AT THE end of his first official trip as Malaysia’s leader to Singapore, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak thanked his host for naming a new hybrid orchid Dendrobium Najib Rosmah.
The Prime Minister was so touched with Singapore’s gesture that he drew an analogy from the orchid and Malaysia’s relationship with its southern neighbour.
“I thought to myself, this is a beautiful orchid but, more than the beauty, it symbolises more than that.
“It symbolises a relationship, if nurtured, can blossom into something beautiful like that orchid,” Najib said to the applause of guests at the state banquet hosted by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his wife, Ho Ching.
Najib’s off-the-cuff remarks was, as a diplomat described, “a nice closure” to his visit.
Much has been anticipated from both sides of the Causeway. Bilateral relations have been prickly over many issues – from the three sen per 1,000 gallon of raw water sold to Singapore signed in two agreements which are going to lapse in 2011 and 2061 and the building of a new bridge to replace the Causeway to the development of KTM land in Singapore.
Talks had broken down right at the foreign minister and senior official levels and there is still no light at the end of the tunnel as far as these outstanding issues are concerned.
Najib surely would not want to revisit them so hastily, if only to go for another roller coaster ride and face more disappointment.
For the Prime Minister, there has to be an understanding to have a solid conclusion if both sides were to discuss the issues.
Our flower: Najib and Rosmah admiring the orchid that was named after them at the National Orchid Garden at the Botanic Gardens in Singapore on Friday. — Bernama
“The basic principle is to make sure there is a classic win-win mode in terms of a relationship.
“You don’t have to quantify that we will win exactly the same amount as Singapore wins, or Singapore wins exactly the same amount as us,” Najib said after his talks with Lee.
Instead of being bogged down with old problems, Najib wants to look ahead and move forward as – in his own words – both he and Lee are relatively young.
“If we put our minds together, if we took the attitude as members of the new generation, we should not be encumbered with baggage of history.
“We should be bold, courageous and imaginative to represent a new generation of Malaysians and Singaporeans who want this relationship to be strong, productive and an enduring one.”
For a start, he has proposed a new bridge from the east side of Johor to the city state which Lee has indicated is worth being looked into.
As for Iskandar Malaysia, Lee said Singapore supported the project as long as it was economically and financially beneficial to the two sides.
Singapore is the third-biggest investor in the corridor. A Singapore proposal for a mixed development township in Iskandar has been warmly received by Najib, signalling that Singaporeans are always welcome in Malaysia.
Singaporeans made 11 million visits last year, which makes it more than two visits by one Singaporean.
Singaporeans will now be more comfortable travelling to Malaysia, especially Johor, since Malaysia has agreed to let Singapore set up a consulate in Johor Baru to attend to the needs of their citizens.
Bilateral trade was more than S$110 billion (RM240bil) last year, a fifth of total trade within Asean.
It is now up to the leaders to ensure that bilateral relations can work and move in the right direction.
There must be follow-through effort to make sure things are on the right track.
The leaders have already agreed to meet again for a retreat in Singapore.
Just like the orchid, it should be a symbol of growing trust and confidence to build a better future for the two neighbours.
