Saturday, May 24, 2008

Pedra Branca belongs to Singapore!

23 May 2008

As a Singaporean, today marks an important day. The 28-year dispute over the Pedra Branca is resolved. Pedra Branca belongs to Singapore!

Watching the International Court of Justice ruling live on Channel NewsAsia, I was paying close attention with ears wide to what the Judge was trying to read out from his script. It took about 2 hours before he finally announced that Pedra Branca belongs to Singapore; Middle Rocks go to Malaysia and South Ledge ownership would depend on the International Sea Boundaries. 12 judges agreed that Pedra Branca belongs to Singapore while 4 disagreed.

In my opinion, the judge ruling on the matter displayed signs of diplomatic gestures. Singapore takes Pedra Branca while Malaysia takes Middle Rocks. The ICJ leaves both parties to work out on South Ledge. It seems like the most optimum "win-win" situation that could possibly work out. Professor Tommy Koh, ambassador-at-large, had previously mentioned that the ICJ should not worry about diplomatic concerns but rule fairly.

South Ledge could be a good means to establish good links between the two states. The most ideal is that South Ledge belongs to both Singapore and Malaysia. This would be the first case in history whereby a disputed territory could be shared by two countries, even though it's a really tiny piece of rock. A statue could be placed there to express the friendship between these two countries. However, if were to come to reality, perhaps this arrangement would sound too far-fetch.

BH enjoyed the "lullaby" by the judge. Haha.

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