Tag: Nur Misuari

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Endorsing The Enemy

Almost three years ago the nation witnessed the slaughter of several police officers and men by a bunch of low-life thugs from the Southern Philippines, men of the self-proclaimed Sultan of Sulu, Jamalul Kiram III landed in Kampung Tanduo in Lahad Datu and demanded for the return of Sabah to the Sultanate.

 
The women above lost their husband and their children have lost forever a normal life.

Anwar Ibrahim, too, lent support to the thugs. He met up with Nur Misuari before the incursion and Jamalul Kiram III openly announced his support for Anwar as the new Prime Minister of Malaysia should BN fall during the 13th General Elections.

   
 
Treachery must run deep in Anwar’s family. On the 9th November 2015, his daughter and MP for Lembah Pantai, Nurul Izzah, went to lend her support to Jacel Kiram, daughter if the now rotting Jamalul Kiram III. Talk about insensitivity! Jacel Kiram still claims that Sabah belongs to Sulu.

  
To add insult to injury, DAP’s Teresa Kok had this to say to reporters about Nurul Izzah’s visit:

  
The visit is not serious, she said, and the events that took place at Kampung Tanduo is a bit of an old story.

I hope she could tell China to now stop asking for an apology from the Japanese, and that the Jews should forget the Holocaust ever happened.

Whoever votes for these MOs again ought to be castrated and raw iodine poured on their wound.

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The Chinese Navy “Visits” Beting Serupai

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Mention the name Beting Serupai you might get frowned upon by many. Mention the name James Shoal, and it may raise a few eyebrows. To most Malaysian, they would not be able to pinpoint where James Shoal is, save for some avid fishing enthusiasts, but this 22-meter deep shoal 80 kilometres off Bintulu, Sarawak, has been “visited” by elements of the People’s Liberation Army – Navy (PLA-N) or simply referred to as the Chinese Navy, yesterday.

In its report on the 26th March 2013, the Associated Press wrote:

The official People’s Daily online said Wednesday that one destroyer, two frigates and an amphibious landing ship took part in the drills around Chinese-controlled outcroppings. They involved hovercraft, ship-born helicopters, amphibious tanks, and land-based fighters and bombers, and were followed by a ceremonial visit Tuesday to James Shoal farther south.

The Beting Serupai has always been part of China’s claim, lumped together in the Spratlys, as its southernmost territory. Prior to this “visit” the PLA-N visited the shoal in 1993 and 1994. In April of 2010, its vessel, the Marine Surveillance Ship-83 placed a sovereignty stele into the water area of the shoal.

When Malaysia enhanced its relationship with China in May 2011, it was looked at as a step further towards harnessing a greater economic relationship. The Malaysian Opposition was quick to excoriate the act as political pandering. But in retrospect, it was strategically a good move as it relives the act by the Sultanate of Melaka with the Chinese. China is not a country one could just ignore. As in the 15th century, an alliance with China not only provides economic benefits, but also from a military standpoint.

It is no secret that after China’s warnings to Japan, South Korea and Taiwan in 2012, the United States was actively looking for bases in this region. Among the countries where bases are sought include the Philippines and Vietnam. However, no other modern naval base offers the best proximity than Malaysia’s own Teluk Sepanggar just north of Kota Kinabalu. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that the carrier battle group of the USS John C Stennis decided to make a port call there in early October 2012. Before that, in the month of April 2012, the RMN base was visited by the US Navy Secretary, who brought with him the submarine-tender, the USS Emory S Land, and the Los Angeles-class nuclear attack submarine, the USS Louisville.

The only factor that is stopping the US Navy from getting naval base facilities in Sabah is probably not having a Malaysian government that would kowtow to them. Therefore, the outcome of the next general elections would be important to them. Little wonder that Sabah has been the aim of a certain party. However, this writer hopes that this dangerous effort would not come to fruition.

That the Department of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines has asked Filipinos to stop referring to Sabah as Sabah, Malaysia three days ago, citing Memorandum Circular No. 162 issued by Malacanang back in 2008. The DFA has also begun referring to Filipinos fleeing Sabah as “displaced persons” instead of “evacuees” or “returnees.” This is the Philippines government doing a 180 on its previous position re the Sabah claim. The fact that the US Navy and Marines have begun deploying its assets in the Philippines comes as no surprise. On Tuesday the USN and US Marine Corps offloaded more than 270 tactical and amphibious assault vehicles in Subic Bay, Zambales.

American troops from the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, III Marine Expeditionary Force, offloaded a High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle from the container and roll-on, roll-off ship USNS 1st Lt. Jack Lummus on March 21. Some 8,000 troops from both the US and the Philippines will commence its Balikatan exercise on 5th April. And the US has yet to offer an explanation on why its minesweeper, the USS Guardian, could run aground on Tubbataha Reef in the Sulu Sea near Palawan, two weeks before the incursion by the Sulu militants. And suddenly, Jamalul Kiram III who hardly has enough money to cover the bills for his twice-weekly kidney dialysis, could find the financial resources to send hundreds of armed militants across the Sulu Sea to Lahad Datu.

Perhaps, the Chinese naval exercise in the South China Sea and its “visit” to the southernmost part it claims comes as a warning to any party that plans to upset the military balance in the region. China, I would expect, would want to protect its interests; and the 180 by the Philippines in the Sabah issue could be seen as an attempt to de-stabilise the region. Having Sabah not only allows a nation to dip its fingers into Sabah’s oilfields but also increases its EEZ reach into the Spratlys.

