crossing border by Ng Xing Ling

CROSSING BORDER

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Territories are not simply static spatial classificatory containers. The life of territory is to be seen in the crossings-over, into and out of these meaningful spaces.â&#x20AC;? David Delaney

The Causeway, 2018.

Contents

ii 1

6 8 14 20 24

before we begin Abstract Border and Frontier

at large Borders around the world US and Mexico Nepal and China Benin and Nigeria North Korea and South Korea

92 96 98 100 102

in focus Border between Singapore and Malaysia The Border in Limbo The Straits of Johor The Economic Disparity Crossing the Causeway The People of Border Hinterland vs City What is Illegal? forward What to do with the border? Thesis Concept Precedent Site Program

108 109

the end Credits Bibliography

34 38 42 56 60 74 84 90

Abstract What is a border? Contradictory to the notion of a well-defined territorial borderline, the border region often acts more like a thickened frontier zone with high mobility, filled with economic transfer and social interaction. There exists a conflicting relationship in these frontier regions as the rigidity of the border stands in contrast with the fluidity of these exchanges. In this thesis, I am interested in the possibilities of what architecture and urbanism can do in this highly activated yet transitional space.

Border and Frontier

Border and Frontier Border A border is a line that defines the inside from the outside. This line of separation creates a distinction between two objects that are originally homogenous and identical. In terms of geography, a border is used to define territories and communities, resulting in the formation of different states and countries. As land is intrinsically linked to power and status, borderlands are also sites and symbols of power.1 As the expressions of power, physical barriers are put in place as a mark of sovereignty which prohibits anyone from crossing the border illegally. Some borderlines are armed with barbed wire, army troops and tall fences. These armed borderlines are also often a reflection of the international conflict between the two countries. One such example would be the heavily-armed demilitarised zone between North Korea and South Korea.

“The rapidly increasing circulation of people, things, capital, images, and ideas has given rise to claims about the increasing permeability of borders understood as the de-territoralization of the nation-state and the ‘erosion’ of sovereignty.”

While the term “border” has multiple meanings in different contexts, in this thesis, the term “border” will refer to the border between two countries for easier references. Frontier “Social, economic and political life cannot be ontologically contained within the territorial boundaries of states…Complex population movements, the growing mobility of capital, increased ecological interdependence, the expanding information economy and the ‘chronopolitics’ of new military technologies challenge the geographical basis of conventional international relations theory.” 2 Borderlands, the area near the borderline, depend highly on the sociopolitical and geographical situations between the countries. Instead of existing as simple lines that divide the nations, these borderlines affect billions of lives inhabiting near the borders in terms of travel, migration and work. While the border exists as a theoretical line, the frontier region is often a thickened zone of social and economic interactions between the two nations. The inter-dependency of the states expressed through human migration, trade and exchange of currency make the borderline to be more of a theoretical concept more than a physical and practical construct. Even though most of the territorial borders have stayed the same for the last century, the permeability across the borders increased over the years due to advancement in mobilities, globalisation and constant shift in the global economy.

David Delaney

1 Hastings Donnan, and Thomas M. Wilson, Borders: Frontiers of Identity, Nation and State, (New York: Berg, 1999), 1. 2 Agnew, John A., and Stuart Corbridge, Mastering Space: hegemony, territory and international political economy, (S.l.: Routledge, 1995), 100. 2

While the borderline is fixed, the movement of flow (people or goods) is in a constant flux. The territorial border does not limit the physical extent of the lives of people. People cross territories and are no longer confined to the fixed boundaries of a single territory. The significance of borders is then transformed from a static boundary line to a fluid landscape of exchanges.

Maritime borders According to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)3, territorial waters is a belt of coastal waters extending at most 12 nautical miles from the baseline of a coastal state. The territorial sea belongs to the territory of the state and it allows innocent passage of foreign ships or transit passage for straits. If the territorial waters overlap between states, a maritime border is formed and the border is taken as the mid point between the states’ baselines. The borderline is a conceptual line drawn on the water surface using geographical approximate. Normally the line is drawn at a distance away from the coastline. They serve as markers for one’s end of territorial waters. Maritime borders are often hard to determine and require redefinition periodically due to many factors which include shifting in coastlines and state’s newly acquired islands. Moreover, many resources in the ocean are inherently transboundary and are difficult to be handled in global terms.4 These factors result in regional conflicts that makes the definition of maritime borderline to be extremely tough as each case is intrinsically different. In the past, there was a three-mile limit to determine a country’s territorial waters which became an obsolete concept now except for a few countries such as Singapore who still retain the 3-nautical-mile (5.6 km) limit. The three-mile limit was determined in the 18th century as the distance in which cannon can be fired from land to the sea to protect the territory.5 However, most of the maritime territories have extended its limit to 12 nautical miles (22 km) from their respective coastlines and it is eventually established as the norm by UNCLOS. Boundary of territory A boundary of territory refers to the outermost line that contains the territory. The nature of the boundary of a territory is thus determined by the relationship between the states. The borderlands can either connect or disconnect. While the borders are often the welcoming gateway to the states, the border regions are often seen to have imposing structures and tight security control. As ironic as it might seem, the border region has to convey contradictory messages of both invitation and surveillance simultaneously, and the result of this tricky situation is often a focusing on surveillance, making the border region a much less anticipated space to be in. The three main border typologies for connection are the door, the bridge and the gateway.6 Bridges are used primarily in the case of maritime borders in the cases where the countries are within a reasonable distance. The use of bridge changes the mode of transport from a water-based transport means to a land-based one. In some cases, a cleared space between the two nations will be delineated as an offset of the borderline on both sides.7 This is called the border vista which is usually established along unguarded territorial borderlines. For example, border vista along undefended portions of the Canada and United States span six-metre wide.

3 "TERRITORIAL SEA AND CONTIGUOUS ZONE." United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. 2018. Accessed February 20, 2018. https://www.un.org/Depts/los/ convention_agreements/texts/unclos/ part2.htm. 4 Valencia, Mark J, Maritime Regime Building: Lessons Learned and Their Relevance for Northeast Asia (Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2001), 149. 5 Kent, H. S. K, "The Historical Origins of the Three-Mile Limit,” The American Journal of International Law 48, no. 4 (1954): 53753. doi:10.2307/2195021. 6 Tali Hatuka and Rachel Kallus, Loose ends: the role of architecture in constructing urban borders in Tel-Aviv-Jaffa since the 1920s (Taylor & Francis, 2006). 7 Aul, Henry B, How to plan modern home grounds, (Sheridan House,1959), 280.

Territorial boundary often crosses untamed landscapes. 4

Borders around the world

Borderline that divides United States and Mexico.

United States and Mexico Crossing a variety of natural terrains and urban towns, the border between the United States and Mexico stretches over 3,169 kilometres, extending from the Pacific to the Gulf of Mexico.1 It crosses four states in the U.S.— California, New Mexico, Arizona and Texas; and six states in Mexico — Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas. The existing border barriers cover about 1126 kilometres of the entire border.2 The border wall transforms from tall barbed metal fences to X-shaped barriers and slowly disappears when it touches the mountainous regions.3

1 Alan Taylor, “On the Border”, The Atlantic, September 29, 2016, https://www. theatlantic.com/photo/2016/09/on-theborder/502277/

United States of America

2 Tamir Kalifa, Niko Koppel and Samantha Quick, “Before the Wall: A Borderlands Journey”, The Daily 360, The New York Times, video, 1:28, https://www.nytimes. com/video/us/100000004907352/beforethe-wall-a-borderlands-journey.htm 3 Azam Ahmed, Manny Fernandez and Paulina Villegas, “Before the Wall: Life Along the U.S.-Mexico Border”, The New York Times, February 8, 2017, https://www. nytimes.com/interactive/2017/02/08/world/ americas/before-the-wall-life-along-the-usmexico-border.html

