>Of all issues between Singapore and Malaysia that have been going on for decades, perhaps the least understood is the “KTM Land in Singapore” issue. We can find loads of documentation on the Water Issue, Pedra Branca Dispute, Crooked Bridge and of course, the Merger and Separation. But try doing a search on the KTM Land Issue and all you get is about what is reported in the news.
So exactly what is this issue that drags on so long for decades? I recall about nearly 15 years back or so, S Dhanabalan (then a minister) explaining the issue. It was thought by many Singaporeans that KTM claims that the land parcels they held were “Malaysian territory”. Dhana corrected that error and said that they were only holding Title Deeds and the land is very much part of Singapore.
Fine. If that is the case, why the land swap then? Is the Title Deed held by KTM freehold or leasehold? If it is freehold, why can’t Singapore just buy off the land from KTM? More importantly, why can’t Singapore evict KTM if it wants the land back so bad, if it is only a title deed? Hasn’t Singapore been doing that to many title deed holders of freehold land?
Wait a minute. There’s something else. KTM is just a company. Not a government. It may be controlled by the Malaysian govt, but so what? It still is only a company! So why did this issue drag for so long?
Or is it that Malaysia has some ace cards that can be used against Singapore, and PAP does not want to reveal what that is, such that it has to bow down to Malaysia?
If you noticed, Singapore has always played hardball against Malaysia in its disputes. Even when Malaysia has the upper hand, like the water supply, Singapore will roar like a lion that “we would teach them a lesson, if they try to be funny”.
So why the meek, sheepish, docile, tail-in-between the legs approach in the KTM issue? It makes me feel that Malaysia truly has some ace cards that caused our govt to play nice this time.
The pieces of land we offered in exchange is prime land and it means that we are sharing our prized cake with a foreign country. That itself is nothing wrong. What appears to be wrong is that it looks like we sold it cheap. Because if Singapore had bought out KTM land much earlier, we wouldn’t have to offer the prized plots of land to them.
Furthermore, if Singapore had been the nasty guy it always had been (as in land acquisition), we could have acquired those KTM lands then. But obviously, there must be something that kept Singapore from doing it.
So what has the Singapore Govt been hiding from us, as far as the KTM Land Swap Issue is concerned? So little documentation and so many questions unanswered.
