HERE'S a substantial account of the geopolitical issues of Malaysia and the emphasis placed on its status as a maritime nation. It acknowledges that Malaysia is a coastal state, and in the context of the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention, to which it's a party, a Flag State, Port State, and Zone-locked — terms that have significance in maritime transportation.
The Port Klang complex and Port of Tanjung Pelepas are ranked in the top 20 container-handling ports in the world. There are several other ports along Peninsular Malaysia and in Sabah, Sarawak, and Labuan.
The narratives, in 15 chapters, discuss the aspirations of Malaysia as a maritime nation. The maritime routes in the vicinity of Malaysia were established many centuries ago and their importance haven't diminished over the years, apart from minor fluctuations caused by external factors such as world financial crashes and the Covid-19 pandemic.
This volume is a collaborative effort built on the initiative of the Maritime Institute of Malaysia (MIMA). Contributors include MIMA's editorial team and 15 other authors from Malaysia.
The book acknowledges the efforts and role of the successive governments of Malaysia, since 1958, in developing the maritime industry and related sectors of the country like port development, safety of navigation, marine and terrestrial environment protection, and adherence to international maritime conventions.
The Malacca Strait is presently one of the busiest routes in the world though, which nearly 90,000 ships transit annually or about 240 per day. The administrative and political aspects of navigation and the safety measures; Malaysia's foreign relations in the context of its "maritime nation status"; governance of the ocean and the value of the "blue economy" to the country's gross domestic product are highlighted.
The discussions focus on an array of enacted legislation to ensure operations within Malaysia's maritime jurisdictional limits and its adjacent seas are without issues and problems, and if any, these are rectified within reasonable time and effort.
MARITIME HISTORY
The early days of the nation's maritime history and shaping it into a maritime nation are explored in Chapters 1 and 10. Since the early 1960s, attention was given to port development and establishing a mercantile marine. The geopolitical imperatives and the issues and challenges of maritime threats are discussed in Chapters 2 and 3.
The former chapter alludes to the policy directions that the authorities have adopted for national and regional developments in accordance with international law; the latter discusses the variety of maritime security threats many of which have been thwarted, however, a few remain to be resolved.
An exceptional discussion is undertaken in Chapter 4 on the marine geodetic infrastructures as building blocks for a maritime nation. This analysis on geodetic and spatial information and geographical coordinates of natural features is helpful.
There's an acknowledgment that the effective management of a marine geodetic database developed using the ArcGIS (Geographic Information System) will serve as the foundation for the development of a comprehensive marine spatial data infrastructure.
That the data will be shared to promote sustainable development of coastal zones which covers the full cycle of information collection, planning, decision-making, management, and monitoring of implementation is welcomed. The data will implement seabed topographic mapping on Malaysia's continental shelf using airborne gravity and bathymetric data.
Chapters 5, 6 and 7 focus on the development of the maritime transportation industry, marine tourism, and the Malaysian shipbuilding and ship repair, respectively. Acknowledging the substantial benefits that each sector has contributed to the Malaysian economy, pre-Covid pandemic, each chapter discusses the challenges and prospects to each sector frankly with respect to, for example, recommendations on wage subsidy, assistance with tax relief, and introduction of "soft loans" to the ship building and ship repair industries to attract local and regional business (page 145).
The risk to and security and safety of tourists, especially in the context of piracy and armed robbery at sea and terrorist attacks, must take top priority (page 167). Although a "Maritime Fund 2.0" was launched in 2019; the concept is in serious need of a provision that mentions financial support for locally built vessels.
CHALLENGES AND IMPACT
The challenges and opportunities for Malaysian seafarers take the spotlight in Chapter 8. The number of Malaysian-registered ships providing job opportunities to local seafarers is declining while the number of foreign mariners in the near coastal shipping services is on the rise.
There are many reasons put forward for this decline which include, but aren't limited to, the economic downturn, technological advances, the impact on autonomous ships, and salary expectations or disparages in scaling.
Cadets seeking to complete their sea-time (onboard training) have trouble in getting placement on ships which may cost as much as US$25,000 per cadet. A Maritime Education and Training Blueprint was published in 2017 by the Ministry of Transport, Transport Ministry.
A national perspective on the conservation and sustainable management of marine living resources and the environment is discussed in Chapter 9. The grim account of the degradation of some mangrove forests, which provide important breeding nursery and feeding grounds for fish, prawns, and a variety of invertebrates have been cleared for development, the sea reclaimed or decimated by pollution. Eleven recommendations are offered.
POSITIVE DEVELOPMENTS
The socio-cultural aspects of maritime Malaysia and the need to safeguard Malaysia's underwater cultural heritage are the heart of Chapters 10 and 11, respectively. There's a lack of information and quality data for effective ocean management, and despite the effort invested in the maritime sector the existing policies haven't received the full attention they deserve.
The positive developments in underwater cultural heritage were enhanced with the enactment of the National Heritage Act of 2005; however, much more could be done to strengthen research.
An area of research in Malaysia that's advancing is that of ocean thermal energy. The topic is discussed in Chapter 12 which concludes that by the mid-21st century, hydrogen fuel could become a dominant energy carrier.
Hydrogen fuel could be generated primarily from the conversion of ocean thermal energy. Malaysia's pivotal role in the international maritime community and the role of the Marine Department of Malaysia in ensuring safe and secure navigation in the regional seas are discussed in Chapters 13 and 14.
Malaysia has more than 50 years of association with the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and is presently a council member. Initiatives to improve safety of navigation are offered in the latter chapter.
TIMELY EXPOSE
The final chapter focuses on Malaysia's much-needed reform agenda and its role in ocean and maritime governance. The National Anti-Corruption Plan (NACP) is used as a model for developing new governance ethics and framework. The maritime realm is paramount as it affects national sovereignty and Malaysia must take a strong stance from the perspective of international trade and foreign relations.
The final commentary stresses that the country's maritime ambitions need to be "grounded in coherent, robust, and flexible national plans" (page 387) and cites the example of the Defence White Paper of 2019.
This is an excellent expose of the many issues and challenges that Malaysia encounters if it's to be resilient in the face of competition from its maritime neighbours and the problems that come from external forces in the form of terrorism, illegal trade, and numerous other activities that are land-based and marine sourced.
Apart from some glitches in the type-setting and the grey-scale reproductions of illustrations and tabulations, the volume is welcomed. MIMA is to be congratulated for issuing this book which is timely.
MALAYSIA: A MARITIME NATION
Editors: Ruhanas Harun and Sabirin Ja'afar
Published by: Maritime Institute of Malaysia (MIMA), Kuala Lumpur
Pages: 406
Price: RM100 (hardback) and RM50 (paperback)
Check out www.mima.gov.my to purchase. It's also available on Shopee, Lazada and Google Books.
