Exactly a week before the Chinese New Year celebrations, it was a typical Saturday afternoon in Singapore's parliament. The mood was somewhat festive and relaxed, since there was nothing extraordinary on the agenda to be discussed. But things took a different turn when Foreign Affairs Minister Shunmugam Jayakumar let fly about the current state of bilateral relations with Malaysia.

"We are sick and tired of the comments coming out from Malaysia over the past year, from both their politicians and their media, where illogical remarks, half-truths and total falsehoods are being bandied about to the extent that even otherwise rational people are beginning to accept them," fumed Jayakumar.

The Singaporean foreign minister is well known for his patience and his adeptness in the art of diplomacy. But he was in no mood for diplomacy on that day. "You know the saying - repeat a lie often enough and people think it's the truth," he said. He charged that the Malaysian government has been trying to win political mileage ahead of impending elections and act as a hero by socking it to Singapore. "Enough is enough. I'm a patient man, but even I can reach the point when I have to say, 'Beh tahan!' [cannot stand it]," he said to resounding approval from many members of parliament.

Tough words, but they are not mere rhetoric - there are ongoing grievances between the two neighbors, notably over an arrangement under which Kuala Lumpur wants to increase the fees Singapore pays Malaysia for water.

Malaysia did not seek an increase in the water rates in 1986 when one of its earlier water agreements with Singapore was under review, because Kuala Lumpur feared that rate hikes for Singapore might mean an increase in the price of treated water being sold back to Malaysia's Johor state by Singapore. As Jaykumar explained, "Malaysia has firstly agreed to accepting 45 sen [about 12 US cents] per 1000 gallons [4546 liters] for current and future water in 2000. They then raised their demand to 60 sen. When we counter-offered 45 sen for current water and 60 sen for future water, they raised their demand further - an immediate increase to 60 sen for current water and then RM3 from 2007. And later, it wanted up to RM6.25 for current water, after saying that Hong Kong was being charged RM8 for raw water from China."

The foreign minister asserts that Malaysia's motives are not purely commercial. Previously, the Malaysian government had wanted the water agreements to be part of a package. The key items in the package were the future supply of water for 100 years after 2061; the use of Malaysian airspace by the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF); adjustment of the terms of the Points of Agreements (POA), including provision of an additional 12 parcels of Keretapi Tanah Melayu (Malaysian railway) land at Bukit Timah for joint development; and two later requests: to replace the Causeway with a bridge, and finally the revision of the current water price.

However, the Malaysian government has backtracked on its earlier requests for negotiations as a single package and decided to tackle the water issue separately. Why?

"It's difficult to see the rationale for firstly fixing these as one single package and later insisting them to be separate issues especially the water agreements," remarked Ajay Sugunthan, an activist and lawyer based in Kuala Lumpur. "What comes to mind is perhaps the coming elections, where perhaps persuasive rhetoric may be used as ammunition by the ruling party to seek another term in office and amass all the necessary tools to whip the nationalistic stick. That may be far greater a cause than to promote good neighborliness."

Whatever the reasons, talks between Malaysia and Singapore over water appear to be in deadlock. Singapore went so far as to release the correspondence between the two countries' leaders so that the public would know the facts relating to the water agreement. Jayakumar said he had little choice except to release the letters in order to vindicate Singapore's position. "I have been reluctant to release these documents despite misrepresentation of facts from the other side because we hoped for a win-win outcome. But I have to release them now because this hope is no longer realistic and so much misinformation on the water issue has been put out by Malaysia that needs to be rebutted by conclusive evidence," he said.

That did not go down well with Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar. He claimed that Singapore had no real intentions of finding a solution to the stalled water talks. "I can tell you it's a lack of good faith in this particular case. It is not our practice to publish letters between leaders [on a matter] that is still under negotiation," he said. He also accused Singapore of being a bad neighbor.

The water fight is not the only dispute heightening tensions between Singapore and Malaysia. The two countries have also been squabbling over a tiny island called Pedra Branca. The Malaysian news agency Bernama on December 31 quoted the Malaysian foreign minister as saying, "Singapore has two choices. If it refuses to compromise ... go to war." And Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who is well known for rhetoric and dramatics, said in his New Year message: "We promise that if anyone violates our freedom, they will get what they call a 'bloody nose'," in what observers believe was an indirect reference to Singapore.

War over a piece of rock that holds nothing more than a lighthouse and that has been under Singapore's control since the 1840s? The area has no strategic value for Malaysia, which is different from the case of Sipadan and Ligitan, two islands claimed by Indonesia that were awarded to Malaysia by the International Court of Justice in The Hague last year.

While the Pedra Branca matter could be part of a new foreign policy being issued by Kuala Lumpur, it could just as well be a political move designed to get the Malaysian people into a nationalistic mood and behind the party that has been in power since independence. Is it a fact that the government is slowing losing its sparkle as states controlled by the opposition have been gnawing away at the ruling party's support base.

Perhaps Malaysia needs to realize that still waters run deep and that whatever the outcome of the water dispute, Singapore and Malaysia are twins sharing a common destiny. Striking the other is like striking your own. Singapore cannot prosper without Malaysia and vice-versa. As more important challenges loom - an uncertain world economy, an impending Middle East crisis, an energy crunch - the two neighbors should bury the hatchet and come back to the negotiating table.

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