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 ©The
Straits Times, Singapore (Used by permission)
by Lydia Lim, Senior Political Correspondent
Netizens hit out at KL legal team in Pedra Branca case
after plagiarism is uncovered
IN THE HAGUE (NETHERLANDS) - A PICTURE Malaysia produced to argue its case
in the Pedra Branca dispute has sparked a controversy on the Internet.
Several netizens, notably Malaysian bloggers, are chiding the country's legal
eagles for relying on an anonymous blog that has been shown up for plagiarism.
Some have also gone onto the blog
www.leuchtturm3.blogspot.com to post harsh criticisms of the author, who
pleaded with them yesterday not to use four-letter words.
'My younger sibling, who is 11 years old, also visits my blog and these words
are not appropriate for her,'' he wrote in a posting titled 'Why the anger?'.
Malaysia had cited the blog as the source of a photograph it produced last week
in an international court, to show Pedra Branca's supposed closeness to Johor.
Singapore, in its response, raised questions about the blog and this was
reported in The Straits Times on Tuesday.
The report led the writer of a Singapore blog called Simplyjean to analyse the
blog.
Simplyjean found its author had lifted chunks of text from Wikipedia, whose
contents can be edited by anyone.
The discovery fired up several Singaporean and Malaysian blogs.
One blogger, Malaysian Jeff Ooi, yesterday bemoaned in a post his country's use
of a suspect photo from an anonymous blog containing plagiarised content to
'present its case at all places, the International Court of Justice'.
Another Malaysian Tony Yew said on his website muststopthis.blogspot.com: 'How
lame can our guys be?
'Putting up an argument with plagiarised work from Wikipedia! Sheesh...there
goes Pulau Batu Puteh!'
Pulau Batu Puteh is Malaysia's name for Pedra Branca.
Singapore and Malaysia are appearing before the International Court of Justice (ICJ)
to resolve their dispute over the sovereignty of Pedra Branca, an island 40km
east of Singapore and which stands at the eastern entrance of the Singapore
Strait.
On Monday, Singapore's Attorney-General Chao Hick Tin said the photo Malaysia
produced was shot using a camera with a telephoto lens, which exaggerated the
closeness of Pedra Branca to the Johor coast.
In questioning the blog, Mr Chao saidthe photo had been put up just four days
before the start of the ICJ hearing.
In the blog, its author claims to be a lover of lighthouses and 'leuchtturm' is
the German word for lighthouse.
Simplyjean found the following sentence on the design of lighthouses was lifted
from Wikipedia: 'Often these are cylindrical to reduce the effect of wind on a
tall structure on less stable soil. An example of this is Pulau Batu Puteh
Lighthouse.'
The only change the author of leuchtturm3 had made was to use Pulau Batu Puteh
Lighthouse in place of Cape May Lighthouse. But it was done in a way that anyone
who clicks on the hyperlinked words Pulau Batu Puteh is led to a page on Cape
May Lighthouse in Wikipedia.
Meanwhile, some netizens posted criticisms on the leuchtturm3 blog of what they
called the 'doctored picture'.
Yesterday, its author confessed he knew little about Singapore or Malaysia and
hoped to visit the region one day when he had the money.
As for Simplyjean, its writer confessed in a post that the Pedra Branca case
held little interest initially. 'But when they decided to bring the blogosphere
into the news, then I felt that I had to do some justification for the
community.'
Simplyjean has this message for the person behind the leuchtturm3 blog: 'To the
author (and all other implied parties), you suck.'
What the case is about
SINGAPORE and Malaysia have a dispute over who owns Pedra
Branca and two outcrops - the Middle Rocks and South Ledge. Pedra Branca, which
the Malaysians call Pulau Batu Puteh, is an island the size of a football field
located some 40km east of Singapore.
Singapore has exercised sovereignty over it since 1847 when the British colonial
government built the Horsburgh Lighthouse there. But in 1979, Malaysia staked a
claim to the island when it published a new map of its territories and placed
the island in its waters.
In 2003, the two countries signed a Special Agreement referring the dispute to
the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Legal teams from both sides are appearing before the court over three weeks
until tomorrow, to argue their case. A judgment is expected next year.
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