Kota Kinabalu, Friday, 6 December 2024
The issue of the loss of Batu Puteh island to Singapore as reported by the Royal Commission of Inquiry on Batu Puteh once again proves that Sabah leaders and officials must discard the old attitude of leaving everything to the federal government whenever it comes to international or territorial matters or security.
This is because the Sabah government has an inherent and constitutional duty to Sabah to make sure that the federal government is fully committed to protecting and upholding Sabah’s interests and not compromise Sabah’s interests as a sacrifice in exchange for other national interests or in its international relations.
Sabah also must make sure that federal officials are fully conversant with all the relevant facts and perspectives affecting Sabah. As a reminder, one serious federal flaw that Sabah has to endure was the fiasco of the Sulu claim at an international arbitration. Although the RM65 billion arbitration award has now been set aside, the initial arbitration award had been a boost to the false hopes of the Sulu claimants.
How Sabah lost Amboyna Cay in the South China Sea
Unknown to Sabah at the time, in the late 1970s, the federal government had, by neglect, made Sabah lose the island of Amboyna Cay, which is within the territorial continental shelf of Sabah. Amboyna Cay, an inhabitable island, which is now occupied by Vietnam.
The book “Doctor In The House’ published in 2011 by ex-Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, described how the then Prime Minister had changed his mind about claiming Amboyna Cay as it (a claim on Amboyna Cay) might provoke confrontation with other countries. Dr. Mahathir was the Deputy Prime Minister at the time. Dr. Mahathri also described how Malaysia (Sabah) nearly lost Layang -Layang island (Swallow Reef) because the then Prime Minister had not wanted to claim Layang-Layang for fear of confrontation with Vietnam.
Dr. Mahathir said, correctly, that both Amboyna Cay and Layang -Layang are within the Continental Shelf of Sabah (Malaysia).
In the memoirs, Dr. Mahathir described how he put Malaysian assets on Layang – Layang (Swallow Reef) once he became Prime Minister. In other words, Sabah nearly lost Layang-Layang which today is a tourist resort accessible from Kota Kinabalu and Labuan.
None of the background and facts of how Sabah lost a precious island known as Amboyna Cay would have been known if Dr, Mahathir had not penned his memoirs.
Sabah should get front row seat
As for other controversial maritime matters such as the areas known as Blocks L&M bordering Brunei, it would only be a matter of time that people will get to know how and what happened to the loss of three million acres of maritime territory in 2010.
As for the other maritime area of interest, known as Ambalat at Tawau, what was the gist of the 2023 bilateral agreement between Malaysia and Indonesia? Was the Sabah government fully involved in the bilateral discussions between Malaysia and Indonesia in order to make sure that Sabah’s territorial security and interests are fully secured?
It is the duty of the Sabah government to protect Sabah’s territorial rights and uphold the Federal constitution which stipulates that the territory of Malaysia comprise of the territory of the states of Malaysia (Article 1). Sabah should have a front row seat at any international discussions affecting Sabah’s territorial interests.
Datuk Yong Teck Lee
President, SAPP
Chairman of the SAPP Committee on Territorial Security
Ex-Chief Minister
Issued by SAPP HQ