Mexico

4 Mark Peterson and Lakshmi Varanasi, “A Day at the Busiest Border Crossing in the World”, Politico Magazine, February 16, 2017, https://www.politico.com/ magazine/gallery/2017/02/photo-gallerysan-ysidro-california-us-mexico-border000710?slide=14 5 Alan Taylor, “On the Border”, The Atlantic, September 29, 2016, https://www. theatlantic.com/photo/2016/09/on-theborder/502277/ 6 David Delaney, Territory: a short introduction. (Blackwell, 2005) 7 “The Constitution in the 100-mile Border Zone”, American Civil Liberties Union, accessed March 25, 2018, https://www. aclu.org/other/constitution-100-mileborder-zone?redirect=immigrants-rights/ constitution-100-mile-border-zone 8 Ibid. 9 Michael Dear, “‘Third Nation’ along the US-Mexico border”, Oxford University Press, February 2, 2013, https://blog.oup. com/2013/02/third-nation-along-the-usmexico-border/ 1 0 Ibid. 1 1 Azam Ahmed, Manny Fernandez and Paulina Villegas, “Before the Wall: Life Along the U.S.-Mexico Border”, The New York Times, February 8, 2017, https://www. nytimes.com/interactive/2017/02/08/world/ americas/before-the-wall-life-along-the-usmexico-border.html 8

This border is the busiest border-crossing in the world with hundreds of thousands cross the border from Mexico to the United States every week in seek of opportunities.4 There are approximately 350 million people crossing this border legally on top of the 400,000 people who enter the United States illegally.5 Some of these crossings though banned, are either “tolerated or encouraged.”6 100-mile border zone U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) authorities are allowed to conduct searches within 100 miles of the territorial boundary of the United States. It allows the CBP officials to conduct searches without a warrant on private property within 40 kilometres of the border.7 The 100-mile border zone includes the 100 miles beyond both land and coastal border, affecting about 200 million United States’ population, way beyond the adjacent border towns such as El Paso or San Diego.8 Border communities The states near the border experience varied political, social and cultural dimensions, and are growing at a faster rate than other regions in both nations.9 The communities that are stuck in this region create a ‘nation’ consisting of people from both sides. The mutual interdependency seems to blur the hard territory line that cuts across U.S. and Mexico. Seeing themselves as ‘transborder citizens’, the people living along the border are more attached to one another rather than with their respective countries.10 There exists a time when fences are not in place and the borderline is marked by loose cables running between wooden poles.11 The border space became a place for interaction where children will play together and the adults will plant fruits there. Interlinked with trade, culture, family ties, and legal connections, the citizens on both sides of the line share a common identity which can be destroyed easily by physicalising the borderline into a cold concrete wall. The borderline now runs along playgrounds, farms and backyards of ordinary citizens’ neighbourhoods. Visual connections are still able to be made through the diamond-shaped metal fences but not in the near future where a strong imposing wall will form the new backdrop.

Trump’s wall This border is perhaps one of the most controversial borders in the world today due to the 1600-km proposed wall along the borderline by USA's newly elected Republican President Donald Trump. The wall will replace the 1000-km fence that exists today. As if the border wall length is not impressive enough, the wall will be the tallest border wall in history, soaring three times taller than the Berlin Wall.12 To combat drug dealings and issues arising from illegal migrants issues, building a wall is a brutal and crude way to solve social issues that are deeply complex in nature. Aimed as a deterrent for Mexicans to enter the U.S. illegally, some believe that those who still want to cross to the other side will still cross no matter how tall or how many the walls are.13 The borderline separates territorial land into two but the communities growing alongside it reflects a frontier zone rather than a hard boundary line. A wall will shatter the border communities along the U.S. and Mexico border, who found solace in their own regions regardless of their citizenships.

1 2 “Trump’s border wall explained”, Al Jazeera News, March 31, 2017, https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/ features/2017/03/mexico-border-wallstake-170327135349790.html 1 3 Azam Ahmed, Manny Fernandez and Paulina Villegas, “Before the Wall: Life Along the U.S.-Mexico Border”, The New York Times, February 8, 2017, https://www. nytimes.com/interactive/2017/02/08/world/ americas/before-the-wall-life-along-the-usmexico-border.html 10

Top In Tijuana, two fences plunge all the way into the ocean, where the mental fences underwent extensive corrosion by the waves. Bottom U.S. Border Patrol agents process immigrants from Central America while taking them into custody on near Roma, Texas. 11

China and Nepal Stretching 1,236 kilometres along the mountainous range of the Himalayas, the border between Nepal and China is one of the most natural and untouched territorial boundaries in the world. The border crosses the highest peak of Mount Everest at over 8848 metres, making it the highest international border.1 As a landlocked country between two of the world’s giant countries—India and China, Nepal exists as a buffer state between the two countries. Even though the border between Nepal and India has always remained open which allows the border communities to flourish in the border region, the border between Nepal and China had always been closed due to the presence of the Himalayas.2 There are bilateral trades between Nepali and Tibetans through the border points. Nepal exports flour, vegetables, handicrafts, incense and metal statues to Tibet while Tibet exports textiles, medicines, sheep wool and household appliances to Nepal. An informal trade such as smuggling of currencies and illegal use of animal skin is also commonly seen.3 Despite the harsh geographical settings, both nations established mutual interdependency through trade of goods no matter its legality.

China

Zomia in the Himalayas The border zone between Nepal and Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) of China is a ‘Zomia’. Coined by historian Willem van Schendel in 2002, the term ‘Zomia’ refers to the non-state spaces in mainland Southeast Asia that have been out of reach from government control due to its highland conditions.4 This concept includes this long range of mountains where people have been living without a government or a central power for thousands of years. The landscape is so untamed and rugged that it is almost impossible to exert control on this border region.5 Communities can still be found in this extremity, such as a community who flocked to the border to escape from the empires and dynasties 1,200 years ago.6 These border inhabitants left their homes to live a life free of the control of the Tibetan empires. Escaping from taxes, military and centralised power, they fled to the Himalayas in order to preserve their tradition and culture.7 This group of people sustain themselves by raising animals and farming, producing crops such as potatoes, buckwheat, barley and millet.8 Sadly, their nomadic and extremely peaceful ways of life are being threatened due to the introduction of the border defined by the Chinese and the Nepali governments. The border essentially zone some of these border communities into the territory of Nepal, even though these people fled from central Tibet and have more relationships with the Tibetan culture. The borderline cuts through these communities, but it has always existed as a theory and never physicalised through any sort of fortifications due to the impossibility of the landscape. The border communities are able to move about freely into and out of the borderline for trade and grazing of animals for hundreds of years.

Nepal

1 Caitlin Dempsey, “Five Fun Facts About International Borders”, April 29, 2014, accessed March 31, 2018, https://www. geolounge.com/fun-facts-internationalborders/ 2 Hari Bansh Jha, “Nepal’s Border Relations with India and China”, http://src-h.slav. hokudai.ac.jp/publictn/eurasia_border_ review/Vol41/V4N104J.pdf 3 Ibid. 4 Paul H. Kratoska, Remco Raben and Henk Schulte Nordholt, Locating Southeast Asia: Geographies of Knowledge and Politics of Space (Singapore: Singapore University Press, 2005). 5 Johnny Harris, “Nepal/ China: How Mountains become Borders”, Vox, accessed April 1, 2018, https://www.vox. com/a/borders/nepal-china 6 Ibid. 7 Hari Bansh Jha, “Nepal’s Border Relations with India and China”, http://src-h.slav. hokudai.ac.jp/publictn/eurasia_border_ review/Vol41/V4N104J.pdf 8 Ibid. 14

This stateless ‘free zone’ or ‘zomia’ in the Himalayas, however, is no longer present today. As China grew richer and starts to protect its borders, the Chinese start to fortify the border between Tibet and Nepal. Fences were drawn up in 1999, dividing the land into state-controlled boundaries and essentially drawing an end to the freedom of movement for the border communities. They lost their land to graze their yaks, and their nomadic lives had been challenged ever since. With the new control on the border region, there is also news to implement more border-crossing points to increase connectivity between Nepal and China.9 The goal is to create a connection from China to India through Nepal, which will create trade opportunities and elevate economies of all the three countries. The authorities are taming the untameable terrain, creating connections yet shattering communities at the same time. With the aid of technology and the strong desire to control, other stateless border regions may soon face their extinctions, leaving these fascinating ways of living to become a thing of the past.

