Last night, the crown prince of Johor publicly thanked Singapore on social media for our help during the state’s drought seasons and water crisis.
Calling Singapore “a neighbour and a friend”, Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim expressed his appreciation on the Facebook and Twitter pages of the Johor Southern Tigers, the football club he owns.
“We have always helped each other,” he said in the message. “May the close ties & friendship forged hundreds of years ago last forever.”
A neighbour and a friend.
Thank you to the Singaporean Government for helping Johor during the drought seasons & when we had our water crisis. We have always helped each other. May the close ties & friendship forged hundreds of years ago last forever.
HRH Crown Prince of Johor pic.twitter.com/ENsRQhbt8l
— JOHORSouthernTigers (@OfficialJohor) June 28, 2018
The outreach came less than a week after Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said he wanted to renegotiate the terms of a 1962 water treaty with Singapore, whom he implied has been underpaying his country for raw water, in a widely aired interview on Bloomberg TV.
“Well, they’re still paying three sen for 1,000 gallons,” said the 92-year-old leader.
The prime minister also called it “manifestly ridiculous” for Malaysia to sell water to Singapore at 3 sen per thousand gallons, in a separate interview with Channel NewsAsia.
“That was okay way back in the 1990s or 1930s. But now what can you buy with 3 sen? Nothing.”
The water deal in question is an official part of the treaty brokered by the United Nations when the two countries separated in 1965. It entitles Johor to a daily supply of water — which is treated across the border in Singapore — of up to 2 percent, or five million gallons, of the raw water.
Singapore has also, at Johor’s request, supplied extra potable water to Johor on numerous occasions, according to a report by The Straits Times. For example, during the 2016 drought season, PUB pumped up Singapore’s daily supply of treated water to Johor to 22 million gallons.
In the online realm, the crown prince’s message to Singaporeans did not fall on deaf ears.
Other readers used the opportunity to not only appreciate his message, but also to express disappointment over Mahathir’s comments.
