Time to stake proper ownership, M’sia

Goodbye Pulau Batu Puteh (now officially known as Pedra Blanca).

We lost an isle the size of a football pitch and gained a series of rocks (Middle Rocks) and most probably another stone (called South Ledge) which is only visible on low tide.

How do we call this a win-win case? The foreign minister is surely taking positive spin to a new level.It’s definitely a bad loss for us as Pedra Blanca was not just a boundary marker, it was also a source of income from passing international ships, let alone the rich natural resources one can find there.

Now we have rocks in the region, with Singapore right on our noses, extending their boundary.

The ICJ ruling is clear – the Malaysian government has been lackadaisical in exercising sovereign rights over a piece of ‘useless’ rock which the Johor Sultanate's had sovereignty since time immemorial.

I don’t know if the problem started in 1844 when the British Colonial Administration built a lighthouse on the island or in 1953 when the Acting State Secretary of Johor replied to the colonial authority that "Johor has no claim of ownership over Batu Putih".

But I solely blame the federal government for not staking sovereignty the moment Singapore became independent in 1965. Only in 1979 did we include it in our maps and even then took no bloody steps to assert any ownership.

And over the period of time we allowed them to take control of the island, even having to seek their permission to land there. Their navy blockaded the island to stop us from entering the waters surrounding it.

It’s quite embarrassing that an isle which is only about 14.3km from Johor has been a no-go zone for Malaysians while Singaporeans from 46.3km away were ‘ruling’ it.

Anyway, it’s gone now. But, hei, we have Middle Rocks.

And then we have Pulau Pisang, which also has a light house maintained by Singapore, who also controls a jetty and a team of border guards on the Malaysian island.I think we should exercise some form of ownership before it too goes the Batu Puteh way.

So it’s up to the Johor state government and the federal government that Pulau Pisang remains ours.

Interestingly there are other islands next to it - Pulau Tunda, Kemudi and Sauh. Quite a rich picking these ones. If it goes to ICJ again, who knows we might face another banana skin with Singapore taking Pulau Pisang and we are left with the other smaller ones!

And then we have Pulau Unarang (off eastern Sabah and bordering Indonesia), Pulau Perak (between Penang and Sumatra) and several islands in the South China Sea.

Interestingly Malaysia had taken control of some of the islands, which are unclaimed. To stop a Pedra Blanca fiasco, we will have to start exerting our presence in these islands now.

In Pulau Unarang for example, the Indonesians have put up fishing apparatus but are unable to build a lighthouse or permanent structure as our navy is patrolling the island.

And in Pulau Perak, we have a helicopter pad with our army and navy patrolling it, still these strategic rocks are being ignored, with reports of pirates resting there at times!

So we have to move fast. I hope the government will wake up.

A New Straits Times report today indicated that we are looking at the right step by staking claims and sovereignty over 100 islands, reefs, rocks and other marine features lying in the South China Sea, Straits of Malacca and off Sabah.

Pulau Batu Puteh may have gone. The rest should remain ours, at all costs. We should not lose them due to our lackadaisical attitude.