9 Ians, “Nepal, China discuss opening 13 border points to ease connectivity between countries”, Firstpost, September 21, 2017, https://www.firstpost.com/ world/nepal-pushes-for-opening-ninemore-border-points-with-china-to-easeconnectivity-4067783.html 16

Top A nomadic herder moves around the mountains with her yaks and her family. With external powers taking control over the land, this lifestyle is coming to an end. Bottom The kids who live in this zomia region are educated in their own traditional language and customs. 17

Benin and Nigeria Benin and Nigeria share a territorial borderline. One of the border crossings near the southern coast of Benin leads to Lagos, a city in Nigeria. The crossing from Benin to Lagos has been coined to have the ‘world’s worst traffic jam’.1 Driving through the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway from Benin to Nigeria’s seaports, Apapa and Tin Can Islands, the journey of 60 kilometres can take up to 12 hours.2 Exponential population growth coupled with poverty, crime and corruption, Lagos has been undergoing expansion and rapid urbanisation without proper infrastructure. Due to the poor road system and infrastructure, the motorcyclists and drivers often have to put up long hours of waiting time just to move an inch forward. Among the frustration and despair of the road users from the unbelievable traffic jam that occurs daily, this stagnation of cars and people actually created a potential for an exchange of goods. The locals see this as an opportunity to sell things, making the border region a ‘transitional’ market, or an informal market. Examples of such goods are soft-drinks, newspapers, bottled water, photo frames.3 The locals would walk from one car to another to sell their goods, usually by hanging a few on one hand as ‘displays’ and another hand carrying a large bag to contain the rest of the goods. This ‘market' exists without architecture. No shelter, boundary, or place is defined in this ‘market’. Its existence is purely tapping onto the potential of a seemingly bad situation. Some of the drivers are able to buy their groceries while being on the road, making the whole traffic jam situation a little more bearable and efficient. Benin

The border between Benin and Nigeria is unable to escape the usual gridlock of an international border-crossing. The fluid exchange of goods, however, turned this long arduous journey into a show of selling and buying.

1 Joshua Hammer, “World’s Worst Traffic Jam: How a 40-mile trip to Lagos took 12 hours”, The Atlantic, July 2012, https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/ archive/2012/07/worlds-worst-trafficjam/309006/ 2 Ibid. 3 Tosin Gbemile, “Traffic Congestion in Lagos: What it really looks like”, Rural Reporters, July 7, 2014, http:// ruralreporters.com/traffic-congestion-inlagos-what-it-really-looks-like/ 20

Nigeria

Top Traffic on way from Benin to Lagos is filled with vehicles and people, resembling one of a market hall. Middle A man selling newspapers in the middle of the road. Bottom The selling and buying occurred due to the stagnant traffic but the exchange of goods and money slow down the traffic too. 22

A man selling magazines to the drivers who are stuck in the traffic. 23

North Korea and South Korea The most militarised border zone on earth, ironically, lies between two nations which share the same culture, religion, language and history. The division across the Korean Peninsula occurred after World War II, where the United States and the Soviet Union took over the Japanese in occupying two parts of the country with a dividing line running along the 38th parallel. Since then, the two sides of Korea were never unified despite ongoing negotiations due to the Cold War of Communism and Capitalism. The South is supported by the United States while the North is supported by the Soviet Union. The Korean War from 1950 to 1953 ended in a stalemate which led to the formation of the Korean Demilitarised Zone (DMZ), a strip of land spanning 243 kilometres long and 4 kilometres wide across the Korean peninsula.1 Established in the Korean Armistice Agreement, the DMZ acts as a buffer zone between the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) and the Republic of Korea (South Korea). Though this zone is demilitarised, outside of this 4km zone lies the most guarded border zone in the world. It is guarded by U.S. Army and Republic of Korea Army (ROK Army) on the South Korea side and the Korean People's Army (KPA) on the North Korea side.

North Korea

The Military Demarcation Line (MDL) is the demarcation line between North and South Korea and it runs through the centre of the DMZ.2 It is marked by 1292 identical yellow-and-black signs lined along the MDL, with an interval of 100-200 metres.3 The signs facing the North have both Korean and Chinese characters whereas the ones facing the South are written in Korean and English.

South Korea

1 Melissa McDaniel et al., “border” Encyclopedic Entry, National Geographic, last modified July 11, 2011, https://www. nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/ border/ 2 “Korean War History”, accessed March 24, 2018, http://www.lifeinkorea.com/ culture/dmz/dmz.cfm?Subject=History2 3 “Military Demarcation Line (MDL)”, accessed March 24, 2018, https://www.f106deltadart.com/Korea-DMZ/mdl.htm 4 Tang See Kit, “A visit to Korea’s demilitarised zone amid rising tensions”, Channel News Asia, June 4, 2017, https:// www.channelnewsasia.com/news/ asiapacific/a-visit-to-korea-s-demilitarisedzone-amid-rising-tensions-8894996 5 Megan Specia, “Inside the Truce Village Where a North Korean Soldier Defected”, The New York Times, November 15, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/15/ world/asia/north-korea-soldier-defectedvillage.html 24

Lies within the village of Panmunjom, the Joint Security Area (JSA) is the only portion of the DMZ where soldiers from both sides stand facing each other. The South Korean soldiers stand perfectly still with their fists clenched, staring at North Korean soldiers through their sunglasses and are not moving, not even a single inch. The atmosphere of the JSA is extremely tense and eerie, contrasting greatly with the serene landscape of fallen leaves and occasional bird chirping behind the photogenic United Nations bluepainted pitched roof buildings of South Korea and the Panmungak Hall in North Korea. The JSA is a rectangular zone of 800 metres by 400 metres,4 used by the two sides for official meetings and negotiations, with one of the blue buildings being the Military Armistice Commission Conference Room. Inside the room, the centre of the conference table lies right on the dividing line. A continuous concrete slab of approximately 10-centimetres tall is used to indicate the demarcation line. It runs through the JSA and bisects the blue buildings into two. While the entire demilitarised zone is heavily fortified with wire fences and land mines, no barbed wires or tall walls are in sight in this area, making this the easiest place along the entire stretch to defect across the border.5 The soldiers and visitors are not allowed to cross the concrete slab, with soldiers on both sides stand guarded at their territories respectfully.

The JSA is one of the strangest places in the world as it became popular with tourists even though it is heavily armed with soldiers who are ready to fire. Both North and South Korea conduct regular tours to the DMZ and the JSA area, with the North having a more relaxed attitude than the South counterparts.6 Tours conducted from South Korea require visitors to act and dress appropriately and any eye or physical contact with the soldiers is prohibited. In comparison, visitors have reported that the tourists from North Korean tours appear in a more relaxed outfit, and are allowed to ‘wave, point, make hand signals’ and even ‘laugh’.7 The uneasiness rising from the demilitarised zone is oddly juxtaposed with the backdrop of excited tourists shuffling around, taking photos of and with the military soldiers, breaking the silence of the otherwise tension-filled space. “Take as many photos as you’d like of North Korea. Zoom in as much as you want, I don’t care. But do not take photos of the South Korean side. Keep pointing your camera there,” said the US soldier on our JSA tour, with his finger pointed towards the North. Peace Villages Acting like a terra nullius—nobody’s land, the demilitarised zone is an example of borders being a widened frontier zone instead of a single demarcation line. Inside this grey area, there exists ‘peace villages’ on both sides of the DMZ—Daeseong-dong in South Korea (more commonly known as the Freedom Village) and Kijong-dong in North Korea.

6 Tristin Hopper, “Panmunjom: The eerie village where North and South Korean soldiers stare at each other all day”, National Post, January 8, 2018, http:// nationalpost.com/news/world/panmunjomthe-eerie-village-where-north-and-southkorean-soldiers-stare-at-each-other-all-day 7 Ibid.

