What we Cannot Defend Do Not Belong to us.

A Singapore Lesson

Déjà vu 2002.  A young Singapore National Service Army Reservist (NSman) packed his uniforms and military gear into his car, ready to report and fights the war for which he had been trained for and been on standby for over 15 years earlier.  He had hoped that war will never come; but he remembered Sun Tzu’s 1^st Principle in The Art of War - “Do not assume that the enemy will not come, but be prepared for his coming”.   

2018 last week, 16 years on; the sons of Singapore’s earlier NSmen braced themselves as they stood their ground for the potential armed conflicts which none of us actually wanted but prepared for.   

In 2002, a Malaysian gunboat had intruded and dropped anchor in Singapore waters in the vicinity of Pedra Branca Island where Horsburgh Lighthouse stands.  This unannounced provocative action followed Malaysia’s arbitrary claim of sovereignty and ownership over the Island and the Lighthouse, which was built by the British in 1851, without producing any basis for her purported legitimacy. Singapore had operated the Horsburgh Lighthouse on the granite island for more than 130 years without protest from its neighbour Malaysia (formerly Malaya), who actually acknowledged in a 1953 letter that “Johore (Malaya’s Southernmost State) does not claim ownership of Pedra Branca”.

For over more than a few days in 2002, the Singapore Navy encircled the Malaysian gunboat as our elite Commandos secured the Lighthouse, on the soccer-field size Island, with machine gun positions and other defensive weapons.  The standoff was tense and intense.  Elsewhere, 14 km away on the Singapore mainland, I had enjoined several thousand other NSmen readied to be deployed for the Mission which we were operationally-ready and trained for – to protect and safeguard the sovereignty of Singapore.

Then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew knew that the Petra Branca situation should not be allowed to fester and remain.  A Malaysian political party had already called for the invasion and occupation of the Island and Lighthouse.  PM Lee ordered the Malaysian gunboat to leave (by a specified deadline) or “be sunk”!  The ultimatum was quickly relayed through diplomatic channels to Malaysia.  To shorten this narrative, the Malaysian gunboat left long before PM Lee’s deadline as promptly as its unwelcomed arrival.  Everyone knew that PM Lee was a man of action who meant every word, warning and threat.  And sovereign is not a game to ‘play, play’ (in Singlish) or to be trifled with.

“WHAT WE CANNOT DEFEND DO NOT BELONG TO US!” – The Key Lesson.

The dispute over Petra Branca was finally resolved by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague in 2008.  The ICJ recognized and ruled that Singapore has sovereignty over Petra Branca.  Status update: In February 2017, Malaysia applied to the ICJ to overturn its 2008 decision, citing new “facts”.  Malaysia subsequently withdrew her application in June 2018, after these new “facts” were examined and found to be immaterial and irrelevant to support any review of the 2008 ICJ decision.   

Fast-Forward 16 years to October-November 2018.  Malaysian Government vessels, presumably including some armed naval ships, blatantly and deliberately intruded and violated Singapore Territorial Waters off Tuas on more than 14 occasions.  Like in 2002, the latest intrusions were not responding to any Singaporean provocations.  They followed the 25 October 2018 unilateral Malaysian official declaration to extend her Johor Port Limits arbitrarily beyond even their 1979 self-declared maritime boundary into our de facto, longstanding and established Singapore territorial waters.

The extension of Johor Port Limits makes no economic or rational sense and is a deliberate provocative action since Johor Port activities had also slowed down and reduced considerably because of the recessionary Malaysian economy due to domestic unrests, falling palm oil and petroleum prices.   So, why the need to increase the Johor Port Limits?      The 2 Johor Ports of Pasir Gudang and Tanjung Pelepas also handled less than 9.5 million 20-foot equivalent container units (TEU) compared to Singapore’s 34 million TEU, which is second only to Shanghai’s 40 million TEU.  Even so without the Port volume, Why Extend Them Into Other Country’s Territory?

In fact since 1999 or earlier, all ships of every nationality, including Malaysia, have recognized and respected Singapore’s territorial jurisdiction of the violated waters eg regular patrols by the Singapore Navy and Police Coast Guards, and seeking our permission to enter them.  The shipping community was therefore baffled and confused by the 11 Nov 2018 Malaysian Port Circular and 22 Nov 2018 Notice to Mariners.   

Like in 2002, Singapore protested the Malaysian intrusions through the usual diplomatic channels, but the provocative intrusions continued unabated almost daily.    The Singapore Navy intercepted the Malaysian vessels and warned them to leave our territorial waters.  

Singapore declared at a Press Conference on 4 December 2018 that the unilateral and arbitrary extension of Johore Port Limits “violated Singapore’s sovereignty”.  Several Singapore Ministers, all NSmen themselves, including the Defense Minister, have also publicly warned Malaysia to “cease and desist” her provocations or face their natural consequences from the full might of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF).   

“WHAT BELONGS TO US, WE WILL FIGHT AND DEFEND AT ALL COSTS!” 

– The NSmen Response.

There is no ambiguity in a unified Singaporean response to the latest Malaysian provocations and violations of Singapore sovereign territory.  Even the leading opposition political party in Parliament, many also NSmen themselves, issued a Press Statement in full support of “our men and women in all our security and enforcement agencies who have been activated to deal with the incursion of Malaysian vessels into Singapore waters”. 

The Singapore Port Limits are now extended to the boundaries of our own Territorial waters.  Know that more than 1,000 ships use the Singapore Port on a daily basis.

Last Friday, even after Singapore’s public warnings in all the news and social media, at least 3 Malaysian ships made further illegal incursions in violation of our waters.  Lucky for them, they were spared from total annihilation within seconds by our Harpoon Missiles only by the well-disciplined restraint of the Singapore Navy.  

Malaysians and Singaporeans must understand that the return of Dr Mahathir as Malaysian Prime Minister a few months ago means also embracing the baggage of Dr M’s past bitterness with Singapore during his first tenure as Prime Minister from 1981 to 2003.  In addition to his own failure in building a better Malaysia, Dr M's personality and feelings of lower self-esteem and inferiority to former Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew explain his driving motivations when dealing with Singapore.  We should not be stupid or foolish enough to be suck into any war due to someone’s inability to adapt and adjust to his current surroundings.   

In Sun Tzu’s 2^nd Principle in The Art of War, he said: “When the enemy attacks, he must be met (or crushed) with unassailable and invincible force”.   Singapore wants to be a friend to all countries.  We have always regarded Malaysia to be a close friend and often good neighbor.  DO NOT MAKE US YOUR ENEMY.