SOVEREIGNTY OVER PULAU BATU PUTEH - Opening Speech by Malaysia's
Agent
By : NST Newsdesk
OPENING SPEECH BY THE AGENT OF MALAYSIA, TAN SRI ABDUL KADIR
MOHAMAD SOVEREIGNTY OVER PULAU BATU PUTEH/PEDRA BRANCA, MIDDLE
ROCKS AND SOUTH LEDGE (MALAYSIA/SINGAPORE) 13 NOVEMBER 2007
1. Mr. President, distinguished Members of the Court, it is a great
honour to appear before you, and to take this opportunity to
explain why sovereignty over Pulau Batu Puteh, Middle Rocks and
South Ledge belongs to Malaysia.
2. Mr. President, please allow me to thank the Agent of Singapore
for his kind greetings to my colleagues on the Malaysian team and
to me personally on the opening day of these proceedings. These
greetings are fully reciprocated. Indeed, both of us have known
each other for a long time, as members of the diplomatic service of
our respective countries.
3. Mr. President, Malaysia and Singapore are two neighbouring
countries in South-east Asia, which have mutually agreed to appear
before this honourable Court to settle a dispute over the three
features, located at the eastern entrance of the Singapore Straits,
off the Malaysian Peninsula, as illustrated on the map that is now
being displayed on the screen before the Court. You may also see it
in tab No. 1 of your folders.
4. Pulau Batu Puteh and the two other features form part of the
State of Johor, now part of Malaysia. The State of Johor has its
origins in the ancient Sultanate of Johor. The current Sultan of
Johor, Sultan Iskandar Ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Ismail, is a direct
descendant of one of the signatories to the Treaty of Friendship
and Alliance between Johor and Great Britain of 2 August 1824, also
known as the Crawfurd Treaty, in which part of the territory of the
Sultanate was ceded to create Singapore. Singapore Island is
nestled in the bottom of Peninsular Malaysia. At its closest point
Singapore is only 600 meters from the Johor mainland. It is now
shown on the screen and can be found in Tab No.2 in the Judges's
Folders.
5. Singapore and Malaysia, together with Indonesia, today share the
waters and management of the Malacca and Singapore Straits which
link the Indian Ocean to the South China Sea. Because of this
geography, their genealogy and British colonial history, Singapore
and Malaysia share much in common. The graphic now on the screen
shows the Malacca and Singapore Straits. This will also be found in
Tab No.3 of the Judges? Folders. This is a current navigational
chart which is readily available in the public domain.
6. The details of how this dispute arose and the efforts of the
parties to settle it will be described to you by the
Attorney-General of Malaysia later this morning.
7. But before looking at how, the Court may wonder why: why would
two responsible States be in such an acute and extended
disagreement about sovereignty over such small maritime
features?
8.. Last week, the Court heard many arguments advanced in many ways
by Singapore to support its claim of sovereignty over Pulau Batu
Puteh, Middle Rocks and South Ledge. But all these cannot hide the
fact that Singapore is seeking to subvert the arrangements reached
between Johor and Great Britain over 150 years ago and maintained
throughout the whole period of British rule. In its written
pleadings. Malaysia has provided evidence that Johor had given
permission that Great Britain could build and operate a lighthouse
on one of Johor?s islands. Pulau Batu Puteh was selected as the
site. Great Britain and then Singapore have operated the lighthouse
ever since. Singapore is now present on the island, as was Great
Britain before it, with Johor?s consent. Therefore it matters a
great deal to Malaysia when Singapore claims sovereignty over Pulau
Batu Puteh, simply because it has been running a lighthouse on it
with our consent.
9. Singapore?s claim also ignores the territorial agreements in the
area reached in 1824, namely the Anglo-Dutch Treaty between Britain
and the Netherlands of 17 March 1824, and the treaty which created
the colony of Singapore, the Crawfurd Treaty of 2 August
1824.
