Taking Limbang: We May Still Have A Fighting Chance
Taking Limbang: We May Still Have A Fighting Chance
Written by KLH Sunday, 15 November 2009 14:22
I admire your strong sense of nationalism, Ahmad. Indeed, the issue of Brunei's claims on Limbang has been a controversial point in the relationship between our country and Malaysia. We do have sources to back up our claims to Limbang if we were to present them to the International Council of Justice, for example:-
1) When the British Government dispatched their representative, Noel Trevenan to Brunei in order to solve the Limbang dispute, he secretly co-operated with Charles Brooke and was soon accompanied by Brooke's officials, denoting a great degree of collaboration between Noel and the Brooke government.
2) Out of the 15 chiefs of Limbang, 12 supported Limbang's annexation into Sarawak. However, the other 18 chiefs that were not present in the meeting were not accounted for, so the annexation of Limbang was unjust from the start.
3)There is also evidence that during the meeting, the 15 chiefs were under the influence of alcohol, the 'fire water' that the natives of Borneo craved. This devious ploy manipulated the chiefs of Limbang to sign the Limbang secession document that was to be presented to Sultan Hashim. I suppose the other 3 chiefs who disagreed to the takeover of Limbang by the Brookes were rather alcohol-tolerant ;D
4) The Protectorate Treaty of 1888 bound Brunei under the protection of Her Majesty's Government in London. Limbang's annexation by the Brookes can be seen as an embarassment to the British government for its failure to impose its foreign policy on Brunei and Sarawak. The officials of the colonial office at the time should have seen some moral sense in the illegal annexation, but no action was taken to return Limbang to Brunei. Instead, it culminated into what we now know as the 1905/1906 Treaty of Protection. Very disappointing indeed...
5) The objective of the Cobbold Commission of 1962 was to conduct a survey on the population of North Borneo & Sarawak on whether they should merge with the Federation of Malaysia that also involved the states of Malaya, Singapore & Brunei. They did not took account of the Limbang population, who MAY have favoured reunion with the Sultanate of Brunei instead. Furthermore, they treated Limbang alongside the other political divisions of Sarawak as one whole entity, so when the results announced that Sarawak wanted to join the Federation of Malaysia, it also included Limbang. The voices, desires & the opinion of the people of Limbang had been offsetted by those of the people in other states of Sarawak.
However, there are several factors that we need to take account of... For instance:-
1) The British failed to protect Brunei from foreign incursion when Charles Brooke annexed Limbang, possibly due to the Rajah's dual British-Sarawak citizenship. As Charles Brooke was recognized as a subject of Great Britain, the British government did not take action. Furthermore, Sarawak was a protectorate of the British government and NOT a foreign power. The 1888 Treaty of Protection possibly did not apply to British subjects and/or protectorates. Looking from this point-of-view, annexation of Limbang seems rather legal...
2) It may also be likely that the majority of the people of Limbang preferred the merging of Sarawak into the Federation of Malaysia. As Limbang is counted as a division/state of Sarawak, its population's opinions may have added weight to the results of the Cobbold Commission (in which the majority of the people of Sarawak favoured union with the Federation).
3) It is with the best intention of our country to preserve friendly relations with the Malaysian government. Should Limbang be incorporated to Brunei, it may also upset Indonesia, but something like that would be unlikely (unless it was during the 'Konfrontasi' period, it would have ticked off Sukarno).
The development of a 'Daerah Limbang' might place a financial strain in our national treasury, and there could be a little political unrest in the region if it were to be returned back to Brunei. But it is without doubt that Brunei will definitely benefit were it to reclaim Limbang from Malaysia. It would enable undisturbed passage into Daerah Temburong (of which we are all familiar with the long queues and painful waiting times in the Kuala Lurah Immigration Checkpoint). It still largely possess untapped natural resources to further enrich our country's economy, and a potential 'ricebowl' for Brunei to cut off rice imports from Thailand and other imports from neighbouring Malaysia as well.
Agricultural development in the area would increase our exports as well as foreign investment. These could only be realised once Brunei could regain Limbang... Let us all be hopeful that events in the future will allow this to happen (cross fingers)
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written by Henow , November 15, 2009
Its important to preserve friendly relation with Malaysia, however, in politics you cant be too nice (soft) or too rough. Too nice you'd be seen as weak, an appeaser nation, too rough and you'd be considered a rogue state.
written by Desperado , November 16, 2009
written by XoneX , November 17, 2009
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Before we do that, we must do a lot of research, find more evident, prepare for clever people to handle this case and the most important study and learn from Singapore's experience. Singapore did a lot of studies, preparation and research before the case 'Batu Puteh' was brought to ICJ, now 'Batu Puteh' is belong to Singapore.
So from now, never trust Malaysia’s solution, we must find our way to solve this problem. We can win the case of Limbang because we are on the right way. Allah always with the right people.