The Crooked Bridge: Mahathir’s Revenge
The good doctor’s ego had been severely bruised by his having to “beg” and his humiliation in Singapore.
Andrew Gomez, Free Malaysia Today
It was the crooked bridge that never came to be. A proposed new bridge to replace the Pre-War Johor Causeway, it was arguably a thing of breathtaking beauty.
The benefits of demolishing the old Causeway were many. Alleviating the daily jams by allowing more lanes for bi-directional travel. A raised semi-bridge which would allow sea-going vessels to pass unhindered beneath its spans, potentially allowing the free-flow of water and sea traffic for the first time in more than half a century. For the first time, smaller vessels could travel south down the Straits of Malacca and make their way to the South China Sea while completely bypassing Singapore and the world’s busiest port, saving them both time and money.
In fact, if you study the artist’s rendering closely, you might notice that something is missing. The road is present, as is the KTM railway line with a fancy rotating bridge. Now have a glance at The Causeway today:
Notice the water pipelines that were missing from the Crooked Bridge rendition? Yes, the water pipelines from Johor that, back when the Crooked Bridge was first proposed, carried Singapore’s sole source of life-giving water. Let the ramifications of that sink in while you think about it from Singapore’s perspective.
Now, exactly what gives? To answer that, we need to reach further back into history. Specifically, the years of 1997 and 1998 and The Asian Financial Crisis or what the Thais called Tom Yung Goong.
The then Prime Minister was in a quandary. He had sacked his deputy, Anwar Ibrahim and to make matters worse, the country was experiencing a financial crisis unlike any other before. Currency speculators had devalued the Malaysian Ringgit to a fraction of its previous value. Attempts by the Central Bank to prop up the ringgit’s value had been expensive and ultimately futile. Malaysia was virtually bankrupt. There was no more money left.
With metaphorical hat in hand, Dr. Mahathir made a visit to Singapore to meet with PM Goh Chok Tong. Although unreported in the Malaysian media, Singapore’s media nevertheless broke the news that Dr. Mahathir had asked Singapore for a 5 billion dollar loan, as Malaysia was in dire straits financially. PM Goh responded positively. Singapore was willing to lend Malaysia the five billion but with “conditions”. It remains unclear exactly what these conditions were as only Dr. Mahathir and PM Goh were privy to the details.
Dr. Mahathir in any event decided that these conditions were unacceptable and returned to Malaysia empty-handed. Indonesia’s President B.J. Habibie had been closely observing these matters and pronounced loudly that “A friend in need is a friend indeed”.
Although the IMF had offered Malaysia a similar loan, that too came with IMF-imposed conditions and obligations which Dr. Mahathir similarly refused to accept.
Ultimately, as we may now recall, the ringgit was made non-convertible outside Malaysia. Effectively, the ringgit became overnight utterly worthless in every country on earth except for Malaysia.
Over time, Malaysia’s financial situation stabilized. Malaysia’s relationship with Singapore, however, had irretrievably broken down. The good doctor’s ego had been severely bruised by his having to “beg” and his humiliation in Singapore.