Whatever the intentions may be by all the related parties, the Malaysian government should seriously look into increasing its naval and aerial assets. A country that is weak militarily will only see its soil trampled by foreign forces. The government should also make sure Sabah is not lost to another nation, and act against the Quislings who have caused the emergency in Lahad Datu.

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Take Sabah Away, Mr Sulu

When the late Gene Roddenderry wanted an Asian character to be part of the crew of the Federation Starship USS Enterprise, he wanted a surname that does not represent any particular nation. George Takei, an actor in the world-renowned TV show recalled how Roddenderry opened up a map, looked at Asia and saw the Sulu Sea and exclaimed:

“Ah! The waters of that sea touch all shores!”

That was how the character Hikaru Sulu got his name.

And how true it is that the Sulu Sea has now touched on the raw and sensitive parts of the shores of both Malaysia and the Philippines.

I wrote some days back on the current stand-off in Lahad Datu and it is today Day 11th since a group of armed men claiming to represent the Sultan of Sulu landed in Lahad Datu, Sabah in Malaysia, asking for the return of Sabah to the Sultanate of Sulu.  When the Philippines government worked a peace deal with the Muslims in the country’s deep south via the Bangsamoro Framework Agreement, the Muslims and their Filipino brethren embraced it as finally a way forward after decades of impasse.  The framework allows for the creation of a single and autonomous entity called Bangsamoro replacing the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao.

The framework agreement was signed at the Malacanang Palace on 15th October 2012 in the presence of President Beningno Aquino III of the Philippines; Al Haj Murad Ebrahim, the Chairman of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front; Najib Razak, Prime Minister of Malaysia; and Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu, Secretary-General of the Organisation of Islamic Countries.

Absent was Nur Misuari, leader of the Moro National Liberation Front. Nur Misuari had called the BFA irrelevant claiming it was cloned by President Aquino and Najib Razak.  The MILF is a breakaway group that was part of the MNLF back in the 1970s.  Disagreement in the way Nur Misuari handled issues led to the group breaking away.

Also absent was the Sultan of Sulu.  The alienation of the Sultan probably led to the Lahad Datu stand-off.  The Sultan admitted to have been prompted by the alienation to send some 400 men across the sea to Sabah, as the BFA had seen not only improvements in the lives of the Bangsamoro that he played no role in, but also in the intimacy between the Philippines and Malaysia as neighbours.  And as mentioned in my previous posting on this issue, Nur Misuari’s MNLF supports the Sultan.  And this recent posture is to display its relevance again to the Moro people.

But why was the Sultan alienated in the peace process?  Simple – there are now ten people who claim the throne.  The Philippines government cannot be dealing with ten different Sultans with ten different basic ideas on how to bring peace and development to the Bangsamoro.  Nur Misuari himself did not attend the signing as he fears that there is an ongoing warrant issued for his arrest for waging war against the Philippines government.

As the militants are bogged down into their second week in Lahad Datu surrounded by the Malaysian security forces, Nur Misuari was quick to threaten Malaysia saying “if one drop of blood is spilled then we will be forced to come to their aid.”  Nur Misuari also said the following:

This should be handled by cooler heads…that it would also be good to await the Malaysian general election to see who will be the new Prime Minister…

And who has Nur Misuari implied by that?  None other than his old friend, Anwar Ibrahim.  It was reported by Reuters and confirmed by Philippine military sources that Anwar had traveled and met Nur Misuari to discuss land claims in Sabah, a few months before the Lahad Datu incident happened.  Anwar has vehemently denied this, but the photo below shows otherwise:

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Now, Anwar Ibrahim seems a dubious character himself. In a recent open letter, his former legal counsel member, Yuktes Vijay, asked about the former’s links to Islamic fundamentalists as well as known terrorists. Therefore, it is not impossible for him to have met Nur Misuari to discuss the matter, and then deny it like he denied ever being conferred the title of Huguan Siou although people from his own political party had announced that on Facebook, complemented by photos of him.

The Philippines government has sent six naval vessels to stop people from the Moro region from entering Malaysian waters as this stand-off continues.  And although the Malaysian government has an upperhand and the firepower to end this stand-off, it is probably of best interest to the Bangsamoro, the government of the Philippines as well as Malaysia, to not allow anything to jeopardise the BFA that is still in its infancy.  Perhaps, the MILF and supporters of the BFA in the Moro region should lend their support to both governments to try end this madness.

In the meantime, while treading gently on this issue, both governments should get to the root of this and probe Anwar Ibrahim’s role in facilitating or prompting this incident.  For it would not have happened had it not been for someone from the Malaysian side advocating and encouraging it to happen.  It is something close to Sabah, and we know Sabah is being wooed by Anwar’s party.  Get the support of the Kadazan-Dusun-Murut community by being recognised as their Paramount Leader (Huguan Siou), you will get support from the Christians in the west side of Sabah.  Get a deal with the Tausugs in Sulu, you will get support from the Muslims especially in the eastern part of Sabah.

But at what cost?  That remains unanswered.  But maybe Gene Roddenderry would frown had he known the Sulu Sea is one of the volatile areas of the region.