Top The signature blue Joint Security Area that is heavily guarded by the armed military from both nations. Middle The meeting room essentially crosses the boundary in the middle of the room. While everyone enters from the South Korean side, standing on the other side of the room will make one be in North Korea's territory. Bottom A tourist taking photo with a ROK Army during a tour visit. 26

8 Tang See Kit, “A visit to Korea’s demilitarised zone amid rising tensions”, Channel News Asia, June 4, 2017, https:// www.channelnewsasia.com/news/ asiapacific/a-visit-to-korea-s-demilitarisedzone-amid-rising-tensions-8894996 9 Motoko Rich, “As North Korea Tensions Rise, Farming in the Demilitarized Zone Goes On”, The New York Times, April 20, 2017, https://www.nytimes. com/2017/04/20/world/asia/as-tensionsrise-between-the-koreas-farming-in-thedemilitarized-zone-goes-on.html 1 0 Paul Mansfield, “This is Freedom Village said Sgt Manfull”, The Independent, June 21, 1997, https://www.independent.co.uk/ travel/this-is-freedom-village-said-sgtmanfull-1257275.html 27

In Freedom Village, taxes are exempted and the people have no conscription duties.8 Only those with families who lived there since Korean War is allowed to stay in the village.9 Large plots of land are also allocated to the residents as the population is low and land is plenty in the village. According to our tour guide, they are able to earn up to 80 thousands US dollars per year just from farming and selling DMZ-branded rice. The residents are believed to be the only group of people living in the heavilyfortified demilitarised zone. With the protection of the ROK military and with a night curfew to adhere to, these 197 residents are stuck in between a constantly changing state of security and danger. Separated by an open field from Daesong-dong, Kijong-dong in North Korea (commonly called as Peace Village by North Korea) has been reported to be a fake town and is thus nicknamed Propaganda Village by the South. Upon closer look through telescopic lenses, the village consists of multi-story buildings disguised under empty shells of concrete and steel, lacking interior rooms and walls. The lights of the buildings are turned on and off at specific times to give off the illusion of lives in this Potemkin village. Propaganda about the greatness of North Korea’s supreme leader is blasted through the loudspeakers in Kijong-dong towards South Korea.10 It is targeted at South Korean soldiers to attract them to defect to North Korea to be received as brothers. Interestingly, South Korea reciprocated by blasting Korean pop songs that advocate capitalism ideas which surround money, freedom and love. Standing at the South Korea side with multiple speakers playing K-pop songs to their maximum volume, one can barely hear the propaganda from North Korea.

Kaesong Industrial Complex As part of the Sunshine Policy measures by South Korea’s 15th President Kim Dae-Jung, Kaesong Complex is built as an effort to provide economic development for North Korea, part of a grander scheme to mitigate the economic gap, foster connections and restore communications between the two nations.11 Opened as a co-operation between South and North Korea, Kaesong Industrial Complex is located in North Korea, 10 kilometres north of the demilitarised zone. It is built for South Korean companies to exploit cheap North Korean labour, while at the same time, North Koreans will benefit from the influx of jobs and foreign currency. This is one of the most ambitious projects that foster interaction between North and South Koreans, where over hundreds of South Koreans work with 54,000 North Koreans for about 124 South Korean companies in the complex.12 After 12 years of operation, it was shut down due to intensification from the North Korean side when they started nuclear tests and rocket bombs.13

The frontier zone between North and South Korea remains as a complex and dangerous border region due to politics that involve forces beyond the power of the two governments. This border is a reflection of the relationship between the two countries. “Korea will be reunited one day,” our tour guide said it with a smile on his face, on our way back to Seoul.

1 1 Kim Hyun-Key, “South Korea's Sunshine Policy, Reciprocity and Nationhood”, (2012): 99–111, https://doi. org/10.1163/156914912X620761 1 2 Justin McCurry, “Seoul shuts down joint North-South Korea industrial complex”, The Guardian, February 10, 2016, https:// www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/10/ seoul-shuts-down-joint-north-south-koreaindustrial-complex-kaesong

Top Our tour guide looking very hopeful and overjoyed when he talked about the train that is able to bring one from South Korea to Pyeongyang, and hopefully leading to the unification of both Koreas.

1 3 “What is the Kaesong Industrial Complex?”, BBC News, February 10, 2016, accessed March 24, 2018, http://www.bbc. com/news/business-22011178

Bottom A barren and peaceful landscape captured in the Demilitarized Zone.

Right behind the Military Demarcation Line and within the Demilitarized Zone on the South Korean side lies a theme park coupled with a large carpark. The juxtaposition of the theme park, commonly viewed as a place for fun and excitement, with the tense and dangerous borderline contributes to the strange and conflicting atmosphere.

160m

North Korea

South Korea 98m

At the Peace Villages, North Korea built a taller pole with a North Korean flag after South Korea erected one near the borderline.

Border between Singapore and Malaysia

The Causeway, 1970.

Ariel view of the border between Singapore and Malaysia.

The Border in Limbo The independence of Singapore from the Federation of Malaysia is a result of differing political visions, nationalistic views and economic agendas.1 With the presence of two strong-minded leaders, Singapore was forced to leave or succumb to the leadership of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO). As Johor shares a border with Singapore and is the founding state of UMNO, the relationship between the two nations gets even trickier. The state of the border between Singapore and Malaysia has been through many changes due to the sovereignty of the states. The border changed from an international border to a sub-national border and back to an international border many times and even dates back to British colonial times. This maritime boundary kept shifting and will most likely continue to shift in the future, rendering the border to be existing in a state of limbo-uncertain and full of potential. Coastal geography and the changes of the coast will not change the territorial line as the international maritime boundary uses the deep-water channel of the strait as a guide. While this reduces dispute on the location of territorial boundaries, the changing nature of coastlines due to land reclamation or other factors will inevitably arise tensions from both sides as the coastlines might be shifted near to the territorial line. The Johor Strait, though is a normal stream of water geographically, often acts as a buffer zone of nothingness between the two state governments. This results in the straits ultimately behaving like a no manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s land or sea, without anyone inhabiting it or living close by it due to the invisible maritime boundary line.

Malaysia Singapore

1 Takashi Shiraishi, Across the Causeway: A Multi-Dimensional Study of MalaysiaSingapore Relations, (Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2009), 52. 38

Imaginary borderline that cuts across the Causeway divides the Straits into two. Taken from the Naval Base in Singapore. 39

1885

Agreement between Britain and Johore that â&#x20AC;&#x153;in waters less than six miles in width there will be an imaginary line midway between the shores of the two countriesâ&#x20AC;? and that â&#x20AC;&#x153;British naval forces were to have free access to the waters of Johore.

1927

Straits Settlement and Johore Territorial Waters Agreement of 1927. An imaginary line is specified as an international maritime boundary between Singapore and Malaysia.

1957

Malaysia gained independence.

1963

International border became a subnational border due to the merger of Malaysia and Singapore.

Singapore m

420

1965

The border turned to an international maritime border once again after Singapore gained independence as a sovereign state on her own.

2008

There was a territorial dispute that lasted over 30 years between Singapore and Malaysia over several islets at the east of Singapore Straits and southeast of Johor. The area consists of Pedra Branca (known as Pulau Batu Puteh in Malaysia), Middle Rocks and South Ledge. On 23 May 2008, dispute on Pedra Branca is resolved once International Court of Justice decided that Pedra Branca belonged to Singapore and Middle Rocks belonged to Malaysia, leaving the sovereignty of South Ledge to be unknown.

550

1995

Malaysia

The maritime border of Singapore and Malaysia is made up of straight lines joining up a series of 72 geographical coordinates running about 50 nautical miles (93 km) along the deepest channel between the western and eastern entrances of the Straits of Johor. This conclusion is arrived at by the two governments on 7 August 1995, 30 years after Singapore gained independence. Using the deepest water channel instead of equidistant line as the maritime boundary line, Singapore has control over two-thirds of the eastern entrance of Strait of Johor.

