Question Of Ownership
By Ignatius Stephen

Bandar Seri Begawan - The long-standing controversial Limbang question has again bubbled to the surface, at least on the Brunei side. Bringing up the matter of Brunei's claim to the enclave, which was annexed forcefully by the Rajah Brooke of Sarawak in 1890, is once again the 72-year-old Awang Haji Aming Bakir, who had been adamant on the subject over the years.

Awang Haji Aming, a former resident of Limbang, was expelled from Sarawak following his vociferous agitation in the 1960s for the reattachment of Limbang to Brunei.

He has lived in Brunei since his departure from the Sarawak territory and continues to press forward his mission for the return of the territory.

In a statement this week, he said that the people of Limbang have been waiting for the territory's return for the past 40 years. He said that Limbang could not be separated from Brunei because of the "blood ties" and also because of the geographical and economic "predicament".

In fact, many former high British officials had strongly suggested that Limbang be returned to the Sultanate. He said before the formation of Malaysia, the people of Limbang forwarded "quite a number of petitions", signed by high-ranking officials representing the' people of Limbang during a referendum.

"More than 8,000 people signed one petition which was presented to the visiting United Nations officials who came to accesses the views of Sarawak people about j oining Malaysia," Awang Haji Aming pointed out.

Awang Haji Aming said that things have moved too slowly since' then. But it was time to solve the problem now, as it was important to Brunei's honour and for the benefit of its future generations.

He said that the Brunei government has made a lot of sacrifices, such as allowing Sarawak and Sabah to join Malaysia peacefully. It was high time therefore for Malaysia to reciprocate and to see Brunei, a Muslim state, prosper especially when both are Islamic countries.

The law of Islam and the international law would necessitate the return of the territory to its rightful owner, which is Brunei, he said. Top Malaysian officials and many historians have acknowledged the fact Brunei was the rightful owner.• As recent as in 2003, the possibility of an agreement between Brunei and Malaysia in resolving the Limbang issue was mentioned. "It would certainly be a landmark in the history of existing good relations between the two countries," according to the then Malaysian High Commissioner to Brunei, Tan Sri Mohd Jamil bin Johari, Awang Hji Aming recalled. Both countries will be proud of such an achievement, the Malaysian diplomat had said.

The Malaysian envoy had reiterated that then Malaysian Prime Minister Dato Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad's statement where the former premier hoped that the Limbang issue could be resolved before his retirement. "It shows a new era of cooperation and understanding between the two nations involving the border issue, which could be resolved by both.

"There isn't a need to bring this issue to the International Court of Justice," said Tan Sri Mohd Jamil at that time.

But since that time, nothing much had hppened, although there have been meetings between the two countries on this issue and other matters, Haji Awang Aming said.

Quoting history, HajiAwang Aming also mentioned points made by a noted author Associate Professor B.A. Hussainmiya in his latest book "Brunei Revival of 1906", in which he mentioned that Brunei had signed an agreement in 1888 with Britain, whereby Brunei was promised protection.

Brunei trusted that the Agreement would help to prevent the acquisitive Brooke from further encroaching on its already shrunken territory, Dr Hussainmiya notes. In 1887, Lord-Salisbury, in a letter to Sultan Hashim, had promised him protection as a means of reassuring him before he signed the treaty.

Earlier in 1881, spurning- Brooke's offer of more incentives, Sultan Abdul Mumin wrote to him that "the territory of Brunei was united like unto a man with all his members complete. "At present his arms are lost to him leaving his head and feet- therefore let it remain so." So when Brooke aimed at the heart of Brunei by the forcible annexation of Limbang, thereby cutting Brunei into two unconnected enclaves, Brunei was left gasping for breath, the book says.

Apparently the Protectorate Agreement of 1888 proved inadequate to safeguard the territorial integrity of Brunei.

It was worded in a sufficiently vague manner to give a free hand to the protecting power. Thus, a Foreign Office minute speaks of the Agreement as not standing "in the way of such a consummation as the absorption, when the time arrives, of Brunei by Sarawak and the BNBC (British North Borneo Company)

It would, in fact, enable Her Majesty's Government to advise the Sultan to accept the inevitable on the best terms procurable. In other words, the ultimate fate of the Bruneian Sultanate was a matter of indifference to London, so long as its territory remained within the British sphere of influence, the author notes.

The days of Brunei seemed numbered, especially because the British Foreign Office was already drawing up plans to extinguish the last remnants of the kingdom to be dividedbetween Rajah Brooke and the British North Borneo Company. No one was more aware of the looming danger than the ailing Sultan Hashim Jalilul Alam. He was heartbroken to -have been let down by his protector, Britain, and he complained to King Edward in 1902.

"From the day I set my hand to the Treaty of Protection (17 September 1888), 1 have not once received assistance or protection from Your Majesty's Government and I beg, with all deference, for your Majesty's help. Not a single Consul has done anything to help strengthen my country. They all seem to help Sarawak and to try to hand over my country to Sarawak."

The forcible annexation of Limbang in 1890 hardened Sultan Hashim to make his final stand against all overtures by Britain and Brooke. In 1904, Sultan Hashim was left with only four rivers, having lost no fewer than 18 such districts to Sarawak alone.

Limbang emerged as the intractable problem. Sultan Hashim had made repeated appeals to the British Foreign Office to help him recover the life-giving district and the river, but his requests fell on deaf ears.

The large fertile Limbang had served the Kampong Ayer folk in their forays for food, clothing and materials for housing and fishing. Moreover, since its annexation, Brunei had lost vital revenue.

The petty traders, such as the collectors of jungle produce, lost their means of livelihood. Above all, Bruneians felt bitterly about the loss of their "soul" in Limbang. Defining the Limbang boundary turned out to be a nightmare. Even today, it remains an unresolved issue between Brunei and Malaysia. It continued to be a bone of contention and a source of much friction, given the fact that the district was never ceded by Brunei voluntarily.

For Brunei, the contour of the country is such that the watershed of Limbang comprised almost all the land between its banks and those of Brunei. McArthur's solution was to make the Limbang River itself form the boundary between (West) Brunei and Sarawak, from its mouth up to the Madalam confluence.-- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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