Why has Malaysia ceded land to Thailand along the Malaysian-Thai border?
My bike resting on the Kedah-Thai border marker near Danok.
The Malaysian-Thai border fence between Bukit Kayu Hitam and Padang Besar has been built approximately 2-6 metres away from the Thai-Malaysia border markers. This 30 kilometre stretch of border fencing cedes off somewhere between 6 and 12 Ha of land to Thailand.
The Malaysian Department of Survey and Mapping (JUPM) inspected the area around 2021. Since then, there have been no changes to the demarcations or fencing.
The border fence was built between 1995 and 1996 when Shahidan Kasim was the Menteri Besar of Perlis and Mahathir Mohamed was prime minister. Both men have personally inspected this fence.
This possible Malaysian land is either empty or used for market gardening on the Thai side. There are also some makeshift Thai temples along the fence.
In prime minister Anwar Ibrahim in his Merdeka Day speech described the mishandling of the Batu Puteh issue as a form of betrayal to the nation. The land along the Malaysia-Thai border is larger than Pulau Batu Putih, or Pedra Branca, as the Singaporeans call it.
The area in question along the border above.
Perhaps its now time to resurvey the Thai-Malaysian border between Bukit Kayu Hitam and Padang Besar.
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Magnanimity comes from the winner. Pedra Branca or Batu Putih could not have been decided the way it turned out for the simple reason they had instructing lawyers like Noor Faridah who did not know whether it was her mouth or her rectum she was thinking and speaking out of.
The fact is that Singapore is an artificial state carved out of the Malay peninsula by the British. And Pedra Branca if thats what you want it called was never part of ancient Singapore because there was no ancient Singapore. But there was an ancient Malaya. It belonged to Malaya from time immemorial.
To assume that Singaapore the artificial state had a time tested and historic claim that is valid was a fiction the court settled on not because that was the case but because the Faridah Noors of this world could not impress upon the court the facts and the history that underpinned their claim to that rock.
It is like saying the British had a legitimate claim to the island of Hong Kong because they could prove they were there for 250 years when in fact, at the time they ruled the world had the power, the might and the money to do as they pleased with someone elses land.
Dato' Noor Farida Ariffin, the Co- Agent of Malaysia for the Pulau Batu Puteh Case has had a long and distinguished career spanning 36 years in the Public Service. After completing her legal studies at the Inns of Court in London she joined the Judicial and Legal Service in February 1971 where she served in various capacities including magistrate, senior assistant registrar in the High Courts of Kuala Lumpur and Penang, legal officer with the Economic Planning Unit of the Prime Minister's Department,Director of the Legal Aid Bureau and Sessions Court Judge.
Yet and inspite of her numerous 'outstanding achievements' in the legal and administrative services she was unable to do anything of any merit or impact in the Batu Putih matter. Singapore according to a Brownlie note and confirmed by Luterpacht two of the English speaking world's foremost authorities in public international law, commented that Singapore's case was weak.
However and from the results of the case, it appears Malaysia's case was even weaker because of the presence fof the likes of Dato' Noor Farida Ariffin, a woman whose rapid rise with the services and in government was built on powerful connections and patronage. Merit was not a criteria in each of the steps on the ladder to her fame.
A cursory reading on social media of her criticisms of government and individuals she did not like whilst funded by open societies and the NED clearly indicates that her understanding of the law and constitution is below what one could justifiably expect of a former magistrate, judge, lawyer and diplomat.
Dato' Noor Farida Ariffin, and people like her benefitted immensely from the largesse of the Mahathir era but sadly and is also an example of one of these beneficiaries outsiders will always use to discredit the positive discrimination policies of the NEP.
Good luck to Datuk Anwar in his endevours to right the wrongs of people like Dato' Noor Farida Ariffin, and the judgement of the ICJ.