Solve Sulu dispute with clear thinking, not blame

 

From Saw Ban Kheng

As contradictions emerge about the actions (and inactions) of our attorneys-general and our foreign ministers in response to the litigation from the heirs of the Sulu sultanate, it is clear that Malaysia was caught by surprise.

In a case drawn out over many years, this is bizarre.

We can be shocked by the size of the award. But we should not have been surprised by the event. How many people even knew about this case?

Former prime minister Najib Razak describes his successors as stupid. This may be true. But did his government put Malaysia into default on the RM5,300-a-year payments? The blame game can run for weeks.

We can wrap ourselves in the flag, but that doesn’t stop debt collecting at a global level. We can rage about the affront to our sovereignty but then, we must observe that this claim doesn’t appear to dispute sovereignty. We can man the beaches, but this particular threat does not arrive from the sea.

Although blame and outrage are natural reactions, they will not save Malaysia one sen. There is an overwhelming problem.

Malaysia’s various governments appear to have viewed this lawsuit as being like all previous threats: posturing Filipino politicians, violent insurgents and bogus lawsuits about sovereignty.

This time, however, it is about money. Our politicians were applying – and are now squabbling about – the wrong solutions to the wrong problem.

These particular Sulu claimants agree with Malaysia about almost everything. Peace: no problem. Malaysian control over Sabah: why, certainly, be our guests. We paid them a stipend for generations. All well received, thank you. Presumably, we got receipts.

The only area of disagreement is the scale of those payments, where the claim has gone from a few thousand to many billions of ringgit. How did this happen?

Our government should focus on its priorities. Malaysia is a modern nation. It cannot live with such uncertainties. To get out of this mess, we must eliminate any ambiguities, and we must never allow foreign politicians to twist our tail again.

Second, we must get past our legal leadership who almost silently lost this case.

One day we will find out who fumbled. They might make a movie. But now, we need clear-thinking leadership, not a blame game. The media has done more work in clarifying this situation in the last two weeks than governments have done in two years.

Knowing which attorney-general lit the match does not help us fight the fire that now threatens our reputational and financial standing worldwide.

It is fair to ask the government for honesty, and a forward plan. - FMT

Saw Ban Kheng is an FMT reader.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.