Mahathir the Riddler and The High Speed Rail Project

Updates:
And so the flip-floping continues on from M'sia...

19 July 2018: TODAY - In U-turn, Dr Mahathir says Malaysia to negotiate deferment of HSR with Singapore 

When asked by reporters on whether there are options to defer the project or reduce the cost, he replied: “At the moment when we look at the financial situation of the country, we thought that we couldn’t go ahead with that.”

"The problem is that if we just unilaterally discard the agreement, we have to pay a very high compensation." 

Having studied the contract, it was decided that “we will have to do it at a later date or we may have to reduce the price”, Dr Mahathir added. Read more here.

18 July 2018: New Straits Times - HSR not entirely off the table, fate lies in upcoming discussion between Malaysia and Singapore 

 "We have not excluded the possibility of the project going on, but are not making any suggestions unless there is a consensus from both countries.” Economic Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin told reporters at the Dewan Rakyat lobby. Read more here.

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Here’s a summary of the HSR headlines from a Malaysian News/Media portal – The Star Online, from 24 Jan 2017 to 9 July 2018. (Latest news at bottom)

Read them and see for yourself if you can decide what Mahathir/Malaysia really, really wants to do with the HSR project.

24 Jan 2017: The Star Online - Mahathir opposes HSR project
Citing financial constraints, the former prime minister (Mahathir), who is chairman of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, said the HSR contract signed between Malaysia and Singapore may not be a done deal if the Opposition comes to power. We need to do a study whether it is feasible or not because we don’t have the money and we have to borrow money, and that is not something the Government can bear at this moment. We have to know whether we really need this HSR or not,” he told The Sunday Times in an interview. Read more here. 

28 May 2018: The Star Online - Mahathir to drop high-speed rail project with Singapore: FT
"We need to do away with some of the unnecessary projects, for example the high-speed rail, which is going to cost us RM110bn ($28bn) and will not earn us a single cent. That will be dropped," Mahathir told the Financial Times. "We have an agreement with Singapore. We have to talk with Singapore about dropping that project," he said, according to Reuters. Read more here. 

2 Jun 2018: The Star Online - Guan Eng on HSR: 'You can get something... for half the price.'
Asked if the economic benefits outweighed the cost of the rail link, Lim replied: “Is it worth it? You can get something for cheaper, for half the price.” Read more here.

12 Jun 2018: The Star Online - HSR project postponed, not scrapped, Dr M tells Japanese media“We cannot say we will never have high-speed rail (HSR) in Malaysia. What we can do is we can postpone the project because it is far too costly at this moment.” After being sworn in as prime minister, he had announced on May 28 that Malaysia will be dropping the HSR project with Singapore, citing it as an “unnecessary project”. However, in his interview with Nikkei Asian Review, Dr Mahathir commented that the Singapore HSR project is merely postponed. “We actually postponed the implementation of that project.” Read more here.

15 Jun 2018: The Star Online - Govt will consider reviving HSR project in the future
Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng: “As far as the HSR is concerned, it's scrapped for now as announced by the Prime Minister but in the future, that is something that we want to discuss with the Government” Read more here.

9 Jul 2018: The Star Online - Singapore not told of HSR status but knows what Malaysia wants
Mahathir: "We have not given them full notice yet but they know what we want to do."Watch the interview on YouTube here. 

Video source: The Star Online