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10 Facts About the New HSR Agreement ‘Coz It’s Still Going to be a Reality

2018-09-06 , 2:03 pm

These past few months have been a whirlwind of emotions for Singaporeans.

First, Dr Mahathir became the oldest elected prime minister in the world. Then, he started making broad changes that affect not just Malaysia, but the rest of the world too.

Along with a series of U-turns that made people go

Well, our neighbouring country’s top dog has made another U-turn again, but this U-turn is one that most Singaporeans welcome.

Here are 8 facts about the new KL-SG HSR arrangement that’ll make Singaporeans cheer. Probably.

**1. Confimed: The KL-SG HSR is Not Cancelled**

A wise old man always said, “Always start with the good news. So everything else will sound much better in comparison.”

And what’s better than telling Singaporeans who want to have the HSR express service, that the HSR isn’t cancelled?

Yesterday (5 Sep 2018), Singapore and Malaysia signed an agreement to postpone the HSR project until end-May 2020.

In return, Malaysia will pay Singapore a total amount of S$15 million for suspending the project before Jan 2019.

2. But That’s Not All They Have To Pay

Now, if you’re worried that Malaysia will take this period to worm its way out of the project, don’t worry.

Or at least, don’t worry so much.

Because if Malaysia does not proceed with the project by 31 May 2020, they’ll have to pay back the cost incurred by Singapore in fulfilling the HSR Bilateral Agreement.

And that’s a lot of money. More than S$250 million, to be exact.

3. What kind of delay are we looking at?

Okay, now on to the not-so-great news. What Singaporeans are looking at now is a five-year delay in the delivery of the project.

Instead of the originally announced date of 31 Dec 2026, the HSR express service is now slated to start on 1 Jan 2031.

But hey, at least, if you’ve bought a house near the HSR station in hopes of cashing in, you still have a chance.

4. Singapore Super Happy With Malaysia

Neighbours must be happy with one another. That’s what they always teach us in Social Studies about living in HDB flats.

And with this agreement, the Singapore Government expressed their happiness for future collaborations with Malaysia.

“Without (a) doubt, this agreement would not have happened if not for our strong commitment to bilateral cooperation between our two countries.”

5. S’pore Was Actually Only Open to a One-Year Postponement Of The Project

So there’s one part that was puzzling Singaporeans throughout the entire saga. Why, oh why, didn’t Singapore do anything when Malaysia announced their intentions to scrap, then defer, the project?

As it turns out, they did do something. They just didn’t tell Singaporeans what’s going on yet. You know, like what a boss always say, “I’m always doing something for you guys but you just didn’t know about it.”

Like, you know, processing our payroll. But anyways.

It was revealed that Malaysia had passed on the message that they would like to postpone the project for three to four years when Malaysia’s Economic Affairs Minister Azmin Ali visited Singapore.

Then, Mr Khaw visited Malaysia and told them, “Sorry, only one year, can?”

And Mr Ali returned to Singapore and asked, “Can longer?”

Well, not in exact words, but that’s the gist.

Eventually, both countries agreed on a two-year deferment as anything beyond that might just change the business model entirely.

6. Things Might Still Change Though

During the period of the suspension, both countries will still be hard at work. They will continue to discuss how best to proceed with the project while reducing costs.

While Malaysia’s Economic Affairs Minister Azmin Ali said he is confident of seeing the fruitful completion of the project, DPM Mr Teo Chee Hean said he would not speculate on the future.

However, there’s one thing that’s pretty clear-cut.

7. This Postponement Is A One-Time Thing Only

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Vivian Balakrishnan emphasised that there will not be any further deferments of the project.

He added that the original agreement did not provide for the deferment, but by a side letter which states specifically that if a decision is not reached by the expiry date, it’s considered a termination of the project.

And should that happen, full compensation will have to be made.

8. Is It Really a Win-Win, Though?

Okay, now that we’re over the good news of having the HSR (90-minute KL, here we come!), here are some opinions about the delay.

Some felt that it was a win-win situation as this allows both Singapore and Malaysia to further develop the region around the HSR service line.

For Malaysia, it’ll be developing regions around the HSR line’s stations while Singapore has a chance to further develop the Jurong Lake District.

However, there are others who thought that Singapore got the short end of the stick in this latest development.

While Malaysia gets breathing room, Singapore will incur short-term losses like the upkeep of lands it had already bought for the HSR project, the money given to workers and contractors for the construction and more.

And then, there are some who thinks that the delay means a lose-lose situation for both countries.

9. How about the people who’re now working on the project now?

Apparently, a team of more than 100 specialists were hired by LTA to work on this project. So what’s going to happen to them?

Well, don’t worry: with this confirmation, these people would be offered alternative jobs within LTA. So no one’s losing their job.

10. Project will still go on during this “suspension”

The entire project isn’t going to be left in a freezer and to be revisited in 2020, though. According to SG HSR, they would continue to work with government agencies and external stakeholders to manage the operation. After that, it would be “scaled down” until the project is back come 2020.

But let’s face it: 2020 is rather far from now. My colleague said that in 2019, aliens might finally contact humans and propose to build a faster railway at a lower price.

I kind of hope that he’s right.

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