Sunday, May 25, 2008

All over a bunch of rocks.

Kudos Malaysia! The verdict is finally out. Our southern neighbor has finally gotten the big rock stained with white bird shit. We made it to wrest control over a bunch of small rocks. What remains is to figure out what to do with the two rocks that disappear during high tide. After decades of dispute, we arrived at a 'win-win' situation. This sorta proves my theory that the winner will always be the one who runs the structure on the islands. This happened for Pedra Branca (can't call it Batu Puteh anymore). It happened to Sipadan, thus Malaysia prevailed. And it is a fact that all countries (even Malaysia) are building one structure or another on Spratlys. Anyhow, we have to accept the decision no matter how sad it is. After all, it is only a bunch of rocks.

The whole incident reminds me of a joke I heard years ago. (DISCLAIMER: Only a joke - no truth in it!!) According to the joke, Samy Vellu was once asked to comment on the dispute over Batu Puteh. He replied with his usual self, "Batu Puteh kah, Batu Hitam kah, I don't care.... as long as nobody touches my Batu Caves. If Singapore wants Pulau Batu Puteh then please take it as long as they return us our Singapore!"

Well the news over Pedra Branca was a break from all the Dr. M - Pak Lah saga. At least we get a change in headlines! That is probably a good thing.

Now that we are done with one dispute... we have finally removed one item from the long list of problems with Singapore. What others do we still have now??
  • Water rates still at 3 sen per thousand gallons. (Broad daylight robbery!!!)
  • KTM rail line and rail station in Singapore.
  • CPF money owed to Malaysians (specifically Peninsular Malaysians). Some say the amount is big enough to cause jitters to Singapore if withdrawn!
  • Air space for Singapore air force (is this solved already???)
  • Land reclamation works on Straits of Johore (is this done?)

As our ministers try to solve the above over another round of golf, I will pay a visit to Singapore this coming weekend. It's the Great Singapore Sales!