Malaysian bullet train going to Singapore?

Malaysian tycoon Francis Yeoh has made it clear again that he plans to build a bullet train service all the way to Singapore from Kuala Lumpur, according to a report today.

Will he and his YTL Corporation succeed in linking the capitals of Malaysia and Singapore via a fast train that could cut down travel time to less than two hours for many long-suffering travelers between the two countries?

“I am confident (to secure the project) because everybody wants it. The Malaysian government is pragmatic and at the end of the day if the public wants it, why not?,” he reportedly said.

Sure, everybody wants it. But can the two governments agree to such a plan that will greatly benefit the people of the two countries? Can the two governments really cooperate for the benefit of the population of the two countries or will they be driven by their narrow self-interest?

Sophie's World is not sanguine. Apart from problems arising from Malaysia's haphazard railway blueprint, the two governments can't even agree on very basic and long outstanding matters such as the:

1. Renewal of the water agreements between Malaysia and Singapore;
2. Redevelopment of the Malaysian railway land in Singapore;
3. Exchange of land in Singapore for the joint redevelopment of the Malaysian railway land
4. Use of Malaysian airspace by Singapore;
5. Sale of Malaysian sand to Singapore for reclamation;
6. Release of CPF funds of West Malaysians who no longer work in Singapore;
7. Dispute over Pedra Branca/Pulau Batu Putih;
8. Diversion of heavy traffic to the Second Link from the causeway;
9. Plan to build an overhead bridge to replace the old causeway; and
10. Cleaning up the filthy Straits of Johor, which separates the two countries.

Like the current talk (just talk) to build a monorail link between the southern Malaysian city of Johor Baru and Singapore, it will be more ideal to build a new bridge to replace the causeway to facilitate the bullet train project. Please read earlier posting.

Now, where is the new Asean Charter?

Singapore 'wins' in Pedra Branca claim

It's not exactly official but Singapore has trounced Malaysia in the competing claim for Pedra Branca/Pulau Batu Putih, according to an online poll by Sophie's World.

When the three-week poll closed tonight, a total of 334 readers had cast their votes. This is quite a decent number but it is still not big enough as a scientific poll. The three options were:

Who will win Pedra Branca/Pulau Batu Putih?
1. Singapore because it has been squatting on the little rock for more than 150 years;
2. Malaysia because the islet is nearer to the country; or
3. Two countries should re-merge and have joint ownership of Pedra Branca/Pulau Batu Putih

Those who voted for Singapore outnumbered Malaysia 169 to 141. Votes for Singapore represented exactly half of the total number of votes. Support for Malaysia was 42%, while the remaining 24 votes or 7 per cent picked the third option of joint ownership of the little island.

The court hearing ended on Nov 23 and the judges are still deliberating on the decision. The International Court of Justice's judgement is expected within the next two months.

The issue has naturally divided readers on both sides of the causeway, due probably to nationalism and differing interpretations of history.

Sophie's World is still betting on an official victory for Malaysia despite the odds against the country.

Singapore 'pips' Malaysia in Pedra Branca claim

Sentiment in blogosphere towards the court tussle for Pedra Branca/Pulau Batu Putih seems to have turned in favour of Singapore instead of Malaysia when the hearing ended yesterday, at least according to the online poll of Sophie's World.

Some 275 people have taken part in the poll so far. With just five days to go before the poll closes, votes for Singapore have outnumbered Malaysia 132 to 121. Another 22 voters picked the third option of joint ownership of the little island in the South China Sea.

As stated earlier, the sample size is just not big enough to make a conclusive statement. At best, it's just an indication of the mood of a group of people.

Sophie's World noted the swing of votes happened when the photograph saga happened last week. Votes for Malaysia were ahead of those for Singapore until the Singapore legal team questioned the veracity of the photograph evidence submitted by the Malaysian legal team.

Since then, some readers, including readers from Malaysia, have lambasted Malaysia for using the photograph, which exaggerated the closeness of the island to Malaysia. Many bloggers on both sides of the causeway also ridiculed Malaysia for using the photograph from an unverified and little-known blog although the photograph is not the crux of whole court battle. The photo is merely an image of the island, regardless of its distance to the Malaysian shores. The photograph should not be used as the basis of the court judgment, which will be made next year.

What's more important is the argument whether Malaysia or Singapore had effective ownership of the island. Was Singapore merely a lighthouse operator on an island owned by Malaysia? Did Singapore or Malaysia act in good faith in the whole issue? Or was either side being legalistic in the bid to win at any cost?

Sophie's World is still rooting for Malaysia despite the odds.

Pictures don't tell a thousand words!

Photo submitted by Malaysia (Pix source: The Straits Times, which said the Malaysian photograph, taken with a telephoto lens, magnifies the height of the hill by seven times)

Singapore's The Straits Times said this photo was taken with a camera that approximates what the human eye sees.

It’s truly fascinating that the current trial over who should own Pedra Branca (according to Singapore) or Pulau Batu Putih (according to Malaysia) has, at times, focused on form rather than substance.

