Pedra Branca, a perennial topic, resurfaced once more in 2024.

Everyone wants a piece of the small island that is Pedra Branca

In case you didn't know, Pedra Branca is a small football-field-sized island located about 24 nautical miles east of Singapore, 7.7 nautical miles east of south Johor, Malaysia, and 7.6 nautical miles of north Bintan, Indonesia.

While both Singapore and Malaysia previously staked their claims over Pedra Branca, the island belongs to Singapore.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) awarded Singapore sovereignty over Pedra Branca in 2008, a decision that both Singapore and Malaysia agreed to abide by then.

Despite the "resolution" in 2008, Pedra Branca, or what Malaysians call Batu Puteh, remains a hot topic issue between Singapore and Malaysia till this day.

King green-lights royal commission of inquiry

On Feb. 14, 2024, Malaysia's new King (Agong, short for Yang di-Pertuan Agong) Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar of Johor approved of a royal commission of inquiry (RCI), which will investigate "issues surrounding Pedra Branca's sovereignty", the Malay Mail, Bernama and Malaysiakini reported.

Besides Pedra Branca, the RCI will also review issues related to the sovereignty of two other nearby islands — Middle Rocks and South Ledge, or Batuan Tengah and Tubir Selatan respectively, according to Malaysians.

The RCI also got Malaysia's cabinet's approval, according to the Chief Secretary to the Government Zuki Mohd Ali's announcement on Jan. 24.

The king consented after representatives from Malaysia's Prime Minister's Department informed him about the government's proposal to establish the RCI.

He also approved the appointment of several RCI members, where former chief justice Mohamed Raus Sharif and former federal court judge Zainun Ali will be the chairman and deputy chairman respectively.

Other RCI members include Baljit Singh Sidhu, Johan Shamsuddin Sabaruddin, Faridah Jalil, Mohammed Ridha Abd Kadir and Dickson Dollah.

What does the RCI do?

The RCI is typically made up of experts" with "extensive experience" in judiciary, legislation and public administration.

The RCI is a fact-finding body formed to investigate matters of "great importance" and "controversy" in a "transparent, fair, and impartial manner" that avoid conflicts of interest.

The RCI can look into almost everything, as long as the Agong thinks it would be in favour of public welfare to enquire into, and with the exception of some matters such as those related to Islam or the Malay custom.

Some past examples of RCIs include the billion-dollar losses incurred by its Central Bank in the 1990s and the assault on current Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim while he was in police custody in 1998.

What led to the latest RCI?

In the current case of Pedra Branca, the RCI will look into why the federal government in 2018, under then-Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, withdrew the two applications to the ICJ.

In 2018, a decision was made to withdraw Malaysia's applications for a revision and a request for interpretation of the ICJ's decision to award Singapore sovereignty over Pedra Branca in 2008.

While Anwar has said that Malaysia would no longer dispute the ICJ's ruling, he said on January 2023 that he and his government were disappointed in the decision in 2018.

"We have taken a very strong position, the present cabinet, expressing our regret for failure of the then-Prime Minister Tun Mahathir Mohamad, not to resort to appeal when we lost the case in the ICJ."

He added then that Malaysia would continue to raise issues related to Pedra Branca, such as the environment, with Singapore.

One month prior in December 2022, Anwar instructed the then-Attorney-General Idris Harun to look into the 2018 withdrawal and the Malaysian government convened a task force to look into the matter.

Idris said then that the Malaysian government was of the view that the 2018 withdrawal was "not in order and improper", adding that the task force had raised an issue relating to "tort of misfeasance in public office".

Could there be more?

However, it seems that there could be more than meets the eye in the Pedra Branca RCI.

Anwar's alleged "revenge"?

According to CNA, some reports have speculated that the inquiry is part of Anwar’s plans to intensify persecution of prominent political and business figures who opposed him in the past.

Anwar's relationship with Mahathir is complicated, to say the least. He served as deputy prime minister when Mahathir was prime minister for the first time.

The pair fell out and Anwar was subsequently stripped of his position and jailed on charges of sodomy and graft, something his supporters claimed was politically-motivated.

According to Azmi Hassan, a political analyst that CNA spoke to, the RCI could be convened to make Mahathir come to the table.

The RCI can summon any person in Malaysia to appear before them to give evidence, and even has the power to issue arrest warrants if those summoned fail to turn up without a satisfactory reason.

In this instance, the RCI, a higher-level investigative body than the task force convened in 2022, could compel Mahathir to testify, after he refused to cooperate with the 2022 task force's investigations.

Malaysians, and perhaps particularly the Sultan of Johor, want answers

Besides this, Azmi suggested that another possible reason could be to satisfy the curiosity of the Malaysian public, adding that many Malaysians remain "puzzled” by the 2018 withdrawal.

Malaysian politics expert James Chin told CNA that it is in the interest of many Malaysians to fully explain the government's decision to withdraw in 2018, particularly those in Johor.

The King, who hails from Johor, has said in 2022 he was "bitterly disappointed" by the government's decision in 2018.

He also voiced his discontent towards the government then, "The Federal Government did not consult Johor on this decision, even though this involves Johor sovereignty."

"I want the government to act firmly against the individuals who acted against the rights of the state,” he added.

What happens after the RCI?

While a fact-finding body, the RCI is not a court.

After completing the inquiry, the RCI will present its findings in a report to the Malaysian authorities.

However, it is up to the authorities to decide whether to implement the recommendations in the report.

That said, it might take some time before RCI's report is ready.

Where is Singapore on all this?

Amidst all this, Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) told CNA on Jan. 25, 2024 that the RCI is "an internal matter of Malaysia".

"We do not see this affecting the good bilateral relations between Singapore and Malaysia," an MFA spokesperson said then.

In a previous statement in October 2022, MFA said that Singapore stands ready to "robustly defend" its sovereignty over Pedra Branca.

@mothershipsg Johor’s Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar, 65, was sworn in as the 17th Yang di-Pertuan Agong at Istana Negara in Kuala Lumpur. #johor #sultan #malaysia #tiktokmalaysia #tiktoksg #sgnews ♬ original sound - Mothership

Top image from Canva