Malaysia-Singapore land reclamation case documented in book

S Ramesh Channel NewsAsia 5 Aug 13;

SINGAPORE: The land reclamation case between Malaysia and Singapore, which started in 2002, has now been documented into a book.

The three co-authors were involved in the episode, which concluded in April 2005.

They are Ambassador-at-Large Professor Tommy Koh, Dr Cheong Koon Hean, CEO of HDB, and Judicial Commissioner Lionel Yee, who was at that time with the Attorney-General's Chambers.

The book was launched by Singapore's Law and Foreign Affairs Minister K Shanmugam.

The book is about the about the talks, technical and legal arguments over Malaysia's legal action against Singapore.

Singapore's reclamation work around Tuas and Pulau Tekong was at the centre of the dispute.

Malaysia had asked the International Tribunal of the Law of the Sea in Hamburg to order Singapore to stop work immediately, arguing that it had caused serious environmental degradation.

The three co-authors were at the forefront at the International Tribunal of the Law of the Sea, arguing Singapore's case.

Judicial Commissioner Yee said: "For the lawyers on the Singapore team, it was baptism of fire, but thanks to Malaysia, we learnt many valuable lessons from this case, whether it is working with foreign counsel or just doing the logistics of conducting case before an international court or tribunal. And we would be making full use of the experience that we gained from Malaysia again when we met them four years later at the International Court of Justice for the Pedra Branca case.”

Former Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong, who was at that time Singapore's Attorney General, said it was a story that needs to be told to remind Singaporeans that now and again, relations between Singapore and Malaysia can easily go awry for many reasons.

Mr Shanmugam said: "It was very important for us to win this case and it really showed the government coming together, lawyers, engineers, a lot of people working together and how we succeeded and subsequently the experts completely agreed with us and therefore the provisional measures were not ordered.

“Between Malaysia and Singapore, when we agree that we can go for third-party adjudication, it doesn't hold any particular issue so central that it holds the entire relationship hostage."

Mr Shanmugam stressed that bilateral ties with Malaysia are excellent, with both countries doing several projects together.

- CNA/xq

Book on land reclamation case launched
Besides recalling drama, it serves as reminder of issue of conflicting legal rights
Grace Chua Straits Times 6 Aug 13;

ONE September day in 2003, Mr Lionel Yee was on a plane coming in to land at Changi when it flew over Pulau Ubin and Pulau Tekong.

Then a legal officer in the Attorney-General's Chambers, he was returning from Hamburg after presenting Singapore's case at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (Itlos). It involved a dispute with Malaysia which alleged that land reclamation at Tekong was harming the environment and causing navigation problems.

Mr Yee, now Judicial Commissioner in the Supreme Court, passed the islands in an instant. "That's what we had been fighting for, for so many weeks and months," he said.

Last night, he and his co-authors, Ambassador- at-large Tommy Koh and Ministry of National Development deputy secretary Cheong Koon Hean, launched a book on the landmark case.

All three were key members of the Singapore team at the tribunal.

Malaysia & Singapore: The Land Reclamation Case - From Dispute To Settlement, was launched at the National Museum by Minister for Law and Foreign Affairs K. Shanmugam.

It details the dispute over reclamation projects at Tuas, Pulau Ubin and Pulau Tekong when in 2003, Malaysia took Singapore before the Itlos in a bid to halt reclamation work that had started in 2000.

The dispute raised a larger issue of conflicting legal rights - Singapore's to reclaim part of its sea for national needs, and Malaysia's to protect its maritime environment from harm.

It was resolved when international experts showed the reclamation was not causing major environmental damage. Both countries agreed on minor changes to the Tekong reclamation and to monitor the area's ecology.

Mr Shanmugam said the case should be captured for posterity, and remarked on what it reflected about ties between the countries: "When we agree that we can go to third party adjudication, it doesn't hold any particular issue as so central that it holds the entire relationship hostage."

The $26.75 book is published by The Straits Times Press and the Centre for International Law and the Institute of Policy Studies at the National University of Singapore. All royalties will be donated to The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund.

A chapter in the history of bilateral relations
Straits Times 6 Aug 13;

SINGAPORE has reclaimed land at its edges for decades, expanding its land area by more than a fifth since the 1960s.

The land includes spots that most people take for granted, such as Marine Parade and East Coast Park.

So it was no surprise that this reclamation activity eventually rubbed its closest neighbour the wrong way.

In 2002, Malaysia objected to reclamation works at Pulau Tekong and Tuas, two years after the work had started. It claimed the projects damaged the environment, affected fishermen's livelihoods and caused navigation difficulties.

The case was heard at the International Tribunal For The Law Of The Sea in 2003, where the two countries agreed to a full scientific study. It was resolved after a team of independent experts found that the Tekong reclamation project had no major impact on the environment.

A decade on, three key members of the Singapore team - Professor Tommy Koh, Dr Cheong Koon Hean and Mr Lionel Yee - have written a 128-page volume on the experience, giving a sense of the drama in and out of the courtroom. It details Malaysia's complaints and Singapore's legal preparations, a tense week in Hamburg before the tribunal, a joint study by international experts, arbitration at The Hague and a settlement between the countries.

The Singapore team had a keen eye for anything that would help - such as photos of a container vessel breezing through the Elbe River channel in Hamburg to show navigation channels near Tekong would be wide enough even after reclamation.

The book also documents lighter moments. For example, one of the Joint Working Group meetings in Putrajaya ended so late that a Singapore delegation, including Prof Koh, was unceremoniously dumped at a petrol kiosk in Johor on the way back as the coach driver was late for another assignment.

The easy-to-read volume is targeted at laymen interested in international law and international relations. It charts a key moment in the history of bilateral relations between Singapore and Malaysia, and serves as a reminder how vital reclamation is to Singapore and how careful it must be about reclaiming land.

GRACE CHUA