Word: sabah
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...trouble has to do with family quarrels in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The group is a promising experiment in political and economic cooperation, but today four of its five members find themselves involved in bitter nationalistic disputes. Malaysia and the Philippines are squabbling over Sabah, a small state in Borneo that now belongs to Malaysia but is claimed by the Philippines. Indonesia and Singapore are at odds over the Singapore government's execution of two Indonesian saboteurs three weeks ago. Only Thailand is still friends with all its ASEAN partners...
...what so far remains this war of words is, quite fittingly, one particular word. That is padjak, which today in Malay means "mortgage" or "pawn" but a century ago meant "to lease" or "to cede." The issue is whether the Sultan of Sulu in 1878 ceded his rights to Sabah, as the Malaysians claim, or simply leased those rights, as is maintained in Manila. There is nothing much new about the Philippine claim-former President Diosdado Macapagal raised it during his election campaign in 1961. It remained a relatively minor issue until this summer when President Ferdinand Marcos seized...
Although he has on several occasions described the claim as strictly pro forma and pledged that "we will not act on it militarily under" any circum-stances," his signature of the bill triggered an angry Malaysian response. In Kota Kinabalu, Sabah's capital, effigies of Marcos were burned. A brief attempt at a cooling-off period (TIME, Aug. 16) failed. Malaysia passed legislation purporting to nullify the Philippine action and condemned it as a "composite of fantasy, fallacy and fiction." Now, diplomatic contacts are minimal. Largely overlooked in the imbroglio are the 600,000 Sabahans themselves, who, including...
...funeral in Djakarta. Last week tempers had begun to cool. Foreign Minister Adam Malik, backed by President Suharto, made it completely clear that there would be no break in relations. In a further attempt to hold ASEAN on course, he offered his nation's help in mediating the Sabah dispute...
...Sabah's mixed population of 600,000 consider themselves Malaysian and like it. But the nearby Philippine Sulu islanders would like to share in Sabah's booming economy, and that is how Manila gets into the act. The Philippine Sulus are putting considerable pressure on the Manila government to get hold of the territory. Acting for the Sultan's heirs, who live in the Philippines, the Manila government claims that the original agreement merely leased Sabah to the British instead of ceding it. Last month, talks in Bangkok broke down, and Manila threatened to withdraw its ambassador...