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WATER WARS: SINGAPORE VERSUS MALAYSIA
Fresh water is not just an economic resource; it is vital for life. With less than one per cent of the world’s total water supply available for human consumption, water has emerged as a valuable and often contentious economic resource in many parts of the world. Growing water shortages affecting 40 per cent of the world’s population, and an increasing demand, present a looming crisis and have increased the scope for "water wars."
Professor Diane K. Mauzy’s proposed research project investigates the history of water negotiations and arrangements between Singapore and Malaysia. A small, urbanized and affluent Southeast Asian island, Singapore lacks natural resources and depends on neighbouring Malaysia for half of its water. Malaysia has used water as leverage in many of the chronic bilateral disputes between the once-joined states.
Malaya (now peninsular Malaysia) and the Straits Settlements, with Singapore as its hub, were under coordinated British colonial rule from the early nineteenth century until Malaya became independent in 1957 and Singapore in 1965. In 1963, Singapore joined Malaya and two Borneo states to form Malaysia. It was a turbulent union between the governing Malay majority of Malaysia and the primarily Singapore, and in 1965, after two race riots, Kuala Lumpur expelled Singapore from Malaysia.
Two vital water agreements, signed in 1961 and 1962, were confirmed and guaranteed in the 1965 Separation Agreement. Singapore built and maintains the waterworks in Johor (dams, pipelines, reservoirs) and has "the sole and absolute right" to a fixed amount of raw water until 2011 and 2061, respectively. The price of this water is very low (three Malaysian cents per 1,000 gallons), and the treated water that Singapore is obligated to sell back to Johor is well below cost. Over the years Malaysia has used the water issue to solicit concessions from Singapore in other bilateral disputes. At times this has led to much sabre-rattling and threats to "turn off the taps" by Malaysian officials and the media but never by the Malaysian Prime Minister. The caution at the top was in recognition of Singapore’s military strength and its repeated statement that if Malaysia reneged on its water treaty obligations there would be "consequences" — widely believed in both countries to mean immediate military action to restore its water access.
With the expiry date for one of the agreements drawing near in 2011, Singapore has initiated talks with Malaysia about extending the treaty. This seems to have opened the floodgates in Malaysia about historical injustices and accusations of Singapore "profiteering" — Malaysia insists that talks focus solely on renegotiating the pricing formula of the current water treaties, which Singapore rejects. Kuala Lumpur has drummed up considerable nationalist fervor, including "loose talk of war" in January 2003, diverting attention from thorny domestic issues in advance of an upcoming general election. Bilateral relations have now soured markedly. In response, calling the water disputes the "Damocles sword hanging over our heads," Singapore’s Prime Minister says his country needs a different approach to lessen its dependence on Malaysia. The new strategy calls for desalination of sea water, the purification of waste water and an enlarged water catchment area.
These recent developments have the potential to change relations significantly between the two bickering neighbours, away from an older brother/younger brother mentality where Singapore was often expected to make the concessions, to a more equal bargaining position.
Professor Mauzy will investigate the history of water negotiations and arrangements between these two nations since their first agreement in 1927, but particularly since Separation in 1965. She plans to collect data through interviews with politicians and experts (university colleagues, journalists, diplomats, civil servants) in Singapore and Malaysia, building on years of contacts in the two states, and also plans to wants to look at a number of government documents and archival materials.
In the last 50 years, there have been 37 violent conflicts between states involving water rights and access to water, according to the United Nations. International law has provided little help in the prevention or permanent resolution of these conflicts, although 200 other water-sharing treaties have been signed globally. This research hopes to contribute to the broader international research being done about conflict over water, water agreements, and control of water resources used as a political tool.
Professor Diane K. Mauzy’s proposed research project investigates the history of water negotiations and arrangements between Singapore and Malaysia. A small, urbanized and affluent Southeast Asian island, Singapore lacks natural resources and depends on neighbouring Malaysia for half of its water. Malaysia has used water as leverage in many of the chronic bilateral disputes between the once-joined states.
Malaya (now peninsular Malaysia) and the Straits Settlements, with Singapore as its hub, were under coordinated British colonial rule from the early nineteenth century until Malaya became independent in 1957 and Singapore in 1965. In 1963, Singapore joined Malaya and two Borneo states to form Malaysia. It was a turbulent union between the governing Malay majority of Malaysia and the primarily Singapore, and in 1965, after two race riots, Kuala Lumpur expelled Singapore from Malaysia.
Two vital water agreements, signed in 1961 and 1962, were confirmed and guaranteed in the 1965 Separation Agreement. Singapore built and maintains the waterworks in Johor (dams, pipelines, reservoirs) and has "the sole and absolute right" to a fixed amount of raw water until 2011 and 2061, respectively. The price of this water is very low (three Malaysian cents per 1,000 gallons), and the treated water that Singapore is obligated to sell back to Johor is well below cost. Over the years Malaysia has used the water issue to solicit concessions from Singapore in other bilateral disputes. At times this has led to much sabre-rattling and threats to "turn off the taps" by Malaysian officials and the media but never by the Malaysian Prime Minister. The caution at the top was in recognition of Singapore’s military strength and its repeated statement that if Malaysia reneged on its water treaty obligations there would be "consequences" — widely believed in both countries to mean immediate military action to restore its water access.
With the expiry date for one of the agreements drawing near in 2011, Singapore has initiated talks with Malaysia about extending the treaty. This seems to have opened the floodgates in Malaysia about historical injustices and accusations of Singapore "profiteering" — Malaysia insists that talks focus solely on renegotiating the pricing formula of the current water treaties, which Singapore rejects. Kuala Lumpur has drummed up considerable nationalist fervor, including "loose talk of war" in January 2003, diverting attention from thorny domestic issues in advance of an upcoming general election. Bilateral relations have now soured markedly. In response, calling the water disputes the "Damocles sword hanging over our heads," Singapore’s Prime Minister says his country needs a different approach to lessen its dependence on Malaysia. The new strategy calls for desalination of sea water, the purification of waste water and an enlarged water catchment area.
These recent developments have the potential to change relations significantly between the two bickering neighbours, away from an older brother/younger brother mentality where Singapore was often expected to make the concessions, to a more equal bargaining position.
Professor Mauzy will investigate the history of water negotiations and arrangements between these two nations since their first agreement in 1927, but particularly since Separation in 1965. She plans to collect data through interviews with politicians and experts (university colleagues, journalists, diplomats, civil servants) in Singapore and Malaysia, building on years of contacts in the two states, and also plans to wants to look at a number of government documents and archival materials.
In the last 50 years, there have been 37 violent conflicts between states involving water rights and access to water, according to the United Nations. International law has provided little help in the prevention or permanent resolution of these conflicts, although 200 other water-sharing treaties have been signed globally. This research hopes to contribute to the broader international research being done about conflict over water, water agreements, and control of water resources used as a political tool.
