaysia have not changed much since the 50s.
Its operating system have baffled and mystified many who could not see the conundrum, of jet age living with the slow age.
Political wills have prevailed over past differences, with water, land ,airspace thrown into the works. And all have failed before.
The bridge was too far, even building the 2nd link bridge, there was still the gulf that separated Singapore and Malaysia.
It might have continued into the future have it not been solve today. The founding farther, Dr Goh also passed away last week, he was the GA in Singohpore.
Probably his modesty and humanity stopped him from having the credits of having made Singapore into what it is today. And back to the KTM land deal, Singapore was once part of Malaysia in the 50s.
The KTM was then chugging away, many a tourists and people alike to northen park of Malaya, through Johore, the frontier town.
I remembered , on my NS leave, I took a $50 into my backpack and hitch a ride, bus or train to Penang and back again in two weeks or bust.
It opened my eyes and change my characters on how Society works.
I have met crooks , drug seller and kind driver who allow me to jump into their vehicle on my way to Penang.
Meanwhile the impasse on the status of KTM Berhad (KTMB) land , that presently cut across half of Singapore was never settled .
With ex Premier, who was insulted when he studied as an intern in the past in Singapore, to the Minister whose late father was banned from Singapore for involvement in the Maria Hertogh,s riots in Singapore, all the angst will float to the surface,blocking the negotiation table. However Datuk Seri Najib, the son of the founding of Malaysia and the son of the Present PM of Singapore both were tiny when the turbulence of the birth of Singapore and Malaysia were emerging in the 50s.
Datuk Seri Najib must have spent happy time in Singapore, or sat through the KTMB that was the mode of transport in the 50s.
In the cattle class, it was noise ear shattering noise of the 1000 horses locomotive engines. Presumably, he was in the end of the train which should be a comfortable decibels and poshed and insulated.
Anyway time have moved and the water under the bridge have moved and meanders into the seas,fast forward now and KTMB was left in a stark time warp, not there , but here, and ever heard of having your passport stamped or not stamped with Malaysian chop in Singapore ?
Two countries one system ? One could almost commit a crime in Silly Singapore and seek asylum in KTMB station, much like the porous borders of Canada, when the stateline could be drawn in the grass. So many have flees US by being arrested on Canadian borders which voids the arrest.
Now back to the KTMB. Malaysia will move its railway station at Tanjung Pagar to Woodlands, the norhtern most part of Singapore.The clincher would be the three parcels of KTMB land - at Tanjung Pagar, Kranji and Woodlands here - would be jointly owned, developed or traded by an M-S company owned 40 by Singapore and the rest by the other party .
Most expect the land to be in the Marina Bay , where the reclaimed land will starts in the Billions. For curiosity sake, the sand that is the building or parcels of land that stood was source from other than Malaysia.It might be helpfull if the flowers that grace the building be be soiled with sands from Malaysia , to show the ironies of it all.
It was banned from importing the sand from Malaysia for the construction industry especially building the shoreline or enlarging the shoreline of Singapore.Most like Singapore to be cute, and small, not bigger, so the easier to handle with. That is the reasons the land cost in the billions.Importing sand from faraway land is an expensive affairs, grain by grains.
Now on the nitty gritty, both PM agreed on the enhanced features, much like the buttons on the internets,on the agreement POA signed in 1990.
At that time, the enhanced features was nowhere to be seen, especially with the feisty Ex Premier.
Elaborating on the deal,both side would meet again in one month,s time in Malaysia,
which is the hot month of June.Many hailed the agreements as win-win. The baggage was left two long in the storeroom, and on opening would be a treasure trove of historical wonders.
On the other hand it would enhance the travel of both countries with the establishment of rail and subway link in Johore and Singapore, bypassing the current causeway which is a cause for concerns and more. The back in time immigration facilities smacks of time warp, the new alongside the old, the piles still in the water of the infrastructure of the crooked causeway.
The breaking of the water pipeline would also make most Singapore thirty, but they might as well sipped Champagne in the absence of water. The statement said by Najib, was worthy to quote "we see light at the end of the tunnel.".and "We are both smiling," .
Further PM Najib standing beside Lee said it was an occasion to rejoice. It is about time,the glass was gathering cobwebs after 20 years in the same post. The ice buckets need to be refilled though, the holder needs to be polish to show the shine. Finally the people of Singapore and Malaysia will get to rejoice and join in the relocation of the current CIQ centre in which people of both side had to face in the daily grind transmuting .
The statement said KTMB will shift to Woodlands by July 1 2011. In a concession
Malaysia's customs, immigration and quarantine facilities will also be located there, a strange but mixed sovereign agreement to facilitate the users. Presumably, lawbreakers will be under Malaysian and Singapore system of law.
The joint company known as M-S Pte Ltd set up by Dec 31,with the smallest in in the history of the Company Registrar with Khazanah Nasional Berhad and Singapore's Temasek Holdings.
It will hold six parcels of land totalling 271ha one of the biggest landlord next to the listed company in Singapore. The historic land parcels are in Tanjung Pagar, Kranji and Woodlands, currently a bunch of old buildings, illegally storage space and leanto, untouched by Singapore,s law.
It is expected all activities will be legalised and much coverted by land developers here in Singapore.
The PMS also envisage the rapid transit system (RTS) between Tanjung Puteri in Johor Baru and Singapore to take over the current descript and non fucntioning CIG. The RTS would be fully developed and integrated with public transport services by 2018,where the like of MagnetLev would be widely available.
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