The construction of all bridges to Singapore, whether the proposed 'scenic' bridge or bridge of friendship, should be suspended.

We should allow the desperate island kingdom of the Lee family to regain their senses and composure following their over-experimentation with legalistic social engineering.

The fall-out of the experimentation seems to have a de-humanising effect on them. This, coupled with a deep sense of insecurity in standing up to the challenges of the globalised economy, has overwhelmed them. More time and space should therefore be given to this old friend of ours.

At the same time, we should not allow our competition to thinks that we are in a state of slumber in an increasingly fast moving world. Although I am not the greatest admirer of Dr Mahathir Mohamad, I believe that his obsession with speed and results should continue.

We should, in moving forward, re-evaluate all of our bilateral relationships with other countries. These now should be based mainly on mutual benefits for the present and future rather than on history.

The construction of these new bridges of strategic relationships are more important to our survival than quarreling over irrelevant and meaningless 'scenic' bridges with quarrelsome neighbours.