Double happiness

There is now another similarity between the political leadership of Singapore and Malaysia although the two countries split long time ago in 1965. Their current Prime Ministers, who assumed power after the turn of the millennium, have both remarried following the death of their first wives.

Singapore's Lee Hsien Loong, who succeeded Goh Chok Tong in 2004, married Ho Ching in 1985 following the death of his first wife. Malaysia's Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who took over from Dr Mahathir Mohamad in 2003, and Jeanne Abdullah will hold their wedding ceremony this Saturday following the death of his wife two years ago.

While Hsien Loong's second marriage is old news, Badawi's badly kept secret has continued to hog the headlines. The Malaysian leader was cited today as saying: 'A happier PM can do a lot of good work.'

Can Badawi now do a lot of good work by resolving all the outstanding bilateral problems with Singapore?

The leaders of the two countries met on the Malaysian island of Langkawi last month as part of what was dubbed "durian diplomacy". There's been a lot of positive rhetoric on both sides of the causeway since then.

But there's been no concrete sign of a new political bridge to link the two countries that used to be one nation.