A Fertile Land That Lies Wasted

This is my own comment I posted in this entry titled, “Heirs Of Sulu Sultan Say, “Okay, We Drop Our Claim On Sabah“.

I guess the comment deserves an entry of its own. Here’s is the comment, with some editing:

“I travelled quite a lot in the Southern Philippines in 1995-2000. It’s a shame that the area is mired in poverty. It really is a fertile land, with rolling hills and blue seas and dozens of beautiful islands.

But something must have gone wrong in the area in the last century and I blamed it squarely on the Sultan of Sulu for failing to reign over the area and the Philippine government for neglecting it.

Now they are looking at the shining new diamond called Sabah right at their doorstep and say… “hey, that diamond is mine”.

If something is not done, the area will remain trapped in their pre-1950s condition and it would be painful for the people there to see its neighbours are galloping quite confidently into the 21st century…