Malaysia won half and Singapore won half..its a win-win situation for both Malaysia and Singapore.This was the judgment of the International Court of Justice on 23 May 2008 which was final and not subject to appeal.
The 12-4 decision in favour of Singapore by the ICJ was sad but true even though under the Law of the Sea which states that a country`s territorial waters stretched 12 nautical miles (22.2km) from its shores or any piece of land.
The 15-1 decision to accord the sovereignty of Middle Rocks to Malaysia was a fair and a win-win verdict.This also meant Singapore could no longer make unilateral decisions like conducting reclaimation work around Pulau Batu Putih.
As to the decision of sovereignty of South Ledge by ICJ was rather vague as South Ledge was only visible during low tide and thus could not be considered as a piece of land.
Whatever it is, the decision was final and as like in the words of the Foreign Minister of Malaysia,Datuk Seri Dr.Rais Yatim " Malaysia `s loss of Pulau Batu Putih was not due to the weakness of its argument, but due to lack of its activity there for over 100 years and the letter written by the Johor acting State Secretary to Singapore in 1953."
My dear listeners far and near before we become judgemental,let us go back 30 years down memory lanes into the chronology of the dispute over Pulau Batu Puteh .
1844 : The Sultan of Johor granted permission for the construction of the Horsburgh Lighthouse.
1851 : The lighthouse was completed.
1979 : Malaysia published a map that included Pulau Batu Putih.
Feb 14,1980 :Singapore lodged a protest note.Said maps published in 1962,1965,1975 showed it belong to Singapore
1989 :Singapore built a communication radar tower in the island
1992 :Singapore built a helipad
1993-1994 :Bilateral negotiations were held to resolve the dispute but failed
Sept.1994 :Prime Ministers of Malaysia and Singapore agreed to refer the dispute to ICJ
April 14,1998:Malaysia and Singapore agreed to sign a Special Agreement which included Middle Rock and South Ledge for adjudication by the ICJ
Feb 6, 2003:Special Agreement finally signed at Wisma Putra.Both jointly submitted their disputes to ICJ in July.
Mac 2004-Nov.2005: Both submit written appeals over their disputes.
Nov6-9 2007: Public hearings at ICJ.Singapore presents its case.
Nov13-16 2007 : Malaysia presents its case.
Nov19-20 2007 : Singapore responds to Malaysia`s claims.
Nov22-23 2007 : Malaysia responds to Singapore`s claims.
May 23 2008 : Final decisions
I would like to bring forth the words of our sad Prime Minister ``There will be people who will be emotional,especially in Johor....But what is important is we have done this through available legal channel.."
The legal process was long indeed but at least for now,our Malaysian fishermen will have a larger area to fish in.The waters around Middle Rocks are abundant with fish like sagai,tenggiri and bawal.And this is what I say win-win for all.
Like what Hitler once said,`Life is like a box of chocolates,you never know what you are getting".
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