625m 1340m

The Straits of Johor The Straits of Johor lies in between Singapore and Malaysia, separating the two countries that have complex ties despite their common history. Due to the narrow width of the straits, the two countries are often viewed as a single entity even before the short-lived merger between the two which ended in 1965. However, after a dramatic political shift in the 1960s, where Singapore gained independence, an international maritime border is introduced between Singapore and Malaysia, dividing the Straits of Johor into two. The role of the straits has also changed due to the introduction of a political border. Previously seen as a shared natural resource, the straits is no longer identified as a central space for people from both sides to enjoy and interact. People used to take ferries across the sea as a means of transport and fishing villages were plenty along the coast.1 Sea transport was the only means of transport between Singapore and Johor until the Causeway was built. The 1-kilometre-long Causeway connects Johor Bahru in Johor and Woodlands in Singapore. Completed in 1998, the Second Link acts as another connection across the straits that links Tanjung Kupang in Johor and Tuas in Singapore. With the new bridges, the maritime border now has land-based connections which drastically diminishes the access and relevance of the sea or the coast to the people. The bridges also made the flow of ships through the Johor Straits impossible, leaving the ports along the coast to be demolished. This also resulted in the loss of a public waterfront and the disappearance of coastal kampungs. The diminished need and public's interaction with the sea has left the coast to be either neglected over the years. Compared to a borderline on land, the strait acts like a buffer for both countries, creating a relatively neutral zone between the two states. This geographical “advantage” of the maritime border create a distance far enough for both states to achieve full control of their land but small enough for daily exchanges to still occur. This borderline acts less like a rigid line but more like a thick frontier zone which allows for trade, negotiation and tolerance. Biological diversity

1 Sarah Barras Benjamin Blocher, “Sea Transport: Passenger Mobility in the Sea Region,” Architecture of Territory: Sea Region, (Singapore: Future Cities Lab, 2013), 11.

Top Johor Jetty in the 1900s. Bottom The Causeway before Japan invasion. 42

2 “Straits of Johor”, The DNA of Singapore, Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum, accessed April 11, 2018, https://lkcnhm. nus.edu.sg/dna/places/details/75 3 Ibid. 43

The Causeway cuts the current flow through the entire Straits, creating culde-sacs on both sides of the Causeway.2 The circulation of water is largely disrupted in the narrow Straits. The construction of the Causeway as a large dam also results in huge loss of biological diversity in the Straits. Dams harm the ecosystem by destroying habitat, segregating species, flooding land, interfering with the ecosystems and breaking migration routes. The Straits of Johor used to have a diverse range of marine wildlife that was threatened. Some of the most diverse mangroves in Singapore can be found along the coast. The Straits was also home to near 133 species of fish and 20 to 30 Bottlenose Dolphins.3 The coastal marine habitats along both Singapore’s and Johor’s coastlines have been severely affected as a result of the Causeway.

Malaysia

The Causeway

Singapore

The Second Link

Road networks The road networks of the two countries are connected by the Causeway and the Second Link at Tuas.

5km

Tasik Linggiu Linggiu Dam

Strait of Johor

Kranji

Murai

Upper Seletar

Lower Seletar

Lower Pierce

Upper Pierce

Jurong

MacRitchie

Water There is no natural water reservoirs near the border. In an effort to prevent water scarcity, Singapore has built many reservoirs and water catchment areas both in its own territorial ground as well as in Malaysia. Linggiu Dam in Johor, 50km north of the border, is one of Singapore's main water source and it lies beyond its territorial zone. It is able to supply Singapore 250 million gallons a day.

5km

Taman Merdeka

Christine Resort Permas Jaya Golf Club Taman Merdeka Taman Botani Zaharah

Horizon Hills Golf and Country Club

Sembawang Park

Woodlands Waterfront Park

Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve

Sembawang Country Club Singaore Turf Club

Singapore Zoo

Lower Pierce Reservoir Park Bukit Timah Nature Reserve

MacRitchie Trail

Leisure Leisure spaces include parks, gardens, country clubs, and other places for rest. Most of these leisure spaces are enveloped within the urban fabric, with little or no relationship with the waterfront.

5km

Sembawang

Woodlands Yishun

Punggol

Choa Chu Kang Bukit Panjang

Jurong West Ang Mo Kio

Amenity Community facilities including bars, restaurants, schools, banks, farmacies and etc. are planned in group form in Singapore, where clusters of amenities denote the locations of the different towns. This is in contrast with Johor Bahru where the amenities are dispersed.

5km

Senibong Cove

Country Garden's Danga Bay R&F Princess Cove

Seletar Island

Punggol Barat Island

Punggol Timor Island

Country Garden's Forest City

Land Reclamation This map records land reclamation up to March 2017. Singapore has focused on its reclamation on the southern side of Singapore, leaving the north to be relatively untouched. Reclamation works done by Singapore include islands in the north-east district. However, many new and massive developments start to overtake the coast lines of Johor Bahru. Land is reclaimed for these projects, pushing the border of JB closer to Singapore.

5km

Permas Jaya area

Bukit Indah area

Power Power lines exist as prominent infrastructure in Johor Bahru which covers extensive areas in the Permas Jaya and Bukit Indah areas. Singapore, on the other hand, has minimal or no exposed power lines.

5km

The Economic Disparity Malaysia and Singapore are economically interdependent even though they are independent states. In the 1980s, Malaysia experienced economic growth which led to the support of the Singapore-Johor-Riau (SIJORI) growth triangle concept. Many factories were relocated from Singapore to Johor due to the shortage of land and labour forces as a result of Singapore’s economic growth.1

1988

1991

The economies of both nations vary greatly in today’s context despite the similarities in social, political and geographical conditions. The rate of economic growth and the wealth distribution in Malaysia and Singapore are distinctly different.2 Singapore is economically more successful than Malaysia. This can be attributed to a few reasons but the main reason lies in the difference in ideas of governance which led to the contrast in progress. The increasing dominance of Singapore Dollars (SGD) over Malaysian Ringgit (MYR) over the years has contributed to the rise in movement across the borders. Singaporeans take advantage of the price differentials to purchase cheaper goods in Malaysia while Malaysians work in Singapore to earn a stronger currency. There is an increasing number of Singaporean families who move across the border to live in a bigger landed property which is similar in price to a Singapore’s 4-room HDB flat that is significantly smaller in size.3

1994

1997

2000

2003

The border landscape is void of any productive economy. Given its strategic location that lies between Singapore, an international trading hub and Malaysia, a nation full of natural resources, this space theoretically, should be very productive in nature.4 While a political re-merger based on principles is a distant possibility, a merger of economic activity is much more achievable. The border then provides a convenient and attractive landscape for a merger of economic activity by both sovereign states.

2006

2009

2012

2015 1 Takashi Shiraishi, Across the Causeway: A Multi-Dimensional Study of MalaysiaSingapore Relations, (Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2009), 86.

2018

2 Ibid. 3 “The Big Read: Iskandar’s lure is a strong pull for S’poreans”, Today, March 21, 2016, accessed April 22, 2018, https:// www.todayonline.com/singapore/big-readiskanders-lure-strong-pull-sporeans-0 4 Tan Tze Wei, “Border Landscapes of Johor Bahru and Woodlands”, Changing power, Changing landscape: Urban Transformation of Johor Bahru and Woodlands 1855-2009 (MArch diss., National University of Singapore, 2009), 43. 56

Exchange rate between Singapore Dollar and Malaysian Ringgit 57

Many endure hardships of going through the arduous journey in exchange for a stronger currency paycheck.

Crossing the Causeway

Top The Causeway in the 1960s with much of the coastline being untouched with nature Bottom The Causeway in 2005 with the skyscrapers replacing the trees, forming a Johor Bahru city skyline

The Causeway bridge was built in 1923 to help ease in the congested transport of goods and people by ferry from Malaysia to Singapore. Initially a single lane road, the Causeway has widened to a multi-lane highway to support the increasing traffic through the bridge. Water pipelines are also added along the Causeway to transport water from Malaysia to Singapore. Even though the bridge has not altered its general form for almost a century, the significance of the Causeway has changed due to the introduction of the political borderline that divides the once unified territory. Before the separation between Singapore and the Federation of Malaysia, the Causeway sees the everyday movement of people to be smoother and the port of control to be simpler in terms of its formalities. The territory was borderless to the people.1 After the merger dissolved, the Causeway split into two in terms of ownership and maintenance. The nature of exchange, movement and trade across the border also changed drastically over the years due to the difference in progression after Singapore left Malaysia, where Singapore rose to a firstworld city-state within 50 years of independence while Malaysia is still a developing country to date. Today, both countries are highly dependent on one another as a result of the different economic levels in the global trade market. Singapore profit from Malaysia’s low-cost workers2 and an abundance of resources like water, rubber and tin3 while Malaysians go to Singapore for its higher wages and better education quality.4 Every day, more than 300,000 commuters cross the Causeway. Majority of the commuters commute daily to Singapore to work. Over thousands of trucks transport goods from Malaysia into Singapore through this border daily. With over hundreds of thousands of people and almost 130,000 vehicles crossing the border, the Causeway is one of the world’s busiest land crossing in the world.5 On the other side, many Singaporeans travel across the Causeway to Johor on the weekends as a short and inexpensive getaway destination. Many families travel to Johor Bahru to get their weekly grocery fix, leveraging on the advantage that Singapore Dollar has over the Malaysian Ringgit. Despite having close economic ties and relations, the two countries put up strong and imposing customs at the borders which regulate the flow of people through tight security and never-ending queues. The focus on establishing sovereignties over the maritime border brought the fluid movement of the people to an end. Singapore in particular enforced tight security borders, creating an enclosed city that looks inwards, shunning views away from the coastal landscape. The familiarity and ease of transversing through the strait are further diminished with the set up of the looming immigration centres on both sides of the Causeway. The crossing of the border has also transformed into a formal relationship after the borderline is drawn. Now, the crossing of border involves many formal procedures of getting a VISA, stamping the passport and getting the bags checked. Subconsciously, the rigid arrangement of the border has created a barrier that is both unfriendly and uninviting.

