KUALA LUMPUR, June 1 — Partners and allies must learn to navigate Malaysia’s current transition, said Singapore’s Business Times after Putrajaya cancelled several large-scale infrastructure projects to try and rein in the country’s debt.

With the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail and MRT3 line scrapped while the East Coast Rail Link hangs in the balance, it said countries working with Malaysia must accept the current state of affairs here.

Malaysians experienced a burst of hope after the 14th general election, when Barisan Nasional was finally voted out after over six decades in power, but this has since been replaced by trepidation over the health of the country’s finances.

Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng have both come out to say Malaysia has over RM1 trillion in liabilities, forcing the new administration to go on an austerity drive requiring the cancellation of projects both planned or still being conceived.

"It is no surprise then that some observers now reckon that the potential scrapping of the project by Malaysia may test the relations between the neighbouring countries,” wrote the Singapore business paper.

"Indeed, Malaysia may feel it has come to a point where national priorities overshadow foreign relations. For its partner countries, this presents a challenge to navigate amidst the new state of play.”

The editorial appeared critical of Putrajaya’s recent decisions, however, particularly with the choice to discontinue the "game-changing” HSR that would have linked KL to Singapore.

Among others, the BT highlighted that PH has gone after the "low-hanging fruit” of its election pledges.

These include the removal of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), toll rate discounts for the end of Ramadan, Hari Raya bonuses for the civil service, and the free broadcast of the 2018 Fifa World Cup on state broadcaster RTM.

However, it conceded that Malaysia must grapple with a pressing debt mountain along with an unresolved corruption scandal centred around 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).