Tug of water: Can Malaysian states learn to share this precious resource?

Two views of Kedah, as the country's rice bowl (left) and what happens when there's a drought. The state is currently engaged in a war of words with neighbour Penang over riparian rights to the Sungai Muda basin. — Filepic/The Star

THE Bukit Merah Dam in Taiping, Perak, is one of the oldest in the country, originally built for padi irrigation in 1906. It has become a popular tourist spot nowadays where kayakers can paddle up to over 5km into its upper reaches, anglers can fish for snakeheads, and there’s even a boat that takes visitors to the orang utan Island on the lake.

When it dries up, though, it’s an ugly patchwork of mud.