ARE LEAkS ARcHITEcTURAL?

Ong Wee Jin

Since their separation from one another in 1965, the Straits of Johor has served to divide the two nations of Singapore and Malaysia, an invisible line drawn along it to demarcate territory. This stand-off is both peaceable yet tensioned, mired in a history of political skirmishes but perceptibly tranquil in its tangible being. The status quo has never been one to be maintained, with Singapore’s tireless efforts to widen its girth constantly pushing its terra-firma outwards as it inches closer to the boundary line. With the implementation of the Iskandar project, Malaysia has returned the salvo with its own land expansion agenda, and the Straits is looking to become its narrowest ever.

As the two distinct masses approach, the project seeks to re-conceptualise the narrowed Straits not as a site of exacerbated tension but rather as a place of reunion, where Singapore and Malaysia may begin to reconcile the grudge from decades past. The liquid territory nestled between and reaching into the two nations is thus sought to be read as binding agent, a glue to seal a rift.