Singapore gets Batu Puteh , but what a long deliberation....

My prediction on the ICJ ruling on Batu Puteh was completely wrong. Well.. not really completely, because ICJ rules that Singapore has sovereignity over Batu Puteh while Malaysia has sovereignity over Middle Rock and South Ledge, two nearby outcrops I did not mention in my last entry.

Its a strange ruling because the three rock islands are actually near to each other. How do you separate the waters from one another ? Its even more strange to hear Rais Yatim, Malaysia's Foreign Minister, saying that it is a win-win situation when clearly it is a win for Singapore and a loss for Malaysia. The outcome of the ICJ ruling hinges on the reply from Johore's Assistant State Secretary to the Governor of Singapore. Johore's ASS ( a real donkey of a man ) simply replied that Johore had no claim on Batu Puteh. And on this basis is the ruling made in favour of Singapore. I wonder who in the hell was the Johore's ASS and the governor of Singapore, way back in 1953.

As a consolation, Malaysians can think of the ruling as a stalemate between the 2 countries. Singapore cannot claim its 3-mile limit to the south of Batu Puteh while Malaysia cannot claim the same limit to the the north of Middle Rock. Malaysia really is not interested in the islands. It is just a matter of pride that Malaysia claims that all the 3 islands belong to her, while Singapore needs every square inch of land possible to add to her territory.

Perhaps, the best course of action for the two countries is to co-operate as to how to administer the three islands in the "joint technical committee" as mentioned below, though I still feel that Malaysia should take the stance of either Batu Puteh or nothing at all.

I hope Malaysia learns its lesson well when dealing with Singapore particularly in regard to the KTM land from Woodlands to Tanjong Pagar and the water supply agreement with Singapore. Singapore has still not resolved with Malaysia on the land and that Malaysia is still charging 3 sen (slightly more that S $0.01) per 1,000 gallons supplied for another 43 years  to Singapore !

The thorn in the flesh ? ...

On Mahathir 's resignation as No 1 member of UMNO, Musa Hitam commented that the "thorn had now been removed from the flesh". I thought that the comment made by an ex-DPM of Malaysia on someone with whom he worked together was extremely harsh and uncalled for. One Malaysian Minister even commented that it was not fair for Musa Hitam to make such a comment on Mahathir as though Mahathir was a source of all the problems that UMNO is now facing. Mahathir had done a lot for the party and for the nation in his 22 years rule as a PM of Malaysia and therefore did not deserve to be vilified as such, just because he had resigned. Its like saying good riddance to someone who had just died. Directed to a person like an Adolf Hitler or a Pol Pot, then such derogatory remark is pardonable , even laudable.

Mahathir in his blog and in typical Mahathir fashion was quick to critisise Musa Hitam and another UMNO member, Sharir Samad, when they left UMNO, like "the pots calling the kettles black" ( pardon the old cliche and the insinuation that black is bad).

White rock and such ...

Let me predict that the Batu Puteh ( white rock) dispute between Malaysia and Singapore will be finalised tomorrow by the International Court of Justice at the Hague, Netherlands in favour of Malaysia. Why I say so is that not a few a days ago, Rais Yatim, Malaysia's Foreign Minister commented that there's a strong possibility of the ICJ ruling being in Malaysia's favour while there is silence in Singapore. The ICJ could have sprung a leak to prompt the Malaysian Minister to say what he said.

But I am surprised that in the Utusan Malaysia today, there is a proposal for a joint undertaking between Malaysia and Singapore to manage Batu Puteh as well as the 2 other rock outcrops and their surrounding environment regardless of the ICJ's judgment. The deal sounds a wee bit suspicious to me and that Singapore has lost the dispute and that the undertaking, " a Malaysia-Singapore technical committee" is a face-saving gesture on the  part of Singapore.

If Singapore had known before hand they it had lost, then it must be the one to have initiated the joint management to save face since Singapore was most vocal in its demand and most arrogant in its behaviour during the dispute. If Singapore knew that it won, then it would not be making any deals with Malaysia for why should they ? since the outcrops belonged to them. Singapore even refuses to call the main outcrop by the Malay name of Batu Puteh, preferring to call it by the Portuguese name, Pedra Branca. 

And if Malaysia knew that Malaysia had won, then why should it agree to a joint undertaking with Singapore to manage the lighthouse on Batu Puteh, the 2 outcrops, and more important, the waters surrounding the islands, not so much for the fishing rights, but for Malaysia's sovereignity. Imagine what a 3-mile buffer around Batu Puteh would do to Singapore's already congested sea lanes and limited air space. 

By having this so called "technical committee to manage Batu Puteh", it would be construed as a surrender of Malaysia's sovereignity if the ICJ ruling is in favour of Malaysia. Singapore would somehow be the one to profit by it out of the many potential agreements between the 2 countries.

Oil companies are making obscene profits ...

Oil price has gone up to USD 132/= per barrel. Some American senators  are complaining that oil price is being manipulated and that oil companies are making obscene profits. The oil companies refute that by saying that it is actually the law of supply and demand at work, and not manipulation. Just imagine that now, they say, that China has about 6 million more cars on the roads than some 6 months ago. And that there will be more and more cars in China resulting in more and more increase in the oil price. 

The Senators are even attempting to pressure the US government by asking it to pressure Saudi Arabia to increase crude oil production or use Saudi's influence to persuade other oil producers to increase production. The Senators feel that the Arabs are purposely not interested in producing more oil in order to let crude oil price increase at the rate that it is increasing now.

The stance taken by the US senators to arm-twist oil producing foreign countries to do their bidding is typical of the so called democratic people. If it's the other way round where US stands to benefit more than any other country, then these senators are quick to reply that, in the name of democratic principles, if any country complains about high prices e.g. prices of US made weapons or aerospace products, that's the law of supply and demand at work. 

Remember, the US senators were lobbying their president to do something about China's cheap exports to US causing hardships to US industrialists. China's products that are in demand throughout the world including the US were, and still are, intrinsically cheap and not because China's currency is undervalued.

If the US senators strongly feel that oil companies are making obscene profits, then being senators, they can easily pass a law on windfall profits tax. In fact, Senator Hillary Clinton, proposes that if she becomes President, she will introduce the windfall profits tax on oil companies.

It won't make any difference ....

The hottest news in Malaysia today is that Mahathir Mohammad has resigned from being a member of UMNO, a main political party in Malaysia. What makes it a hot news is that Mahathir is an ex-PM of Malaysia who has ruled the country for 22 years, and that, in the last 2 years, he has been asking UMNO members to reject Abdullah ( the current PM of Malaysia) for not doing a good job in running the country and for being mainly responsible for the ruling party to lose a large number of seats in the the last general election.

 

We hear that Mahathir's wife has also resigned from the party membership and so also his friend Sanusi Junid. Mahathir's expected that there will be more resignations. For me, I doubt the younger UMNO members will resign nor will those who are holding important positions in the party or in the government. UMNO veterans, particularly those who are Mahathir's close friends or those who have greatly benefited from Mahathir when he was in power may follow his step, but other than these people, I don't expect a lot of UMNO members to leave the party. The harshest comment on his resignation came from Musa Hitam (ex-DPM of Malaysia) who said that "a thorn has been removed from the flesh". There was no love lost between the 2 men when they were in power together.