There was no malice in PM Goh’s words.

In fact, he went out of his way to stress that his relationship with his Malaysian counterpart was “better than cordial”.

But on two points he stood firm: It was not his personal nostalgia but Singapore’s interests that guided his stand on the proposal to replace the Causeway with a bridge.

And, instead of trading jibes with Malaysia on the water issue, Singapore was in favour of arbitration on the dispute.

But it was Dr Mahathir’s extraordinary remarks that appeared to be on everyone’s mind when PM Goh spoke to reporters at the Marine Parade Community Club yesterday.

PM Goh, who has stayed away from verbal sparring, would only say: “Many Western leaders employ professional speech writers to help them give a spin to their positions.

"Dr Mahathir is a very good spin-doctor and I compare him with the best. I think he spins a story very well. We in Singapore are less good in spinning stories. We prefer the more serious approach, giving facts and figures.”

But by saying that Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew had agreed that a bridge could be considered after PM Goh stepped down, was Dr Mahathir trying to allege that there were disagreements between the two Singaporean leaders?

“I don’t think there was any allegation,” said PM Goh. “He just recounted the story of what Mr Lee told him. So, if you want to verify that, you’ve got to ask Mr Lee the question.”

One thing was certain, though. “It is true that I was against the knocking down of the Causeway ... because I saw no benefit whatsoever in replacing a perfectly functioning historical Causeway with a new bridge.

From Singapore’s point of view, it would mean spending more millions and probably having to charge motorists higher toll in order to recover the investments”.

But he stressed that he was prepared to compromise on the bridge, had it been part of the bilateral package, including future water.

Since the bridge is no longer a part of a package, Singapore will have nothing more to do with it.

Especially, since the tolls could go up five or six times.

That did not mean that the water dispute would continue to rage.

Singapore had decided to refer the disagreement to arbitration.

“That way, we put the dispute on a backburner,” he said. “Once we have decided to refer it to arbitrators, then it’s no more an issue because we will abide by the decision of the arbitrators.”

Meanwhile, analysts were divided on whether Dr Mahathir had merely tried to fudge the issue, whether he was just “having fun” or whether he had tried to create a divide between Singapore’s leaders.

Veteran political commentator Seah Chiang Nee said it was heartening that Datuk Seri Abdullah Badawi and DPM Lee Hsien Loong, expected to lead Malaysia and Singapore in the years ahead, had stayed away from the dispute. That gave hope for the future.

Asked about his own future plans of stepping down when the economy improves, PM Goh said: “If it (the economy) doesn’t get better for the next five years, I should step down and get a new team in charge.”

Then, he added: “But, let’s not be so pessimistic ...”

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