Malaysia does not need Singapore for the High-Speed Rail (HSR) project as the rail has the potential to be linked northwards towards Thailand instead, said former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

His successor Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob mooted the revival of the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore HSR project in a bilateral meeting with Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong recently.

“We do not need to wait for Singapore to get involved in the project again.

“A private consortium can be created to build the project from the south to the north of the country, funded entirely by the private sector including the cost of land acquisition.

“With the prospects of connecting the HSR to Thailand, Indo-China and China, I believe there are many who will be interested to join the project,” Muhyiddin said.

The Bersatu president said this during his keynote address at his party's fourth annual general assembly in Kuala Lumpur today.

Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin

The KL-Singapore HSR project was terminated during Muhyiddin’s tenure as prime minister, with Malaysia paying RM320 million in compensation.

Protecting sovereignty 

Muhyiddin said he decided to terminate the agreement with Singapore when he was prime minister because he found the contract, which was signed by the former BN government, to have biased terms to the point of threatening the country’s sovereignty.

This includes Singapore’s control over AssetsCo which would have been in charge of the HSR operations in Malaysia.

“With the termination of the HSR agreement with Singapore, we have restored our country’s sovereignty.

“Without Singapore’s involvement, we have full control in the execution of strategic infrastructure projects in the country and we can make decisions to protect the interests of our country without foreign interference,” he added.

It was previously reported that Malaysia’s attempt to remove AssetsCo, which would have required it to be jointly tendered with Singapore, was the key reason for the cancellation of the project.

In early January, Singapore’s Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung said the proposed removal of AssetsCo was Singapore’s main concern as the company would have ensured accountability to both countries.

Muhyiddin had also previously advocated for the HSR project to be expanded northwards towards Thailand, before Ismail Sabri proposed to revive the KL-Singapore HSR project.

DNB-1MDB comparison 

On a separate matter, the former prime minister also defended the contentious Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB) from being compared to 1MDB.

Telecommunications companies in the private sector have their own interests in mind and are not interested in providing 5G network services in areas with lower populations, he said.

That is why the government formed DNB in order to speed up the process of the 5G network rollout.

“So please, let us not have anyone who is purposely trying to delay the 5G rollout due to certain interests by politicising the DNB issue.

“I feel very confused when the same people who fought the 1MDB issue are now trying to equate DNB with 1MDB.

“Please don’t insult the intelligence of Malaysians,” he said.

1MDB was “the largest fraud scheme in the world’s history” with billions of ringgit moved to dodgy offshore companies before disappearing, he said.

This includes the RM2.6 billion which was transferred into the personal account of former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak, he added.

On the other hand, he said that DNB is managed by professionals with a clear administrative structure and that the prime minister is not an advisor with great power in DNB.

Muhyiddin also advocated for the government to stick by its decision to adopt the single wholesale network model for the 5G rollout.

“The government cannot be disturbed by the actions of certain parties who are trying to sabotage the launch of a strategic project that will support the country’s digital economy growth and will provide cheaper 5G services to the people,” he said.

Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim had been consistently vocal in demanding transparency over DNB’s 5G rollout as well as the contract it awarded to Ericsson.

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