Pulau Batu Putih In Black & White

26 February 2008, 21:29 BERNAMA

Syed Hamid Blasts PAS For Politicising Pulau Batu Puteh Territorial Dispute

"KOTA TINGGI, Feb 26 (Bernama) -- Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar says opposition political parties, especially PAS, should avoid politicising Pulau Batu Puteh as it was an issue involving national interests. Syed Hamid, the candidate for the Kota Tinggi parliamentary seat, said political parties should avoid politicising the territorial dispute between Malaysia and Singapore as it was now a legal issue. He described the action by PAS in bringing up the issue at a ceramah in Muar last night as narrow and not respecting the process of international law. It was not an issue to be used to fish for votes, he said. Malaysia and Singapore are awaiting the decision of the International Court of Justice at The Hague after having made their respective submissions late last year.” -- BERNAMA

Going by what Syed Hamid said (see BERNAMA article above) one can assume that he must perhaps think that Malaysia may lose the case; I have to agree with him!

The court case is now over, and the verdict is expected quite soon,

Horsburgh Lighthouse on "White Rock", ”Batu Putih”, or “Pedra Branca” – Malaysian Photograph submitted to ICJ at The Hague (This photo source: Singapore Straits Times)

The photograph above, taken from beyond Horsburgh Lighthouse, certainly does not show the true picture, it has obviously been either digitally manipulated or has been taken using a telephoto (zoom) technique which makes distant objects (in this case the coast of Johor) look much nearer than they really are. (By the way the photograph submitted to the court was apparently sourced from a blog!)

Having sailed passed Horsburgh Lighthouse numerous times, the view submitted by the Malaysian team at the International Court of Justice ICJ in The Hague appears to have been a pathetic, unprofessional attempt to mislead the court.

Having read the transcripts of the ICJ hearing, my comments with regard to the calibre and qualification of the Malaysian team at the hearing, are, that I find it regrettable that some members must either naive, inept or are perhaps purposely fudging the issues. As far as I am aware there was not even one Master Mariner in the team.

The choice of the team may perhaps have been the best available from a very limited pool of current civil service talent, but surely there are many retired Malaysian ladies and gentlemen who are English educated, who have vast experience and are knowledgeable in their own field and also well versed regarding the subject matter.
One wonders why these persons were not invited to join the team.

The chosen Malaysian team (local component), had some strengths, but it was heavily ballasted, and was no match for the strong team from Singapore.

It also appears the Malaysian side was less than efficient in their research, planning and preparation for the hearing last year at the ICJ in The Hague.

Going by what I have read in the transcripts, (which are freely available on the ICJ website), I am of the opinion that Malaysia will probably lose the case. The verdict will be out in the middle of this year then we will know for sure how well the case was presented.

The 'doctored' photograph, seemingly borrowed from a blog, obviously didn't help to instil creditability, and the offer to allow Singapore to continue to operate the Horsburgh Lighthouse [information obtained from ICJ transcript] (should Malaysia win the case) clearly demonstrated that Malaysia is not fully committed to undertaking its responsibility for overseeing the safety of navigation in what would, in that case, be Malaysian territorial waters. What a shameful situation.

Cheers!