1 Milica Topalovic, Hans Hortig and Stephanie Krautzig, “Sea Region”, Architecture of Territory: Sea Region, (Singapore: Tien Wah Press, 2013), 55. 2 Giulia Luraschi and Karl Wruck, “A Worthy Trip” in Johor Hinterlands vs. Capital, Architecture of Territory: Hinterlands, (Singapore: Tien Wah Press, 2013), 22. 3 Pascal Deschenaux and Simon Zemp, “Bilateral Relationships” in Water Scarce, Architecture of Territory: Hinterlands, (Singapore: Tien Wah Press, 2013), 17. 4 Giulia Luraschi and Karl Wruck, “A Worthy Trip” in Johor Hinterlands vs. Capital, Architecture of Territory: Hinterlands, (Singapore: Tien Wah Press, 2013), 22. 5 Amir Hussain, “‘Serious errors of judgement’ led to Woodlands breach”, Today, February 18, 2014, http://www. todayonline.com/singapore/serious-errorsjudgment-led-woodlands-breach?page=0. 60

Top The Causeway in 1961 with undeveloped Singapore in the background. Bottom View of Singapore has changed over the years. Tall HDB blocks now dominate the view of Singapore from Johor Bahru across the Causeway. 61

Besides the formal arrangement of the immigration border, the crossing of the Causeway is no longer easy as it is a lengthy process. The time taken for one to cross the border varies and is largely based on the time and period of the year. However, scenes of the Causeway jam-packed with vehicles are neither unusual nor infrequent, especially during peak periods in the morning before 8 am and the evening after 6 pm. During school holidays or festive periods such as Chinese New Year, the Causeway is also heavily congested with impatient commuters both on cars and buses, making the experience almost unbearable if one has to go through this daily. The landbased connection is unable to support the constant heavy flux of movement across the Causeway, making the border-crossing experience unpleasant as long queues have become the norm. The dominance of the watchtowers The Woodlands Checkpoint building of dominant tall blocks with slanted roofs resembles that of a ‘panopticon’ which demonstrates power and surveillance through the means of architecture. These watchtowers allow invisible monitoring over the Strait of Johor and Johor Bahru, and the building is the first thing one sees when he crosses the Causeway to enter Singapore. The imposing immigration complex is mirrored on the other side of the bridge. The Sultan Iskandar CIQ Complex (more commonly known as JB CIQ) at Johor is also a massive building after replacing the former CIQ Complex in 2008. With a giant canopy over the complex, the architecture shows status and power. The paradox lies in having a congested bridge in an unproductive landscape. The border landscape condition does not respond to its immediate surrounding, which is the Strait of Johor but rather is controlled by the over-concentration of different groups of power and events that contradict each other. This results in a stage for the two states to demonstrate and contest their powers.6 The silent tension comes from the need to limit the encroachment of the other state crossing the territorial boundary as well as the desire to extend its dominance over its territory.

6 Lim Chu Hwai, “The Paradox: Unproductive yet Contested”, Augmented Transgression: Unveiling the Inconsistency of the Border Spaces Between Singapore and Malaysia, (MArch diss., National University of Singapore, 2009), 26. 62

Top Many choose to walk across the Causeway when faced with a huge traffic jam, especially during the festive seasons or long holidays. Bottom Long car queues to Johor Bahru observed on the Causeway on a Saturday morning. 63

3 water pipelines KTM railway tracks 1 motorcycle lane 2 car lanes

1 lorry and truck lane 1 bus lane

Lanes along the Causeway

250m

Three water pipelines run below the bridge to supply water from Malaysia to Singapore. The vehicular lanes are limited due to the small span of the bridge.

Train shoppers/tourists

Pedestrian prohibited

5 mins

workers/students

SGD 1.87 to Singapore SGD 5 to Malaysia

15 - 30 mins SGD 0 to Singapore SGD 0 to Malaysia

Motorcycle workers

Bus

0.5 - 3 hrs

students/workers/shoppers

Car

SGD 4 to Singapore SGD 0 to Malaysia

1 - 5 hrs

families/businessmen

SGD 0.50 to Singapore SGD 1.50 to Malaysia

0.5 - 4 hrs

Taxi

SGD 46.30 to Singapore SGD 13.30 to Malaysia

tourists/businessmen 0.5 - 4 hrs SGD 27 to Singapore SGD 48 to Malaysia

To Woodlands

Singapore

Malaysia

1056 m Johor-Singapore Causeway

To Johor Bahru

mins Customs Examination

mins Baggage Check/ Vehicle Check

mins Customs Examination

mins Baggage Check/ Vehicle Check

mins Queueing for bus

off-peak

mins Crossing the bridge

mins Drive / Walk to JB Central

mins Customs Examination

mins Baggage Check/ Vehicle Check

mins Customs Examination

mins Baggage Check/ Vehicle Check

mins Queueing for bus

To Woodlands

peak

mins Crossing the bridge

Singapore

Malaysia

1056 m Johor-Singapore Causeway

mins Drive / Walk to JB Central

To Johor Bahru

Actual distance

By car / motorcycle

By bus

By train

By swimming*

Time Spent on The Causeway The diagrammatic chart shows the relative time spent on the Causeway, the ICA Woodlands Checkpoint and the Johor Bahru CIQ with the different ways to cross the bridge. *illegal

Captures of movement across the Strait in a bus, 2018.

The People of Border While the border is a static entity without any form of life, the people that interact with the border give life to this transitional space. The life of the border can be seen in the crossings of the people, into and out of this space constantly. The border sees movement all the time and is never at rest, for there is always somebody who is crossing over to the other side. Prior to the building of the Causeway, there are people who live on the water. As one of the Orang Asli (“aboriginal people” in Malay) ethnic groups in Malaysia, Orang Seletar are natives of the Straits of Johor.1 They live on water traditionally but their ways of living are threatened to a great extent by civilisation. In the early 20th century, mangrove forests were removed in Singapore for development and the Seletar people are forced to leave the Singapore side of the Straits.2 Thus, they relocated to Malaysia’s side of the Strait but were eventually forced to adapt to a land-based lifestyle in a more organised and fixed set of kampungs (“villages” in Malay). Besides the Seletar people who used to live on the border, there are many groups of people whose lives are intrinsically bounded with the nation across the Straits. Their lives involve the border to a great extent as they travel across the border every day. Estimated 300,000 residents of Johor Bahru work and live in Singapore while 150,000 travel daily to Singapore to work.3 The queue along the Causeway peaks between 6 am and 9 am from Malaysia to Singapore, and from 5 pm to 8 pm from Singapore to Malaysia. Some will try to avoid the jam and wake up at ungodly hours like 3 am to cross the borders. Despite the gruelling hours of commuting back and forth every day, many Malaysians and even some Singaporeans still choose to reside in Johor Bahru.4 One of the main reasons is the lower cost of living in Johor Bahru. As most of the Malaysians take up lower income jobs in Singapore, living in Singapore will be a huge financial burden. Hints of Johor Bahru can be found in Singapore, especially in the neighbourhoods closest to the border in the North such as Woodlands, Sembawang and Yishun. There are large numbers of Malaysian workforce in these areas due to the close geographical proximity to JB. Besides workers, students also form part of the demography that crosses the border daily. In seek of better education for their children, many parents in Johor Bahru send them to Singapore to be educated in the English-medium education system. There are estimated to be at least 2,000 students who travel from home to Singapore daily since the age of 7, and this education journey can last up to 12 years.5 However, there is a drop in students who are studying across the border in the recent years due to the high exchange rate and the increasing school fees that are reviewed biannually.6 Every day, the signature yellow-painted school buses from Malaysia will fetch the students from their homes directly to their schools. These schools are often in Woodlands as it is closest to the border. The journey can take up to 4 hours as the school bus driver will pick up the children one by one, and some have to wake up at 3 am every day just to reach school promptly at 7 am. This absurdity in the time taken to reach a school that is less than 10 kilometres away from home is suddenly made understandable by the presence of the abstract territorial line.

