Why I am Not Going to Borneo

As much as I wanted to see first hand one of those probiscus monkeys that Ryan sent me a post card of years ago, I will not be going to Borneo any time soon. One of my mentees is from there and she called me to make sure that I do not go there in March when we have our next break.  Her family lives there, and like every other country in the world, they are facing some sailors who drifted to shore to claim the land as their own.  Oddly, the sailors were from the Philippines.  Not from Borneo. But, for some reason they were given some cash settlement each year from the British government, while Malaysia was still a colony. Now that they are no longer that status however, the Malaysian government gives them the yearly payment for use of the land. Oddly, yet again, there has never been a written agreement to this payment or acknowledgement of there being a land claim in the first place.  These little sailors have taken the law into their own hands and decided to claim back what they believe is their own.  The Malaysian government has contacted the Philippine government to do an extradition transfer back to their homeland. The Philippines wants nothing to do with these people.  Now, the handful of bandits, nine in total, have already killed more than a dozen police officers and have postured themselves against authority.  Malaysia has sent hundreds of troops over to fight them, but there is still no resolution to the situation.

Once it is under control I guess there will be many questions asked.  How can a verbal agreement be honoured at this time. How can that verbal agreement be amended.  What this group of people want is a higher payment for what they are claiming as their rightful land.  How does a payment that was not ever really agreed upon legally be amended to an increased amount?  If it is, then what stops them from asking for even more?  Sadly, the payment is a little over 1000 CAD. Not exactly something to get rich over.

So, for now, I guess I will not be moseying over to Borneo any time soon.  I was also considering a cargo ship trip to Sabah but I guess that is out as well. Seems it is also part of this tangled mess of cession money.  I can see why they are interested in an increase. That part of the world is oil rich.