10. Despite their extremely small size, the issue of sovereignty of
Pulau Batu Puteh and the other two maritime features is important.
Not only does it have implications for the territorial and maritime
stability of the Straits but the long-established arrangement is
important to the continued cooperative management of navigational
aids, marine environmental protection and safety matters in the
Straits.
Mr. President, distinguished Members of the Court,
11. Malaysia?s case is clear and finds full support in the
evidence.
12. As Malaysia has shown in her written submissions, Pulau Batu
Puteh was not terra nullius in 1847. It was not terra nullius in
1851, when the East India Company completed the construction of
Horsburgh Lighthouse on the island. Pulau Batu Puteh was part of
the ancient Sultanate of Johor, and when the Sultanate divided in
two after the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824 it remained part of the
Sultanate of Johor rather than that of Riau-Lingga.
13. The Anglo-Dutch Treaty established that the division between
the British and Dutch spheres of influence would run to the south
of the Straits of Singapore. This placed Pulau Batu Puteh in the
British sphere of influence and in that part of Johor which
continued to be known as the Sultanate of Johor. The division
between the British and Dutch spheres is now illustrated on the
screen, as well as in Tab No. 4 in the Judges? Folders. Last week,
Singapore sought to present a new interpretation of the dividing
line. Tomorrow, Professor Schrijver will explain why the new
Singapore interpretation is wrong.
14. In the Crawfurd Treaty of 1824, Johor transferred sovereignty
over Singapore Island to the East India Company together with
islets and rocks within 10 geographical miles of Singapore. Pulau
Batu Puteh is 25.5 nautical miles away from Singapore.
15. In 1851, with the permission of Johor, the Horsburgh Lighthouse
was built on Pulau Batu Puteh by the East India Company. The
permission was given by the Temenggong and Sultan of Johor on 25
November 1844, for the building and operation of a lighthouse "near
Point Romania" or "any spot deemed eligible". As you can see on the
graphic that is now displayed on the screen (and in Tab 5 of your
folders), Pulau Batu Puteh is near Point Romania.
16. Pulau Batu Puteh was certainly an "eligible spot" because of
the difficulties of navigating the waters at the eastern entrance
to the Straits. In fact, Pulau Batu Puteh was the location of
choice of the merchant subscribers when they began collecting funds
for a lighthouse in 1836.
17 It is on the basis of the consent of the Temenggong and Sultan
of Johor that Great Britain built and then operated the Horsburgh
Lighthouse on Pulau Batu Puteh.
18. Tomorrow, Professor Kohen will analyse the letters of
permission written by the Temenggong and the Sultan of Johor on 25
November 1844. Malaysia has not been able to trace the letter of
request from Governor Butterworth which was referred to in the
letters of permission. In 1994, Malaysia requested Singapore to
furnish a copy of the Governor?s letter if Singapore had such a
copy in their possession. Singapore did not respond to Malaysia?s
request. If this letter exists today it is likely that it is in
Singapore?s archives in the file entitled "Letters to Native
Rulers". Unfortunately, Malaysia does not have access to these
archives.
19. Between 1850 and 1946, the Straits Lights system was developed
by Britain to aid navigation through the length of the Malacca and
Singapore Straits. The graphic now on the screen and located at Tab
No. 6 in the Judges? Folders, shows the lights in the Straits
Lights system, including the names of the various lighthouses. This
was the list which appeared in the 1912 Ordinance of the Colony of
Singapore which abolished light dues.
20. The Straits Lights system, including Horsburgh Lighthouse, was
administered by the Straits Settlements. Each lighthouse was
operated from one of the three stations in Singapore, Penang or
Malacca. From 1912, the Federated Malay States contributed to the
running costs of the Straits Lights when they stopped being funded
by the collection of lights dues. But the Straits Settlements kept
maintaining the lights because they had the necessary
expertise.
