Even senior Malaysian officials had downplayed chances of anything substantive being achieved in the tight five-hour visit where Abdullah would "listen more than talk." But the two leaders emerged after less than an hour of discussion to say they were now going to settle outstanding bilateral disputes through talks and not resort to arbitration.

It caught many by surprise because the bitter dispute over the price of raw water supplied to Singapore from Johor, for instance, never looked like it was heading for any solution despite three or four rounds of home and away talks.

Equally thorny was the question whether Singapore would build its side of the proposed elevated bridge to replace the Causeway or let it remain a "crooked bridge" after Malaysia had completed its half of the project.

Abdullah, a diplomat to the core whose consultative style has won him praise domestically, however, maintained that negotiation was the best way forward for the sake of long-term bilateral relations as well as for stability in Asean.

Goh said he was agreeable to this approach even though he would prefer arbitration as an option.

It was the way the two leaders made known their latest stand that was interesting, indicating quite clearly at the joint Press conference that relations were indeed warming up.

Goh said he regarded Abdullah not just as a counterpart but as a friend and that he was glad the Malaysian premier had taken advantage of the short visit to put relations back on track.

"And since this is your first visit as Prime Minister, we extend to you this special welcome," he added, referring to the ceremonial reception at the Istana where a guard of honour was mounted.

Indeed, from the moment Abdullah stepped out of the BMW limousine with a yellow No 1 plate that had met him at the airport, to the backto-back rendition of Negaraku and Majulah Singapura from the Singapore Armed Forces marching band, it was quite apparent that relations were now taking a different track.

Singapore even assigned the most appropriate minister of attendance for the Malaysian guest - Foreign Minister Shunmugam Jeyakumar, a key figure in all the outstanding issues Malaysia and the republic are grappling with.

On top of that, lapel pins in the shape of the flags of the two countries crossed on each other - signifying close relationship - were given out to officials in both the delegations, a rare gesture coming from the Singaporeans.

The next step now is for the two countries to work out details of how and when talks on the outstanding issues can resume and whether they would be handled as a package or separately.

Abdullah said he preferred to "unscramble" the existing package and treat the matters separately when it was time to discuss, while Goh was non-committal about this.

Issues that had already reached third party arbitration like the territorial dispute over Pulau Batu Puteh and reclamation works around Pulau Tekong would however be left to that recourse, the leaders agreed.

Other thorny outstanding issues between the two countries are the price of raw water supplied from Johor to the republic, the proposed construction of an elevated bridge to replace the existing Causeway over the Straits of Johor, the shifting of the Keretapi Tanah Melayu station from Tanjung Pagar to Woodlands, the relocation of the Malaysian Customs and Immigration Complex in Tanjung Pagar, the Central Provident Fund withdrawals by workers from Peninsular Malaysia in Singapore and the use of Malaysian airspace by low-flying Singapore airforce jets.

But given the public commitment by both leaders to talk rather than squabble over the issues, there is that little ray of hope that eventually, these issues may be resolved amicably, no one side winning all, no one side losing all.

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