Malaysians coming over to work from across the Causeway was a natural thing to happen, Sg and Malaysia were severed only because of politics, peoplewise, we were sama-sama. I have relatives just across in Pontian and Kukup. However that was an early sign that Singapore needed to do something about her workforce - as it was an attractive location for foreign investments. Singapore's growth then could be tied in with regional growth - in Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines by identifying with their domestic exports and help them process, package, store - and ulitimately ship out. Instead Sg chose to play with the big boys and set up SIA, which made its mark. But it would have worked out better as a regional carrier. Same thing with other industries - shipping, even music (Sweet Charity was a Malay rock band that influence rock music in Malaysia and Indonesia, but not given any recognition in Singapore).
To put it in a nutshell, if Sg had been more conservative and not so "bold", she'd be more stable now.
Cheers!
