œCROOKED or œScenic ” whatever one chooses to call it ” the proposed bridge across the Straits of Johor that would do away with the Causeway connecting Singapore to Johor Baru is a needless waste of the countrys financial resources. It is wanted by few and needed by nobody. It is an indulgence on a grand scale, another mega project reminiscent of the Mahathir era, and will set the country back by billions of ringgit. One party that adamantly wants to deny the bridge an existence is Singapore because if the Causeway no longer stands, a new shipping lane opens through the Johor Straits leading straight to the port of Tanjong Pelepas by-passing Singapore altogether. Already the former has taken some business away from the latter. To go along with Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamads brainchild, that which beggars the neighbour, would mean certain disruption for the island republic; a destabilising factor in the relations of the two nations and the region.
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