“As far as Singapore is concerned, we have not given the whole notice yet. But they know what we want to do,” he told reporters after attending a briefing by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) here today.
Yesterday, Singapore said it was still waiting for official notification of Malaysia’s position on the HSR project.
Quoting Singapore Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan in Parliament, The Straits Times reported that “to date, Singapore had still not received a reply from the Malaysian government” despite making a request through diplomatic channels on June 1.
Khaw also said public statements made by Malaysian ministers and Mahathir through various press interviews on the termination of the project “had not been followed through with any official communication to us”.
However, Mahathir said certain decisions were not easily made, and that the market would sometimes react negatively.
He claimed investors liked “to be told lies about how good everything is”, and would “run away” and stop investing if they discovered that the government had uncovered many wrongdoings.
“So that’s why we have to be careful with what we say.”
In May, Mahathir said Putrajaya would pull out of the HSR agreement with Singapore as it was an “unnecessary project” which would cost RM110 billion.
This sparked criticism by Abdul Rahman Dahlan, the former minister in charge of the Economic Planning Unit, who said Malaysia would lose an estimated RM209 billion in gross national income as well as the potential to create 70,000 jobs if the HSR was called off.
Mahathir also addressed other questions today, including:
On whether asset declarations by Pakatan Harapan MPs will be made public
We are considering how much we can reveal to the public as it could affect the privacy of family members.
On questions by DAP’s P Ramasamy on whether there is a ‘secret deal’ between Malaysia and India not to deport Zakir Naik
We won’t always comply with any demand. We must have reasons before agreeing to demands, otherwise people will be victimised.
On whether he has done enough to stop MPs from being corrupt
I cannot say if I have done enough, unless they break the law.
On plans to raise the salaries of ministers and MPs
I know the salaries are low compared to the private sector. We don’t want to be below the private sector too much, so we are reducing the salaries of the private sector.