Two months ago, I was invited by a Singaporean friend, working for a multinational in Kuala Lumpur, to lunch at his rented apartment. Over meal, his Malaysian guests were stunned by an unexpected, almost whimsical overture of his: "Frankly speaking, Singapore and Malaysia must come to their senses and merge. I can see no other way for these two small nations to ward off the future challenges from China and India."

What about the Singaporeans long tormented by a severe acute siege mentality? I asked in a skeptical tone.

He laughed it off, "Trust me. If tomorrow the Straits Times began to argue the case for a merger with Malaysia, and ran it for a few months, Singaporeans would come around to the idea in no time. Such is the malleability of the people before a powerful state."

Winking at me, he added: "Well, the same can be said of you Malaysians."

I did not intend to take his words seriously. But there is no doubt that some thaw in the icy relationship between Malaysia and Singapore is in the offing. I was quite intrigued by an article in Berita Harian, entitled 'Mencari penyelesaian melalui persahabatan' (Seeking a solution through friendship) on the day Abdullah Ahmad Badawi landed in Singapore for his maiden visit as prime minister. Key in 'Malaysia + Singapore' in Google.com's search engine, one probably comes cross phrases like 'problem', 'bumpy relationship', 'testing time' etc. But 'friendship' or 'persahabatan'? Either of the word is in short supply.

Improving ties

After the PM's 'ice-breaking' mission this week, Utusan Malaysia and Berita Harian both came out with exactly the same front-page headline, 'Kembali berunding' (Back to talks), on Tuesday. The New Straits Times, proud of its cosy relationship with the government, also did not disappoint the premier by putting up a succinct phrase, 'Resolving issues via talks', underlying the will of Malaysia to avoid arbitration.

Although the credibility of the many letters pertaining to political issues in our national dailies is constantly in serious doubt, following the letter columns in the press remains a hobby of mine. On Monday, I nearly choked on coffee when reading a letter in the NST calling for the PM to improve ties with Singapore. This is significant because, until recently, nearly all our newspapers were inundated with letters condemning the island state, and Singapore-bashing was perhaps the second most popular national pastime, after US-hentaming (bashing).

Does all this signal a change in the Malaysian government's attitude toward our 'recalcitrant neighbour'? After all, the spats between both sides were so frequent in the past few years that one can surely be forgiven for thinking that the two countries had been making friends around the world but not with one another.

Unable to satisfy my insatiable curiosity about the sudden warmth in the 'mainstream' press towards our kiasu neighbour, I decided to turn to the Singapore media. Since, I thought to myself, my prime minister was going south, surely the host would have something to say about the visit too? But I am afraid that the Straits Times correspondent in Kuala Lumpur, Brendan Pereira, has perhaps revealed too much of what the Singapore leaders have in mind. Pereira suggests that Malaysia "would have wanted to invite Singapore to bear part of the costs of building a bridge but the fear of being rebuffed stopped them from taking this approach".

No such request was made at the end of the visit. Anyway, it would be foolish to think Singapore had softened its stance with all the diplomatic niceties that Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong extended to Abdullah. To clear any mis-impression, the republic's Berita Harian reiterated the position of the Singapore government that 'Singapura kini sebuah negara merdeka lagi berdaulat untuk melangkah ke depan, kedua-dua negara harus menerima hakikat bahawa hubungan antara mereka perlu dikenali secara hormat-menghormati berasaskan hubungan antara dua jiran dan bukan seperti hubungan antara abang dan adik'.

(Singapore is now an independent and sovereign nation ... to move forward, both the countries must accept the fact that ties between them should be recognised with mutual respect based on the relation of two neighbours and not like a relationship between an elder and younger brother)

Sometimes, one simply needs to read the mind of the other party in order to understand better that of oneself.

Chinese votes

Is the general election nigh? Judging from the news coverage in the Chinese press this past week, it is safe to bet that the prime minister will go to the country to secure his own mandate in a matter of weeks. I know it, because I have seen pictures of Deputy Prime Minster Najib Abdul Razak putting several brush strokes to the Chinese phrase 'Enhancing Malaysia-China Cultural Exchange'. If my memory serves me well, former DPM Anwar Ibrahim once famously uttered 'We are all one family' in Mandarin, which helped dust down his anti-Chinese image of the 1980s to some extent.

This time, Najib, the rookie calligrapher, was perhaps trying to do the same, and the picture of him practising the art appeared in the Oriental Daily News, Sin Chew Daily and Nanyang Siang Pau, all major Chinese broadsheets, as well as the MCA-owned the Star, on Monday. Some say this is a cheap propaganda stunt to win Chinese votes. I agree. Still, I would suggest that our newly-anointed DPM (no typo here), whose father shook hands with Chairman Mao and cemented diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China in 1974, invite Mao's children to come to Malaysia for a 'reunion'. He might gain extra political mileage out of it. But I am not so sure if young Malaysians of Chinese origin would go ecstatic at the idea.

Oh yes, the picture of Najib doing Chinese calligraphy is nowhere to be found in the Malay press.

Also, Prime Minister Abdullah has sent his early Chinese New Year's greetings to Chinese Malaysians. On Thursday, the frontpages of Oriental Daily News, Sin Chew Daily and the China Press, with a combined readership of around 2.3 million, were dominated by an eye-catching Chinese New Year's card in red background, bearing a festive greeting, 'Harmony among the people brings forth a long-lived spring', as well as a political message, 'Political stability sends forth peace on earth'.

By the way, the greeting card came out on the same day when the Barisan Nasional supreme council meeting was allegedly scheduled to decide on an election date. What a lucky coincidence.

Finally, if one thinks that Muhyiddin Yassin has lost his clout after being passed over for the DPM job, think again. The new agriculture minister was given a full-page interview by Utusan Malaysia early this week. Without specifically answering the question as to whether the neglect of the state in the agricultural sector had made rural areas a hotbed for the oppositionists, he vowed to achieve the twin targets of modernising Malaysia's agricultural sector and making it a prime source of income.

Touted as a 'senior and experienced' minister, Muhyiddin is now clearly one of the closest allies of the prime minister, tasked with reenergising the agricultural sector and winning over disgruntled Malay farmers for Umno. Certainly, he has more reason to be cheerful and mission-driven in his new post than the corporate wizard Jamaluddin Jarjis, who is given the unenviable task of cracking down on pirated software, and may from now on have to go around supermarkets holding a fresh chicken or a bag of rice for photo opportunity.

Not a very auspicious start to the New Year for JJ, is it?