In the rebuttal to Malaysia, Singapore chastised Malaysia over its photo evidence of the little outcrop, saying that Malaysia had misrepresented the distance of the island to Malaysia. Singapore seems to be technically correct as seen in the two photos in The Straits Times.

It’s odd that the Malaysian government had resorted to using a picture from an little-known blog to back up its photo evidence. Singapore has correctly questioned the veracity of the blog and the picture.

The truth of the matter is simply that the little island – whatever you call it, Pedra Branca or Pulau Batu Putih – is 25 nautical miles or about 40km from Singapore. The Singapore press would never fail to mention the distance between Pedra Branca and the Republic.

But Singapore press would generally leave out the mention of the distance between Pulau Batu Putih and Malaysia, which is actually 7.7 nautical miles or about 12.3 km.

Sophie’s World had earlier mentioned the distance as one of the factors in favour of Malaysia, but Singapore is banking on the legal notion of adverse possession to claim ownership of the islet.

Regardless of the photo evidence submitted, the indisputable point is that the little rock is a lot nearer to Malaysia.

I guess a picture doesn’t quite tell a thousand words!!!

Asean a happy family?

The ten Asean members will sign a charter in Singapore to mark yet another commitment to build a stronger community with over 500 million people.

According to news reports, the charter marks the first time that the 40-year-old bloc, which has often been described as a family by its member nations, will codify its basic principles and organisational rules.

The Straits Times said the 31-page Charter includes provisions for leaders to meet twice a year, new rules for settling disputes peacefully, more flexible decision-making processes, and steps to beef up the organisational structure of the grouping so that it is able to monitor and implement what members have agreed to do together.

Sophie's World has not seen the implementation details but is curious about the provision to resolve disputes. Will it be a motherhood statement about the need to resolve disputes peacefully without resorting to violence? Or will the charter spell out something concrete like all neighbourly disputes be referred to an international court or arbitrator if affected parties are unable to come to terms after 10 years of bilateral negotiations?

The provision is definitely an important point because there is no shortage of disputes within the so-called Asean family. Some of the family tiffs include:

1. Asean members' inability to rehabilitate the dumb generals and killers of Myanmar;
2. Malaysia and Singapore are crossing swords at the ICJ over a rock known as Pedra Branca or Pulau Batu Putih in the South China Sea;
3. Singapore and Malaysia still can't resolve their bilateral problems after nearly two decades;
4. Malaysia and Indonesia are still banning sale of sand to Singapore;
5. Indonesia and Singapore couldn't seal a treaty to extradite any Indonesian criminal in Singapore;
6. Singapore and Indonesia could not seal a defence cooperation agreement;
7. Nearly all Asean members are pissed off with Indonesia's annual haze;
8. Thailand is still seething over Singapore government investment arm Temasek Holdings' controversial deal with former Thai PM Thaksin Shinawatra's Shin Corp;
9. Indonesia and Malaysia have not fully embraced each other after another round of Konfrontasi;
10. Malaysia and Singapore can't even agree on a new overhead bridge to replace the old causeway to help improve the massive cross-border flow of goods and people, although Asean dreams about a region with free movement of goods, services, investment, skilled labour and freer flow of capital by 2015.

The Singapore charter is definitely a step in the right direction to set up a proper framework for the interaction of its ten family members.

But individual members of the Asean family must look at wider interests, not just their narrow self-interest.


Sophie's Note: Wikipedia entry showing satellite image of the 2006 Southeast Asian haze over Borneo.

Malaysia 'pips' Singapore in Pedra Branca claim

Malaysia has pipped Singapore in Sophie's World's online poll on the likely winner of the tussle for Pedra Branca/Pulau Batu Putih.

Sophie's World started an online poll a week ago, asking readers whether they think Singapore or Malaysia will emerge triumphant in the current court tussle for the tiny rock in the South China Sea.

Many readers had been rooting for Singapore, until today.

Readers supporting Malaysia outstripped Singapore 34 to 32 as of today. Another 7 readers voted for the third option -- the two countries should re-merge and have joint ownership of the disputed island.

It's still early days as we still have 15 days to go before the online poll closes. Do take part in the online poll but be objective! :-)

Whatever the outcome of the poll, it's not likely to be conclusive as the sample size is way too small. A poll needs at least 3,000 voters to be reasonably credible. News reports have been rather divisive on this issue as well.

Nevertheless, Sophie's World is still betting on a victory for Malaysia despite the earlier odds against the country.

The little rock is nearer to Malaysia. It sounds reasonable for Malaysia to say that it didn't make any claim on the island earlier because it has always regarded it as part of Malaysia although Singapore has been squatting on the rock for 150 years.

Singapura was also once part of the Malay sultanate. The old Singapore was given away to the British by the Johor sultanate for a song. Hence, one can argue that the Johor Sultan transferred ownership of Singapore but not Pulau Batu Putih to the British.

And as correctly pointed out by another blogger, Singapore was once part of Malaysia between 1963 and 1965.