The construction plan of the Kuala Lumpur -Singapore high -speed railway (referred to as Xinlong high -speed railway), which had been suspended twice, has twice. In the 10 months of the Malaysian united government, there has been another turnaround, which has the possibility of recovery construction.According to the author's understanding, the reason for the previous stop is that there are more political factors than economic factors, especially the racial factors influenced by former Prime Minister Mahathir, as well as the gains and losses between the cooperation between New Malaysia.One of the reasons that cannot be ruled out is that Mahathir and others cannot see that Singapore is more beneficial than Malaysia after the high -speed rail is completed.
In fact, this accounting is also very simple. Kuala Lumpur and Singapore are the terminal stations of the high -speed rail. The Singapore terminal is far more successful and efficient than Kuala Lumpur International Airport.More than Kuala Lumpur International Airport.The Xinlong High Railway Line is 328 kilometers in length. It is only a small section that connects Singapore. Singapore is only responsible for the construction of its own 15 kilometers section, with a small investment.
In this way, Mahathirism and their logical thinking seem to be very reasonable.Mahathir followers who are more extreme or lack of international vision may even think that it is better to build a high -speed rail to Johor Bahru. Connecting to Singapore can only benefit Singapore, and there are not many benefits to Malaysia.For such remarks, the author wants to analyze it according to economic geographical principles.
Any development of a large -scale investment project will cause geographical space to produce a certain level of benign diffusion effect (SPREAD EFFECT) and negative reflux effects (or polarization effects, Backwash Effect).The development of the Xinlong High -speed Railway means that Kuala Lumpur Terminal Dama City Center and the surrounding areas will benefit, and land prices have soared.Business activities move closer to it.
While the diffusion effect is played, the east coast will have a trickle effect, which will attract the population to move towards the place where the proliferation is prolonged and seek employment opportunities.Followed by the decline in population pressure in more backward areas, the per capita income of the remaining population will be improved.The decline in population pressure and rising wages will promote all kinds of production activities in rural areas to mechanization and automation.
In general, the successful operation of the high -speed rail will largely promote the flow of people and logistics between the urban agglomerations of Malaysia and the urban and rural areas to a large extent.Quality has driven the flow of population in more lagging regions and stimulate economic development. In the process, it can also assist Malaysia's economic transformation to move into a higher level of development.From the perspective of national integration, the high -speed rail system will drive more Malays, Chinese, and Indians in more backward areas to live in newly developed areas, including second and third -line cities around the city.
Although the construction of high -speed rail has many favorable factors, economic feasibility needs to be further reviewed.Because the Malaysia country that depends on cars seriously depends on the travel of a car, it is not easy to estimate the passenger traffic; to rely on international tourists, it must be based on the tourism industry's development and service quality.In view of the high land acquisition fee, the fare cannot be low, and it is estimated that it should be more than twice the large bus fares currently traveled between Sichuan.
According to the latest news, the construction cost and risk of high -speed rail will be borne by private investors. It is estimated that the construction fee will be between S $ 20 billion and S $ 25 billion (about 62 billion to RM77.5 billion).The news also pointed out that five listed companies in Malaysia are expected to be awarded the construction project. They are Yang Zhongli agencies, MMC institutions, Malaysia resources, WCT holding and successful land.
As for why not bid to international enterprises with advanced technology, I think it is to give Malaysian enterprises an opportunity to undertake opportunities. Those who have successfully marked the engineering section can invite foreign companies with advanced technology to cooperate.The construction model includes five procedures for design -construction -financing -operation -operations.The final procedure is to transfer asset management rights after the operation rights, and who takes care of it is the key issue.The two governments of the New Malaysia must jointly negotiate and deal with it cautiously, fairly, and responsible.
Malaysia is currently standing in front of the threshold of advanced countries, and the high -speed rail will undoubtedly bring new breakthrough opportunities.As long as the new horse can release the suspicion, it is frank and relative. It is necessary to exclude the political and business -friendly and party operations used by the UMNO government to obtain the trust of Singapore.
Although the high -speed rail can strengthen the connection and flow efficiency between urban and urban and rural areas, it will at the same time promote the funds, talents, and other resources in underdeveloped regions to gather in areas with high developments and administrative efficiency.The group profit is more, the gap between the backward rural areas has expanded, bringing a negative polarization effect.Based on this, the Malaysian Central Government must make policy adjustments to minimize the phenomenon of polar phenomena in society.
The author is Professor Qing of Malaysia New Era University College
