Rocks and shoals.
We mentioned here the efforts of former PM Mahathir to race-bait his way back to popularity, by invoking the convenient specter of Singaporeans and Malaysian Chinese, and their purported plans to seize control of Malaysian life and territory. (Suffice it to say that the principal beneficiaries of the Iskandar Malaysia project that Mahathir denounced will be Mahathir’s own fellow Malays.) Sadly, this is not a new theme for Mahathir, who rose to power in no small part on his ideology of Malay supremacy; nor in Malaysian society, which spent much of its first post-colonial decade wracked by racial troubles that resulted, among other things, in Chinese-majority Singapore’s expulsion from Malaysia. The difference between the two is that Malaysian society has largely moved on — though there is, quite obviously, more road to be traveled here — while Mahathir has not.
Were this just a case of Mahathir being Mahathir, things would probably blow over in time. Unfortunately, events have their own logic, and it appears now that a new irritant to Malaysian-Singaporean relations — and consequently, Malay-Chinese relations — may arise: sometime in the coming 24 hours, the International Court of Justice in the Hague will decide whether a small, uninhabitable island in the Singapore Straits — Pedra Branca or Pulau Batu Puteh, depending on which country’s claim you favor — belongs to Malaysia or Singapore. Unlike many such disputes (Isla Perejil, anyone?), this one is not inherently meaningless — there’s a maritime boundary at stake athwart the world’s busiest shipping lane, and so both nations are paying close attention.
There’s not much to be said on this one. The merits of the case are sufficiently opaque to preclude third parties from having an opinion, and still less interest. But it’s worth noting, as it would be a pity indeed to have this minor territorial dispute stoke the embers that Mahathir Mohamad is so desperately fanning.
