SINGAPORE’s threat to match in some form Malaysia’s Road Charge (RC) of RM20 (S$6.60) at the two land entry points in Johor — the Causeway and Second Link — is hardly the type of response we would expect from a neighbour. It is not the kind of attitude that we had hoped for from the island republic. Singapore’s furious reaction to Malaysia’s move appears to have raised the prospect of tit-for-tat retaliation. Singapore had labelled the new levy, which came into effect on Tuesday, as discriminatory and said it would announce details of its retribution in due course. It sounds menacing, indeed. Foreign private-registered vehicles entering Johor will now have to pay the RC, which will be collected each time motorists enter Malaysia via Touch n’ Go cards. After passport clearance, drivers will then proceed to tap their cards twice, at two different terminals — one for the RC and the other for the checkpoint toll. Motorcyclists do not have to pay the RC.
There is nothing biased or discriminatory about Malaysia’s implementation of the RC for all private foreign-registered vehicles entering the country. Singapore has got it all wrong. The RC is not meant for Singapore-registered vehicles only; it is also targeted at those coming in from Thailand and Brunei and, eventually, Indonesia. Considering that it has been charging Malaysia-registered vehicles entering the republic since Aug 2014, Singapore’s response is bewildering. It currently imposes a S$35 (RM105) Vehicle Entry Permit (VEP) fee on foreign-registered cars entering the city-state, but each vehicle is given 10 free days a year and there are no charges during the weekends and public holidays. Cars entering Singapore between 5pm and 2am from Monday to Friday are also exempt from the VEP fee. Motorcyclists pay S$4. This has been going on for a long time and yet Malaysia did not react negatively towards Singapore’s action. Malaysia’s RC is only a fraction of what Singapore has been collecting for ages. So where is Singapore’s anger coming from and what is the message it is hoping to convey?
Singapore also cannot feign ignorance to justify its counterattack as the decision to initiate the RC was conveyed to the relevant authority in the republic in advance. Singaporean motorists, by and large, are not complaining about the new levy saying that it is affordable and it would not stop them from travelling to Malaysia. They have families here whom they visit regularly. According to the Road Transport Department, there has been no drop in the number of cars coming in from Singapore since the RC collection. Malaysia and Singapore share many similarities in terms of culture, tradition and way of life. However, this intimacy is characterised by high and low periods, marked sometimes by miscommunication and misunderstanding. No wonder, then, our ties have had “the best of times and the worst of times”, to quote Charles Dickens. Singapore must restrain its passion for getting even which can sometimes be strong and overwhelming. Experts say our intuitive logic about revenge is often twisted, conflicted, parochial and dangerous. It is a violent response to anger, injury, or humiliation. Singapore should reconsider its resolve to match Malaysia’s RC “in some form”.