Malaysia–Singapore Points of Agreement of 1990

Malaysia–Singapore Points of Agreement of 1990 (POA) is an agreement between the Southeast Asian countries of Malaysia and Singapore over the issue of the future of railway land owned by the Malaysian government through Malayan Railways (Keretapi Tanah Melayu or KTM) in Singapore. It was signed by the then Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Kuan Yew and the then Finance Minister of Malaysia Tun Daim Zanuddin on behalf of their respective countries on 27 November 1990. The implementation of the agreement was deadlocked for many years because of disputes over its interpretation. However, on 24 May 2010, Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak and his Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsien Loong, after a leaders' retreat in Singapore, announced that the two sides had reached an agreement on outstanding issues concerning the 1990 POA, thus breaking the 20 year old deadlock.

Under the agreement, KTM would vacate its station at Tanjong Pagar and move to Bukit Timah while all KTM's land between Bukit Timah and Tanjong Pagar would revert to Singapore. Railway land at Tanjong Pagar would be handed over to a private limited company for joint development of which its equity would be split 60% to Malaysia and 40% to Singapore. The agreement however became one of the major reasons for the less than warm relationship between Malaysia and Singapore. The key contention was the difference in interpretation of the agreement by the two countries, resulting in its implementation being deadlocked for many years. Singapore insisted that the agreement came into effect immediately after it was signed by both parties. It was not until 1 July 2011, that the line between Tanjong Pagar and Woodlands Train Checkpoint, ceased to exist, destroying the electrification plans and double tracking plans, along with the new depot at Gali Batu.

The Malayan Railway land, covering over 217 hectares and stretching 20–30 kilometres into Singapore territory, was acquired through a lease under Railway Act 1918 specifically for use by Federated Malay States Railways (FMSR, which later became KTM) for a period of 999 years. That same ordinance limits the use of the land to railway operations, thus preventing the land from being developed despite being situated on prime land. Under a bilateral arrangement on 27 November 1990 known as the Points of Agreement (POA), Malaysia and Singapore decided to depart from the Railways Act 1918 and repeal the KTM (Singapore) Act 1984 to facilitate joint redevelopment of the Tanjong Pagar Railway Station and the lands adjacent to the railway line. Under the ordinance, Malaysia was allowed to operate a customs, immigration and quarantine checkpoint at Tanjong Pagar railway station, together with the Singapore CIQ to facilitate convenient checkpoint procedures for passengers. Passengers to Malaysia would go through immigration checks prior to boarding the train, allowing trains to run uninterrupted from Singapore to destinations in Malaysia. Passengers arriving in Singapore would only go through immigration procedures for Malaysia and Singapore after arriving at Tanjong Pagar.

The 1990 POA states that the Tanjong Pagar railway station would be moved either to Bukit Timah first, or directly to Kranji. In exchange three parcels of railway land—at Tanjong Pagar, Kranji, and Woodlands—would be jointly developed on a 60–40 basis with the Malaysian government holding the larger share. However, three years later, Prime Minister Mahathir expressed his displeasure with the POA as it failed to include a piece of railway land in Bukit Timah for joint development. Malaysia's subsequent reluctance to go ahead with the 1990 agreement was based on the fear that it might eventually be forced to give up proprietary control over some or all of KTM's land in Singapore.

An agreement in September 2001 nevertheless helped resolve this thorny issue which provided sufficient latitude to be exploited for political purposes in times of economic or political difficulties. Both governments have reached an understanding on the Malaysian immigration checkpoint on the Kuala Lumpur Singapore railway line, which is to be moved from Tanjong Pagar to Kranji. The issue over Malayan Railway land—a very sensitive one for Kuala Lumpur—was then thought to be resolved by Singapore's agreement to offer Malaysia another twelve plots of land in Bukit Timah (as mentioned earlier). This would link concessions on land with those on water. Little was heard subsequently until May 2009 when it was reported that both countries were seeking a timely resolution to the long standing issue. The Land Transport Authority has announced the construction of Downtown Line Stage 2 on 21 July 2008 of which it duplicates the KTM line from Bukit Panjang to Bukit Timah.

On 24 May 2010, Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak and his Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsien Loong, after a leaders' retreat in Singapore, announced that the two sides had reached an agreement on outstanding issues concerning the 1990 POA, thus breaking the 20 year old deadlock. Calling it a "supplement" to the 1990 POA, the two governments permanently closed down Tanjong Pagar railway station, and Bukit Timah railway station on 1 July 2011. Bus services 160, 170, 950, AC7, CW1, CW2 and CW5 will be beefed up together with several links to Woodlands from Woodlands Checkpoint railway station. In addition, the old Bukit Timah railway station will be conserved and Tanjong Pagar railway station will be preserved as a national monument. The older tracks has been permanently demolished except for conserved and preserved areas. Khazanah and Temasek Holdings (M S Pte Ltd) had been established to develop a parcel at Marina Bay (Marina One) which has been tendered out since 19 December 2009, and Bugis (Duo Residences) which has also been tendered out since 10 January 2010.

The two countries however could not come to an agreement over the payment of development charges to be levied by the Singapore government for the POA land in Tanjong Pagar, Kranji and Woodlands. Development charge is a tax on the enhancement in land value resulting from the approval of a higher value development proposal. Malaysia believes the POA renders the charge inapplicable to these three parcels, but agreed to the tax for the Bukit Timah parcels which were not covered in the POA. Singapore on the other hand believes it still applies and must be considered to determine a land swap of equivalent value. Both leaders have agreed to bring the matter for arbitration at the Permanent Court of Arbitration. They further agreed to accept the arbitration award as final and binding. The arbitration will proceed on its own track and shall not affect the implementation of the POA and the other bilateral initiatives agreed in the Joint Statement of 24 May 2010. On 31 October 2014, The Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled in favour of Malaysia that the development charges for the three parcels need not to be paid.