21. In 1946, when the Straits Settlements was dissolved and the
Colony of Singapore and the Malayan Union created, the Straits
Lights system ceased to be run as a single system. However, the
lighthouses continued to be operated from their original stations
in the former Straits Settlements. Pulau Pisang and Horsburgh
lighthouses continued to be run from Singapore, and the others,
such as Pulau Undan, Cape Rachado, Muka Head and Pulau Rimau, were
run from their stations in Malacca and Penang both of which in 1946
formed part of the Malayan Union, and are now part of
Malaysia.
22. Today, Horsburgh Lighthouse and Pulau Pisang Lighthouse
continue to be run from Singapore, the others from Malaysia.
Nothing has changed.
23. The authorities in Singapore simply picked up where the British
left off, as did the authorities in Penang and Malacca. The
arrangement has worked for over 150 years.
24. The cooperation between the States which later became Malaysia
and Singapore was not limited to cooperation in the building of
lighthouses and navigational aids.
25. Let me take the example of the Royal Malaysian Navy, previously
referred to as the Malayan Naval Force. It had responsibilities for
Singapore until 1975 when Singapore established its own navy. The
Royal Malaysian Navy continued to operate primarily from the
Woodlands base in Singapore until the early 1980s, and only handed
over the Woodlands base to Singapore in 1997.
26. Before and after the creation of the Singapore Navy, British
and then Malaysian naval forces patrolled the waters of the
Straits, including the area of Pulau Batu Puteh.
27. Such cooperative arrangements - and there are many others, for
example in the field of communications and water supply - reflect
not only our close historical ties but our ongoing rights and
obligations as the littoral States of the Malacca and Singapore
Straits.
28. Malaysia and Singapore, together with Indonesia, have
cooperated for over 30 years in the management of the Straits. On
16 November 1971, all three countries joined forces to adopt a
common position on matters relating to the Straits of Malacca and
Singapore, and created the Tripartite Technical Experts Group on
Safety of Navigation in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore. This
forum meets annually to discuss technical issues relating to the
safety of navigation in the Straits.
29. Horsburgh Lighthouse and its facilities form part of the
multilateral regime for the safety of navigation in the Straits,
just as it was a key light in the Straits Lights system in the
1850s until 1946.
30. With traffic in the Straits expected to increase from 94,000
vessels in 2004 to 141,000 in 2020, the safety of navigation,
maritime security and protection of the marine environment are key.
Ongoing cooperation in the Straits between the three littoral
States is crucial.
Mr. President, Members of the Court:
31. Singapore now seeks to disrupt the long established
arrangements in the Straits.
32. Singapore wants to radically change the basis on which it
acquired the lighthouse on Pulau Batu Puteh, and the character of
its presence on the island.
33. Singapore is endeavouring to create for itself a maritime
domain which is a far cry from the basis of its presence on Pulau
Batu Puteh as lighthouse administrator.
34. Singapore?s presence on Pulau Batu Puteh as lighthouse operator
never extended to issues concerning the territorial waters or the
continental shelf around Pulau Batu Puteh. In 1969 Malaysia enacted
legislation which extended its territorial sea from 3 to 12
nautical miles. Singapore did not protest. Later in 1969 an
Agreement was reached between Malaysia and Indonesia in relation to
the Continental Shelf. The delimitation line agreed between
Malaysia and Indonesia in 1969 is shown in the map now on the
screen. The same graphic is provided as Tab No. 8 in the Judge?s
Folders.
35. As you can see, the delimitation line approached the vicinity
of Pulau Batu Puteh closely and Point 11 is just 6.4 nautical miles
from Pulau Batu Puteh. Singapore at no time asserted any interest,
raised any objection or reserved its position. Neither did
Singapore delimit the area around Pulau Batu Puteh or reserve its
position in that area of the Straits in the Territorial Sea
Boundary agreement it concluded with Indonesia in 1973.
