KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 23 — DAP’s Liew Chin Tong proposed a rail line connecting Singapore to Kunming in China today, after enumerating his reasons for opposing the cancelled East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) and postponed High-Speed Rail (HSR).

Insisting that neither project was necessary, he said both involved possible links to the 1MDB corruption scandal and were of poor value both financially and strategically.

"For Singapore-Kunming to work, expanding the rail network in Malaysia is certainly a good idea. But it should be one that carries goods and not just passengers, as there will never be an HSR that is faster than flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing or Shanghai.

"Having a freight train from Port Klang to China is a realistic and viable alternative to passage through South China Sea,” he wrote on his blog today.

He also mooted an upgrade to the existing Gemas-Tumpat railway to make up for the ECRL, adding that this could be further enhanced by linking it to a Kuala Lumpur-Mentakab line.

The entire network could then be integrated in his proposed Singapore-Kunming rail link.

Liew also told MCA deputy president Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong, who defeated him in Ayer Hitam, to stop the latter’s attacks over the government’s choice to cancel the ECRL, saying the outcome of the general election showed Pakatan Harapan has the support to do so.

Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad announced on Tuesday that China has agreed to stop the ECRL and two gas pipeline projects here awarded by the previous government.

The HSR with Singapore is also postponed pending fresh negotiations between both countries.