Malaysia doesn't need to revive HSR project now, says Dr M

 

Malaysia does not need to bring back the scrapped Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High-Speed Rail (HSR) megaproject, said Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

At a virtual media roundtable ahead of his new memoir's launch, the former prime minister called out the revival of HSR as a revival of corrupt politics.

"I had thought about the HSR project during my time. But if you want to make a high-speed train popular, you must go a longer distance. The travel time saving is minimum when we have a shorter rail," he said.

Mahathir said it would be more feasible for the HSR to be extended to the northern region, namely Penang, Alor Setar and Thai border, adding that the project was not something the country can afford now.

"People in Malaysia use cars instead of trains (to travel between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore).

"We don't need it now. When you want to do something, you have to weigh the usefulness of what you want to do against the needs of the country. If you find that the country does not need it yet, then you don't do it," he said.

When asked if the revival of the HSR project is a revival of corrupt politics, he said: "It is indeed."

Mahathir likened this to how voters from poor backgrounds reacted to vote-buying during the elections where voters felt obliged to support the party that offered them bribes that were delivered in the form of cash handouts or free public transport to the polling centre.

"When the poor people are offered lots of money, it is very difficult for them to say no. They feel they should support the people who gave them money," he said.

It was reported Ismail Sabri proposed the revival of the HSR despite his predecessor Muhyiddin Yassin terminating the project at the cost of RM320 million.

The KL-Singapore HSR agreement lapsed on Dec 31, 2020. Malaysia forked out a total of S$102.8 million (RM320.07 million) to Singapore as compensation for aborting the project.

At the time, Muhyiddin's government justified that the proposed model would be too costly amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Former Prime Minister Najib Razak suggested in September to bring back HSR, which he launched in 2016. - Mkini