Pedra Branca stays with Singapore and its implication

The International Court of Justice awarded the sovereignty of Pedra Branca outcrop on 23rd May 2008. There is no estate value, economical value of having this outcrop. It does not and will not change the ways the fishing communities of Singapore and Malaysia in any way, because I do not think Singapore will go all out to stop Malaysian fishermen.

What it does (the award of sovereignty) do is merely confirmed that Singapore can push forward its plan to do what she knows best - reclamation! That she can now perform, without any protest from her neighbours.

What is strategic about the outcrop is simple. It stands roughly equidistant between the hinderlands of Malaysia proper and Indonesia's Bintan island. Therefore, it controls (with the right setup) the Straits of Singapore totally, except otherwise destroyed by a cruise missile. With the right level of reclamation, such as adding more land the sizes of "football field" size, and the right protection of a permanent presence of patrol vessels, corvettes or frigates and a permanent station of a land forces, the outcrop becomes a military installation in disguise.