1 Ben Tan, "Johor Orang Asli community lauds initiative to look into hostel woes", The Rakyat Post, October 25, 2015, accessed April 10, 2018, http://www. therakyatpost.com/news/2015/10/25/ johor-orang-asli-community-lauds-initiativeto-look-into-hostel-woes/ 2 Jerome Lim, "A paddle through the magical watery woods", July 30, 2014, accessed April 10, 2018, https:// thelongnwindingroad.wordpress.com/tag/ orang-seletar/ 3 Giulia Luraschi and Karl Wruck, “One Bridge, Two Nations” in Johor Hinterlands vs. Capital, Architecture of Territory: Hinterlands, (Singapore: Tien Wah Press, 2013), 14-15. 4 Lynn Tan, “About 5,000 Singaporean families have set up home in Johor”, May 28, 2016, accessed March 2, 2018, http:// www.asiaone.com/singapore/about-5000singaporean-families-have-set-home-johor 5 Melody Zccheus, Cheng Jingjie and Charissa Yong, “Singapore schools still pulling in Malaysians”, The Straits Times, March 6, 2013, accessed April 10, 2018, http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/ singapore-schools-still-pulling-inmalaysians

Top A student having his breakfast before crossing the border to attend school in Singapore.

6 “Van providers seeing a drop in students”, The Star, October 19, 2017, accessed April 10, 2018, https://www.thestar.com.my/ news/nation/2017/10/19/van-providersseeing-a-drop-in-students/

Bottom Two sisters reading while waiting for their bus to fetch them across the Causeway to their schools.

With the establishment of new international schools in Johor Bahru such as Marlborough College in Nusajaya, students are seen to travel the other direction across the Causeway instead. These schools attract mainly expats who work and live in Singapore due to the attractive facilities and lower cost. Some of these expat families moved over to live in JB while the parents commute to Singapore for work. School buses are provided to fetch the students who live in Singapore and the schoolmaster has said that the college observed a sizeable amount of students coming from Singapore.7 The students who cross the Causeway are now increasingly two-way due to the lower costs and better facilities these new international schools offer in JB.

Right Bus operation uncles who take notes of entries and exits of buses across the Singapore checkpoint.

The people of the border also include people who are working at the border itself such as the staff in the Immigration Complexes including officers, janitors and bus operators. Their jobs consist of repetitive tasks of stamping the passport, clearing immigration queues, and keeping a record of every bus that crosses the border. Facilitating the movement of people who are crossing the border, they observe the coming and going of people but are never the ones who move. As one of the busiest border zones in the world, the Singapore-Malaysia border is an intrinsic piece of the everyday lives of many. The people of the border are not only limited to the ones working inside the huge immigration building. The border sees the congregation of different walks of lives that are crossing the territorial line to another territory. The act of crossing-over has become a constant in the daily lives of some people, allowing the border to see the growth of these lives as well.

7 Lee Gim Siong, â&#x20AC;&#x153;While some expats work in Singapore, their kids study across the Causewayâ&#x20AC;?, Channel News Asia, October 9, 2015, https://www.channelnewsasia. com/news/singapore/while-some-expatswork-in-singapore-their-kids-study-acrossthe--8235992 76

tourists

shoppers

tour groups

workers

construction workers

orang seletar

famiiles

people living at the coast

bus drivers

students

people who work in singapore

bus operators

immigration officers businessmen

As one of the busiest border zones in the world, the Singapore-Malaysia border is an intrinsic piece of the everyday lives for many. 78

Taman Mount Austin/Taman Molek/Taman Johor Jaya Malaysian workers

Taman Perling Malaysian workers

Permas Jaya Malaysian workers

Horizon Hills Expats/Singaporeans

Taman Sentosa Malaysian workers

Nusajaya Expats/Singaporeans

Housing in Johor Bahru Many Singaporeans and expats move to Johor Bahru to live. Many Malaysians live in Johor Bahru but work in Singapore. The map points out the locations of residential neighbourhoods where these people stay.

5km

Sembawang Shops

Woodlands Shops/Schools

Yishun Shops/Schools

Choa Chu Kang Shops

Jurong Industrial area

Border regions in Singapore A majority of the crowd who crosses the border to Singapore often go to work or study at the northern part of Singapore due to the close proximity. These neighbourhoods include Woodlands, Sembawang, Yishun and Choa Chu Kang which are a stone's throw away from the Causeway. Workers who work in the Jurong Industrial Area often go to Singapore via the Second Link.

5km

Hinterland vs City There are early connections between Johor Bahru in Malaysia and Woodlands in Singapore. In the early nineteenth century, the British focused on developing the southern coast of Singapore into a trading port. Singapore Town was located on the Singapore River in the heart of the city-state as a result. However, the abundance of natural resources in Johor made the British to develop the northern coast of Singapore, making the connections between Singapore and Johor.1 One was able to take a boat and cross the Straits from Kranji and Woodlands. The names of Woodlands and Johor Bahru were connected. Johor Bahru is called 新山 (Xin Shan), which translates to “New Mountain”, while Kranji and Sembawang were called 旧山 (Jiu Shan), which means “Old Mountain”. In the first half of the nineteenth century, the Singapore coastline was filled with Keranji trees and thus the name of Kranji came about.2

The border region reflects a Singapore “hinterland” as beyond the maritime border line, the land or spaces are still in Singapore’s control, and it is a region that supports the needs of Singapore.

Singapore’s hinterland “The land behind” in German, the term hinterland refers to the lessdeveloped parts of a country or a state which surrounds and supports a city or a town.

1 Tan Tze Wei, “Border Landscapes of Johor Bahru and Woodlands”, Changing power, Changing landscape: Urban Transformation of Johor Bahru and Woodlands 1855-2009 (MArch diss., National University of Singapore, 2009), 14. 2 “Roads and Places named after Trees”, National Parks, accessed April 11, 2018, https://www.nparks.gov.sg/activities/family-time-with-nature/recommended-activities/roads-and-places-named-after-trees 3 Milica Topalovic, Architecture of Territory: Beyond the Limits of the City: Reserch and Design of Urbanising Territories, (Brugge: Die Keure Drukkerij-Uitgeverji, 2016), 14. 4 Ibid. 5 Tan, T. Y. , Creating “Greater Malaysia”: Decolonization and the politics of merger, (Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2008), Call no.: RSING 959.5051 TAN, 31-32. 6 Milica Topalovic, Architecture of Territory: Hinterland, (Singapore: Tien Wah Press, 2013), 19. 7 Tan Tze Wei, “The Built Environment of Woodlands”, Changing power, Changing landscape: Urban Transformation of Johor Bahru and Woodlands 1855-2009 (MArch diss., National University of Singapore, 2009), 25. 8 Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s National Day Rally Speech 2008. 84

Self-declared as a “city without a hinterland”3, every piece of land in Singapore is developed to its maximum. The border region of Singapore thus can be classified as a Singapore’s hinterland, which extends beyond the borderline into Johor Bahru. As a city-state with a dense urban fabric, Singapore lacked natural resources due to the limited land size and is unable to support herself with her own ground. The production and resources required are sourced outside of its national border.4 The peninsula Malaysia thus serves as a productive territory for Singapore to provide a market for economic growth and creation of jobs.5 The industrialisation and urbanisation of neighbouring territories in Malaysia such as Johor Bahru was helped greatly by Singapore’s support and demand on these resources from its hinterlands.6 Nearest to the border, the northern regions of Singapore (Woodlands and Sembawang) were largely undeveloped as were isolated from the Singapore Town at the end of the nineteenth century.7 The regions were developed from a port terminus into housing districts with tall housing blocks by Housing Development Board (HDB) and these are all within vicinity from the Johor Bahru’s shorelines. In viewing distance from the Causeway, the An-Nur Mosque in Woodlands has a tall 50-metre blue concrete minaret and was ‘once a demonstration of national pride visible across the border’.8 These developments are thought by many that the move is to “show off” to Malaysians on Singapore’s progress, as Johor Bahru’s cityscape paled in comparison.

