Photo of the map of Malaysia – Sabah is indeed ours! — Photo from Department of Survey and Mapping Malaysia
SOMEBODY out there seems to think we’re stupid.
Malaysia would have to look for a huge sum of money ($14 billion, or RM62.5 billion) to satisfy a nebulous claim to Sabah by the surviving descendants of the Sultan of Sulu.
In February 2013, armed men from Sulu landed on Lahad Datu aiming to sever Sabah from Malaysia. What they failed to do with guns, they tried by other means. – they resorted to a law court in Spain. And having failed to convince a Spanish court that their claim had merit, they moved to France. The arbitration court in Paris decided in their favour.
How? I have yet to study the text of that judgment to learn how the court came to such a conclusion. What would the French people say if the High Court of Sarawak and Sabah awarded the territory of Alsace-Lorraine to Switzerland?
Meanwhile, Malaysians, especially the Sabahans, are assured that this is not the end of the matter. By the various statements made by our leaders, the legitimacy of the monetary award will be challenged by our government; our diplomats are working hard to ensure that the awardees will never get a single sen or peso out of us.
Our diplomats in Europe and Manila will not rest. They will employ various legal means available to us, so that the decision of the French arbitration court could not be legally enforced. As the claim is not recognised by Malaysia, the billions of pesos would remain banana money – nothing more, nothing less.
I don’t intend to touch on the claim in detail in this column. Accounts of how the various authorities have dealt with the issue have been well documented elsewhere. Suffice it to say here that legal opinions are in favour of Malaysia all the way.
History is also behind us.
In fact, we are dealing with two claims to Sabah. The claim by the descendants of the Sultan of Sulu is being dealt with, while the claim by the Philippines Republic itself remains to be sorted out – an irritation that both countries can do without. Both must, therefore, find a way out of this irritable situation, the sooner the better.
Malaysians in Sabah are happy to be assured by our government that Malaysia shall never recognise any territorial claim to Sabah from any quarter.
It is odd that the incumbent government of the Philippines Republic is still pursuing the claim, albeit subtly, despite the promises made by two of its former presidents, Ferdinand Marcos and Maria Corizon Aquino, to drop it. And more importantly, despite the fact that the Philippines has recognised Malaysia as a sovereign nation with Sabah as an integral part of that Federation since Sept 16, 1963. For that matter, the Republic of the Philippines does not recognise any Sultan(s) of Sulu.
During the current campaigns for the elections to the office of the President and to other offices in the Republic, the claim has become a popular issue. While we cannot stop the candidates from politicising the issue, cool heads in both Philippines and Malaysia must sit down as soon as possible to settle it once and for all, for there are many other better and urgent things for both countries to do, instead of utilising their valuable time and energy in quarrelling over the boundary fences. There would be lots of mutual benefits to be derived from working together in peace and harmony in terms of trade and investment.
The recognition of Malaysia by the United Nations (UN) has not been challenged in the international court such as the International Court of Justice (ICJ). If the Philippines persisted in claiming Sabah, my opinion is that we have no choice but to resort to that Court for arbitration.
The last resort!
Before that, we shall see if the new government of the Philippines under its new president would persist in pursuing the claim. Hopefully, he would quietly drop it without fuss and move on. The sensible way!
Set aside the verbal promises made to drop the claim by two previous national leaders of the Philippines, it would be a waste of valuable time and resources for the Republic to persist in claiming rights to the land that has now become part of a sovereign nation next door.
Good neighbours don’t quarrel at the expense of the bigger picture: the overall interests of the Asean community. Good relations between all the members of this community of sovereign nations in this volatile region of the world are vital for the survival of all.
The bigger picture!
If you ask me why Malaysia does not initiate discussion on the dropping of the claim, my answer is that the federal government of Malaysia cannot be expected to initiate a move in this direction because it must not give the impression that there is something that is negotiable between us and the Philippines. Sabah is not subject to negotiation ‘bah’!
Perhaps, some countries or countries friendly to both may be approached to initiate discussion on the need for the Philippines to quietly drop the claim, without going to the ICJ. That is, if this course of action could be avoided.
Present leaders of both countries should think in terms of bringing up their young men and women to think about a close rapport between their countries. Live and let live should be the norm in this century.
I’m not in a position to speak on behalf of the other Sarawakians and Malaysians in the peninsula, but I can feel the sentiment of those who are close to me.
‘Ori’ Sabahans, rest assured that we are abiding by the principle of ‘Touch One, Touch All’.
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