Utusan columnist says would have attacked Singapore over island

(The Malay Mail) – “Today, Malays are humiliated, but ‘we’ remain silent,” he added.

Malaysia should have waged war on Singapore to keep Pulau Batu Puteh instead of bringing the dispute to the International Court of Justice, Utusan Malaysia columnist Ridhuan Tee Abdullah wrote in an editorial today.

In a sharply-worded piece touching on criticisms by Singapore founding father Lee Kuan Yew (picture) in his book “One Man’s View of the World”, Tee said the republic was fortunate he was not the prime minister of Malaysia during the time.

“I certainly would not bring the matter to the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The only resolution to the dispute is war,” he wrote further.

“The world has witnessed the loss of Malay land to the ultra kiasu.

“Today, Malays are humiliated, but ‘we’ remain silent,” he added.

Pulau Batu Puteh, or Pedra Branca as it is now known, was a disputed island claimed by Malaysia and Singapore.

The row over the island’s ownership traces back to 1979, when Malaysia published a map indicating the island to be within the country’s territory.

This led to a nearly three-decade dispute with Singapore that was finally ended when the island was ruled to be Singaporean territory by the International Court of Justice in 2008.

Last month, Lee reignited dormant hostilities when he touched on Malaysian issues in his latest book, particularly with his assessment of Malaysia’s race-based affirmative action policies.

In it, he accused Malaysia of driving away its talent by promoting “one race” above all others.

“They are prepared to lose that talent in order to maintain the dominance of one race,” read an excerpt of Lee’s book.