Malaysia vs Singapore.....prize?Islands........

Starting 6th-Nov-2007, Malaysia and Singapore will appear before ICJ (International COurt of Justice) to fight for their claims on Pulau Batu Puteh or Pedra Branca, South Ledge and Middle Rocks - which are located in waters off Johor. The 18-day hearings will take place at the Peace Palace in The Hague.

Singapore team comprises of Prof Jayakumar (DPM and Law Minister), Prof Tommy Koh (Ambassador At Large), Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong and Attorney-General Chao Hick Tin. On the other side,

Malaysia team will be represented by Tan Sri Abdul Kadir Mohamad (Advisor to PM on Foreign Affairs), Datuk Noor Farida Ariffin (Ambasaddor in Netherlands) and Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail (Attorney General). Of course both sides will bring along their team of legal experts to fight the case.

This is how it goes:

i) Proceedings will commence with an opening address by both countries at the Peace Palace in The Haque in the Netherlands.

ii)This will be followed by Singapore which will have up till Nov 9 to have their say

iii)Malaysia presents its case from Nov 13 to 16, in the first round of arguments.

iv)The second round is scheduled to last two days - Nov 19 and 20 for Singapore, and Malaysia on Nov 22 and 23.

It will be interesting to see who will successfully lay its claim to this string of islands. However the decision is expected to be made before next June. So its not like we're gonna get to see who wins till then.

So who will you bet on to win? Maybe this excerpts below will help you make a decision.

"We are well prepared and our team has all the documents and evidence to win the dispute," Attorney General Abdul Gani Patail, who is already in the Hague, told the state news agency Bernama.

"Everyone is in high spirit... especially myself. This is one of the most anticipated disputes after Malaysia won the tussle over the Ligitan and Sipadan islands in 2002," Abdul Gani told Bernama.

A confident chap huh I will say. By the way, Mr Patail, you're best remembered as the leading prosecutor in Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim. And to me, with your name on that, it just tainted my impression of you.

By the way, this is not the first time Malaysia and Singapore are having a go at each other.5 September 2003, Malaysia applied separately to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) for an order on provisional measures, seeking to put an immediate stop to Singapore's reclamation works pending the setting up of the arbitration panel. The hearing took place between 25 and 27 Sep 03 in Hamburg, Germany. To sum it up, 8 Oct 2003, ITLOS unanimously decided that Singapore could continue its land reclamation activities