It shouldn't be a surprise that Singaporeans are still flocking to Johor for food and entertainment despite the many spats in Singapore-Malaysian bilateral relationship. Crossing the causeway for Johoreans and Singaporeans is almost like walking across the street - no one gives too much of a thought about the state of the relationship between the two governments before doing so. Johoreans and Singaporeans just want to get on with their normal lives.

Ordinary Singaporeans and Malaysians have gotten used to these sometimes childish spats between the two countries. Having worked in Singapore for 4 years, I cannot remember a year that passed without a war of words between them.

There are so many similarities between populations of the two countries and yet so many differences. Old-timers like Lee Kuan Yew can still be considered Malayans - English and Malay-speaking. But Malaysians today are often astounded that the young Singaporeans today do not speak any word of Malay - not even pasar Malay. Therein lies the key difference between the two societies. Malays in Singapore, despite the governments effort to encourage them to join the mainstream of society, unfortunately are still very much hanging on to the fringes. This is not because there is a concerted effort to discriminate them by the government but it is the nature of the Malay people to cling to their provincial way of life. Yes, they could be staying in gleaming new HDB flats built by the government but their social values, their aspirations and their culture are still very kampong in nature. It takes time for a provincial society to evolve into a cosmopolitan one. The government might force the difference races to live together in adjacent flats but still you will not find many Chinese Singaporeans mixing closely with Malay people. Not because there is any racial prejudice directed by the Chinese against the Malays but simply because there is nothing much in common between the two races. Both have vastly different social values. It is only natural for birds of the same feathers to flock together.

Even the Chinese in Singapore, who were descended mostly from migrant labourers and traders from South China, still has a long way to go before they can claim to be a modern cultured society of First World standards. The government is again doing a lot to engineer such a society, first by building world-class arts and cultural performance centers such as Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay.

It is a pity that there's so much bad blood between Malaysia and Singapore. There's so much that both can showcase to the world as shiny examples of Third World countries who have managed their economies well and carried out development projects successfully.

I enjoyed my time in Singapore, as I'm enjoying my time in Jakarta now. But I'll always call Malaysia home.