Pulau Merambong: Fears of Singapore staking a claim

Satiman Jamin, New Straits Times 9 Jun 08;

JOHOR BARU: Pulau Merambong, a 0.3ha uninhabited island about three kilometres from Tanjung Kupang in Gelang Patah, was virtually unknown until neglected islands in Johor waters became a hot topic in the aftermath of the International Court of Justice decision on Pedra Banca.

The fear that Pulau Merambong could become another contentious point with Singapore stems from its proximity to the republic, being about 1.6km from the reclaimed area of Tuas.

Tales of Gelang Patah fishermen harassed by Singapore marine police near Pulau Merambong are not uncommon.

That further stoke fears that the marine police's show of authority could be a prelude to Singapore laying a claim to the island later, as was the case of Pedra Banca.

Most of the fishermen in Kampung Pendas Laut, Kampung Ladang Hujung and Kampung Tanjung Adang have long questioned the actions of Singapore marine police in Malaysian waters.
Kampung Ladang Hujung Fishermen Club chairman Abdul Rahman Salleh, 56, said his boat almost capsized after being side-swiped by a Singapore marine police vessel.

"We were well in Malaysian waters when they came alongside our boat and told us to move out of the area.

"I refused to budge and pointed out that they were the ones who should leave the area as they were trespassing."

Abdul Rahman said the Singapore vessel then made a sudden turn which almost caused his boat to capsize.

The incident occurred 10 years ago but the harassment has not stopped as other fishermen have told him of their experience with the Singapore marine police.

For a small island, Pulau Merambong has three beaches - sandy, rocky and mangrove.

Although marine life is not as abundant as it used to be, the rare kilah or noble volute (Cymbiola nobilis) and some starfish can be found during low tide.

The kilah's sweet flesh and patterned shell are highly sought after.

It is said that seahorses and dugong used to thrive in the waters, but sightings of the creatures are rare nowadays.

A newly-painted lighthouse stands at the southeastern tip of the island. Malaysian and Johor flags perched on the tower are the only visible evidence of our country's sovereignty over the island.

Further inland, a Muslim graveyard dominates the small plains at a foothill.

Fisherman Mohd Khairul Anwar Abdul Rahman, 23, said decades ago, the folk of Gelang Patah would bury their dead on Merambong as the mainland's wild animals could dig up bodies from the graves.

The graveyard is unsafe for the barefooted as the flat, thorny seeds of the sepetir tree carpet the ground.

Sepetir (Sindora siamensis) is in the list of threatened species of the International Union of the Conservation of Nature in 2006.

On the hilltop, there are two more graves under a zinc-roof shed. The kettles and water containers in the shed suggest that people had stayed there before.

Behind the hilltop graves, more than five large holes are found in the wooded area, whose origins are linked to stories of people digging for treasures left by pirates.

Only the sandy and mangrove beaches are accessible from the hilltop.

The steep cliff with jagged rocks and mossy slippery boulders is a natural barrier to the rocky beach.

The rocky beach can be divided into three areas: the rocks and boulders underneath the cliff; the wide expanse of terraced ridges of jagged rocks; and an area of stones and pebbles carved by waves.

Snails, crabs and bivalves live in the cracks and in between rocks, only visible during low tides.

The sandy beach is made up of tiny granules of pulverised rocks, the result of waves pummelling the rocky beach next to it. Thus, the sand has the same reddish brown colour as the rocks.

A few metres from the lighthouse, at the edge of the sandy beach, rambong shrubs abound. It could have been the namesake of the island.

After dark, the blinking light from the tower is dwarfed by the smokestacks of a power station in the reclaimed shores of Tuas, while the lights on the Second Link are just mere dots on the horizon.