Tag: South China Sea

Burung Roc 4

~ The Koboi Project

In this late career engraving by Dutch painter Johannes Stradanus (1523-1605) commerating Ferdinand Maggellen’s discovery of the passage around the globe, there is a representation of the ‘Roc.’ In his essay analysing this complex collection of realistic, emblematical, and mythological representations, Rudolph Wittkover makes two references that locate the abode of the creature in what must be the South China Sea. He notes that Maggellen’s companion and chronicler, Antonio Pigafetta, locates its home in the “Chinese Seas”. Indeed, as the ship in the illustration, is coming out of the Magellen Straits and facing the open Pacific Ocean, the South China Sea might be located in the North Westerly direction from whence the Roc could be interpreted as approaching the scene. Wittkover also cites the Maghrebi explorer and scholar, Ibn Batuta, who tells how, again, in the Chinese Seas, a massive form that he and his fellows thought was a flying mountain, turned out to be the Roc. These accounts tie in with the notion that the Roc nests in the Pokok Pauh Janggi at the center of the Pusat Tasek, located somewhere in the South China Sea.

https://www-jstor-org.proxy.lib.sfu.ca/stable/pdf/750014.pdf

Silting-up the Settlement 3

~ The Koboi Project ~ Leave a comment

gatewayAccording to FMT Dr Mahathir Mohamad has in the past described the Melaka Gateway port project as a sign that Najib’s former government was ceding sovereignty to China for short-term political gains. In an interview with South China Morning Post (SCMP) in March 2017, Mahathir is reported to have said, “We already have enough ports and the necessary infrastructure to attract tourists. This [Melaka Gateway] is unnecessary.” Indeed, while the economics of the port is questionable, there is no doubt of the strategic importance of the Malacca Straits to China.

As he questions Beijing’s true motive for this 10 Billion Dollar investment, which includes a deep-sea port,  Thomas Maresca writes in USA Today, “Neighboring Singapore has long had a close defense relationship with the United States, which has deployed naval combat ships there since 2013. Analysts see China’s closer economic ties with Malaysia as an opportunity to strengthen its own maritime footprint in a crucial region”. Maresca cites Johan Saravanamuthu of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University, “There’s the argument that China is not getting favorable treatment from Singapore, so why not try Malaysia? …. With the Malacca Strait on one side and the South China Sea on the other, Malaysia is quite crucial.”

Given that the work on the Gateway Project had already caused severe silting in the Melaka Portuguese Settlement and that the demise of this community goes against all logic in the context of heritage and tourism, I hope the new State and Federal governments hear the people’s protestations. Now that Mahathir has successfully displaced Najib, and is seated as Malaysia’s Prime Minister once again, will he follow through with actions that show us that he was not speaking simply to undermine Najib?

Image: http://www.eurasianbusinessbriefing.com/malaysia-looks-strait-malacca-slice-silk-route-action/melaka-gateway/

http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2017/04/16/chinas-port-project-in-malacca-under-scrutiny/

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/07/05/melaka-malaysia-china-project/423027001/