In the aftermath of the ICJ ruling on Batu Puteh, I looked up in the internet on an island mentioned by the main judge when he deliberated the ICJ's findings on Friday 23rd June 2008. And this is what I found.
Without going into too much details on the the location of island, the island's name is called Pulau Pisang (literally, Banana Island) and to its west are nearby islands called Pulau Sauh (literally, Anchor Island), Pulau Tanduk (?), and an unnamed island. All the four islands ( totalling about 180 hectares in area) lie in the Straits of Melaka, 15 km off the coast of Pontian ( a district of Johore State). By way of an agreement in 1900, the Sultan of Johore ceded a portion of Pulau Pisang to Singapore for the latter to establish and operate a lighthouse. The portion of land, about 0.8 hectare in area, ceded in perpetuity comprises the land on which the lighthouse and facilities are located and the roadway from the coast to the lighthouse. There is also a service jetty at the coast. For as long as Singapore operates the lighthouse, then the agreement between the Sultan of Johore and Singapore is valid.
In 1885, The Sultan of Johore (or the Ruler of Johor) had an agreement with the Governor of Singapore for a lighthouse to be built and maintained by Singapore. The lighthouse was built in 1886. The agreement was probably a "gentlemen's agreement" until Oct 6th 1900 when it was formally reduced to a written agreement, "an indenture" as it is referred to now, after reminders from the Sultan to the Governor not to drag his feet in formalising the agreement. Unfortunately for Malaysia now, the Sultan did not deem it fit to sign a similar agreement regarding Pulau Batu Puteh. It never entered the Sultan's mind to consider the island a part of Johore. The original agreement in 1885 was probably made by Sultan Abu Bakar, the Sultan of Johore from 1862 to 1895, the great-grandfather of the present Sultan Iskandar and the Governor of Singapore was probably Cecil Clementi-Smith (to be confirmed ...). The indenture was probably signed by Sultan Ibrahim, Sultan of Johor from 1895 to 1959.
To this day, Singapore operates the lighthouse through its Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore. Singapore does not claim sovereignity over Pulau Pisang and Pulau Sauh. But Malaysia should worry about claims of sovereignity from Indonesia.
To prevent disputes in the future regarding islands off the coast of Malaysia, an article in Utusan Malaysia suggested that Malaysia should quickly develop the Pulau Pisang group of islands, establishing settlements, however small, and other amenities.
Update:27/05/2008: Much has been said in Utusan Malaysia after the ICJ Ruling on Batu Puteh. While it makes sense, by some comments, to develop the four islands into eco-tourism, and such, it is bad if Malaysia armtwists Singapore into handing over the ceded portion of Pulau Pisang. Singapore has been given the right over that portion of the island so long as it operates a lighthouse for this is the key condition of the agreement. If Singapore does not operate and maintain the lighthouse than it has breached the conditions of the agreement and the land concerned reverts to Malaysia, just like the KTM land in Singapore. Would Singapore willingly give up the land to Malaysia ? I doubt it !
Its up to Malaysia now to check on all its islands and grant titles to Malaysian individuals or institutions to avoid any future problems with Singapore, Indonesia or even Vietnam.
Indenture: An indenture is an agreement between two parties, in this case, the Sultan of Johore and the Governor of Singapore. The agreement is in duplicate on the same sheet of paper and can be handwritten. The original and the copy are then separated along a serrated edge or indentured edge and kept separately by the two parties. In those days, the two countries were really hard put to find a photocopy machine (or perhaps, even a typewriter) to make copies of originals. The serration is therefore necessary for the edges to match for authencity later on.
