Why Singapore is fighting the case to keep Pedra Branca

The Straits Times, November 13, 2007




IN 1583, Dutch voyager Johann van Lindschoten wrote of the island on which South-east Asia's first lighthouse was eventually built:

'From the Cape of Singapore lyeth a cliffe in ye sea called Pedra Branca, or white rock, where the shippes that come and goe to and from China passe in great danger and some are left upon it.'

It is clear from this account that for centuries, Pedra Branca was notorious for being a navigational hazard.

It was for this reason that the British decided in 1847 to build Horsburgh Lighthouse there, to improve the safety of ships passing through the Singapore Strait.

Since the construction of the lighthouse began that year, the British colonial authorities had considered Pedra Branca part of Singapore territory.

When it became self-governing in 1959, Singapore assumed sovereignty over the island from the British and has controlled it and its surrounding waters ever since.

So it found Malaysia's sudden claim in 1979 that Pedra Branca stood within its territorial waters, 'to say the least, extraordinary'.

That was the phrase Deputy Prime Minister S Jayakumar used in a speech last Friday, as he wrapped up Singapore's first round of oral pleadings before the International Court of Justice.

To some, Pedra Branca may seem insignificant.

It is after all but a guano-covered granite island the size of a football field, located some 25 nautical miles from Singapore's mainland.

But for the Singapore Government, there is an important principle at stake, which is that no country should be able to suddenly and unilaterally claim its territory over which it has exercised sovereignty openly and continuously. In this case, Singapore has held the island for some 150 years.

In a way, Singapore is acting as any home owner would if his neighbour suddenly decided to encroach on his land.

It would come as no surprise if the owner strenuously resisted any such attempt, for otherwise, he would forfeit to his neighbour land that was rightfully his to begin with.

To be sure, sovereignty disputes are also usually tied up with feelings of national pride.

Malaysian newspaper the New Straits Times stated in an article dated Jan 2, 2003 that 'Pulau Batu Puteh, tiny as it is, is significant for its strategic position, impact on the delimitation of territorial sea and, most of all, for national pride'.

Pedra Branca is also strategically located and is key to the safety of international shipping passing through the Strait of Singapore.

It commands the entrance to the two main shipping channels - the south and middle channels - of the eastern part of the strait, through which some 900 ships pass each day.

Singapore has installed a VTIS or Vessel Traffic Information System tower on Pedra Branca, which it relies on in its management of shipping traffic.

While Singapore is confident of the outcome of the dispute now being heard before the International Court of Justice, it will no doubt be watching keenly for surprises that the Malaysian side might spring on it this week.


LYDIA LIM