36. Singapore?s claim not only upsets the existing arrangements in
this way, but raises the question of what it wants to do with the
island. In its pleadings Singapore has relied on a reclamation
proposal around Pulau Batu Puteh. An internal document, a 1978
Tender Evaluation Report, shows a prospective artificial island of
5,000 sq meters towards Middle Rock. This is not fanciful
conjecture. Singapore has an extremely active reclamation policy,
which was the subject of the Reclamation Case instituted by
Malaysia against Singapore in ITLOS in September 2003. The
Provisional Measures Order given by that Tribunal in October 2003
will be known to the Court, as well as the subsequent amicable
settlement of that case.
37. But Singapore does not need a bigger island for a better
lighthouse. What does it need a bigger island for? Quite apart from
the possible effects on environment and navigation in the Straits,
this could lead to potentially serious changes to the security
arrangements in the eastern entrance to the Straits. In fact, the
aggressive methods Singapore has used to assert its claim to Pulau
Batu Puteh have already led to regrettable - although not
irreversible - changes to the stable conditions in the area.
38. In 1986, well after the critical date, Singapore sent its naval
vessels to Pulau Batu Puteh, and has since then maintained a
permanent, 24-hour guard around Pulau Batu Puteh. This has created
tension and danger. Johor fishermen have been chased away by
Singapore forces from their traditional fishing waters and
sheltering spots around Pulau Batu Puteh. Malaysian officials and
naval vessels cannot go anywhere near Pulau Batu Puteh without
being physically challenged by Singapore naval vessels. In response
to Singapore?s actions, Malaysia has chosen to adopt a policy of
non-confrontation and to act in a peaceful manner while this
dispute is in the process of being settled. We have now learned
through its pleadings that Singapore placed military communications
equipment on Pulau Batu Puteh in May 1977, which we were not
previously aware of and which causes us grave concern. This conduct
does not fall within the consent given for the construction and
operation of the lighthouse.
39. Great Britain and Singapore?s conduct in respect of Pulau Batu
Puteh before the critical date, at least that which was known to
Malaysia, was entirely consistent with being the operator of the
lighthouses on Pulau Batu Puteh and Pulau Pisang with the consent
of the sovereign, Johor.
40. Malaysia, by contrast, has always respected the long-standing
arrangements for Singapore?s operation of the lighthouses on Pulau
Batu Puteh and Pulau Pisang. We have not interfered with
Singapore?s operation of the lighthouses.
41. But Malaysia does not wish the stability of its relationship
with Indonesia altered. Yet this would inevitably follow if
Singapore were to be treated as sovereign over Pulau Batu Puteh
with attendant implications for established maritime delimitation
in the area.
42. Malaysia respectfully requests the Court to bear in mind these
important considerations and, accordingly, to reaffirm Malaysia?s
title to Pulau Batu Puteh, Middle Rocks and South Ledge.
43. Mr President and distinguished members of the Court, before
ending my submission, I would like to clarify one point. Our
problem is with Singapore as a military presence on one of Johor?s
islands in the eastern entrance of the Singapore Straits. We have
no problem with Singapore as the operator of Horsburgh Lighthouse.
Malaysia wishes to maintain the peaceful and stable conditions at
the entrance to the South China Sea. It is Singapore which is
seeking to change the situation. The Sultan and Temenggong of
Johor, in 1844, gladly consented to the establishment of the
lighthouse on Pulau Batu Puteh, and Malaysia has never suggested
that its continued operation by Singapore presented any problem. I
repeat, Malaysia has always respected the position of Singapore as
the operator of Horsburgh Lighthouse and I would like to place
formally on record that Malaysia will continue to do so. Malaysia?s
concern is quite different, as I have indicated.
44. Mr. President, I wish to conclude here. After this, my
colleague the Co-Agent will describe to you the Sultanate of
Johor?s geographical make-up, the political events which shaped its
territory, and Pulau Batu Puteh?s social and economic place in
Johor and Malaysia.
45. Mr. President, distinguished Members of the Court, I thank you
and would ask you now to call on the Co-Agent of Malaysia, Her
Excellency Noor Farida Ariffin.