Woodlands in the future Today, Woodlands could be thought to be the new “American town” as a large number of American families reside there, following the move of Singapore American School to the north of Singapore. The increase in expat families in Woodlands neighbourhood create a close-knit community unlike others, where many have quoted to feel at home in this “suburbs” that is 30 minutes drive away from the city centre.9 U.S. festivals such as Halloween is treated seriously there. The Halloween party in Woodlands gathered a crowd of nearly 7,000 people in 2014.10 The shifting demographics in the northern region impact the border region to a great extent. With the new renewal plan by Housing Development Board (HDB) in Singapore, Woodlands will be revitalised through the introduction six “star attractions” which include recreational and residential developments.11 As a part of the HDB’s Remaking Our Heartlands (ROH) programme, a 1.9 kilometre-long cycling and pedestrian link will connect Woodlands Central to the Woodlands waterfront, overlooking the Straits. Capitalising on the linkages with Malaysia and ASEAN, the Woodlands Regional Centre will be turned into a “vibrant hub of activity” to make Woodlands an attractive place to “live, work and play”.12 A place to enjoy a cup of coffee before work at dawn; to play pool after school; to buy cheap groceries from Sheng Shiong supermarket, Woodlands Town Centre has observed the regular comings and goings of people who cross or service the border. However, Woodlands Town Centre will soon be gone and replaced by Woodlands Checkpoint extension. This move came about to meet the increasing traffic needs across the Causeway by facilitating immigration clearance to be faster.13 The business owners and residents have relocated to other areas at the end of 2017. While the expansion will ease congestion and improve traffic, this border community created in the old Woodlands Town Centre will have to find a new anchor. Johor’s city As the closest city to Singapore in the Malay peninsula, Johor Bahru (JB) is a growing city that hovers between a suburb and a metropolitan city. Unlike Singapore with its city centre lying in the middle of the country, the city centre of Johor Bahru lies close to the border. The location of Johor Bahru in Johor is largely determined in 1855 by the late Sultanate Temenggong Ibrahim due to the proximity to Singapore.14 Following the establishment of the state capital of Johor, the trade and exchange between Singapore and Malaysia date all the way back to the nineteenth century. Agricultural goods such as pepper and gambier were produced in Johor and shipped to Singapore. Johor saw an influx of Singaporean Chinese who moved to Johor to invest in these lucrative businesses.15 Today, the border region of Johor Bahru is dotted with financial centres, shopping malls and tourist attractions. In the past few years, the previously quiet and untouched shoreline of Johor Bahru slowly sees the rising of towering blocks which are starting to block the quaint view of Singapore from the public. Occupying the Iskandar Malaysia zone, these blocks are housing and mixed-use development by Chinese developers which sees the potential of JB turning into an economic hub similar to that of Shenzhen.16

9 Calvin Yang, “US presidential election: Expats in American enclave in Singapore air frustration”, The Straits Times, October 23, 2016, http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/expats-in-american-enclave-air-frustration 1 0 “A night for treats in Woodlands, as American families welcome locals for Halloween”, The Straits Times, November 1, 2015, http://www.straitstimes.com/ singapore/a-night-for-treats-in-woodlandsas-american-families-welcome-locals-forhalloween 1 1 “Woodlands to have six ‘star attractions’ under HDB renewal plan”, Channel News Asia, April 16, 2017, https://www. channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/ woodlands-to-have-six-star-attractions-under-hdb-renewal-plan-8714806 1 2 Ibid. 1 3 Fabian Koh, Seow Bei Yi, Ng Huiwen, “Woodlands Checkpoint to be extended to Old Woodlands Town Centre; two land plots to be acquired”, The Straits Times, March 30, 2017, http://www.straitstimes. com/singapore/woodlands-checkpointto-be-expanded-to-old-woodlands-towncentre 1 4 Tan Tze Wei, “Border Landscapes of Johor Bahru and Woodlands”, Changing power, Changing landscape: Urban Transformation of Johor Bahru and Woodlands 1855-2009 (MArch diss., National University of Singapore, 2009), 15. 1 5 Tan Tze Wei, “Border Landscapes of Johor Bahru and Woodlands”, Changing power, Changing landscape: Urban Transformation of Johor Bahru and Woodlands 1855-2009 (MArch diss., National University of Singapore, 2009), 17. 1 6 Pooja Thakur Mahrotri and En Han Choong, $100 Billion Chinese-Made City Near Singapore 'Scares the Hell Out of Everybody’, Bloomberg, November 22, 2016, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/ features/2016-11-21/-100-billion-chinesemade-city-near-singapore-scares-the-hellout-of-everybody 86

Top Old Woodlands Town Centre that is going to be replaced by the new Woodlands Checkpoint extension. Bottom A drinks stall assistant serving the early crowd at the old Woodlands Town Centre hawker centre. 87

While most of the Malaysians remain sceptical about these developments, the skyline has slowly changed to be filled with cranes and brand new empty units. One such example is Country Garden’s Forest City which occupies an area that is “four times the size of New York’s Central Park”17, and enough houses for 700,000 people to live comfortably or even luxuriously. Most of the units are already sold out and buyers from China to form the majority of the new residents, except that most of them bought these units as a form of investment instead of long-term stay. These buyers are flown in from China by these Chinese developers and are attracted both by its proximity to Singapore and its relatively low price compared to apartments in China cities.18 These developments occupy the extreme of the coastline of JB, making the coast inaccessible to the public once the security system is set up and only residents are able to enter the compound. The coast is transformed into nice beaches with white natural sand where the residents are able to enjoy once they leave their apartments. These luxuries, however, might only be for a few as most of the flats remain empty with foreign investors. The new Iskandar Formerly known as the Iskandar Development Region and South Johor Economic Region, Iskandar Malaysia is the main southern development corridor in Johor. Launched in 2006, the economic corridor is three times the size of Singapore, containing projects such as Legoland theme park, Educity and residential projects like Puteri Harbour and Horizon Hills.19 Following the model of the Pearl River Delta Economic Zone, Iskandar Malaysia aims to tap on its geographical proximity to Singapore to establish a complementary economic relationship, similar to that between Shenzhen and Hong Kong.

Top Taken at the beach of a new private housing development in Johor Bahru, with Singapore in view across the Straits, 2018.

1 7 Pooja Thakur Mahrotri and En Han Choong, $100 Billion Chinese-Made City Near Singapore 'Scares the Hell Out of Everybody’, Bloomberg, November 22, 2016, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/ features/2016-11-21/-100-billion-chinesemade-city-near-singapore-scares-the-hellout-of-everybody 1 8 Ibid.

Middle The new Forest City by Country Garden is slowly creeping up to take over the skyline of Johor Bahru.

1 9 “The Big Read: Iskandar’s lure is a strong pull for S’poreans”, Today, March 21, 2016, accessed April 22, 2018, https:// www.todayonline.com/singapore/big-readiskanders-lure-strong-pull-sporeans-0

Bottom Many apartments are all labelled sold out at the Forest City sales office. Many of the buyers are believed to be Chinese nationals who see this as an investment opportunity.

2 0 Iskandar Regional Development Authority, Comprehensive Development Plan ii 2014-2025, (Johor, 2014), 344.

2 1 Iskandar Regional Development Authority, Comprehensive Development Plan ii 2014-2025, (Johor, 2014), 239. 89

In Iskandar’s Comprehensive Development Plan 2014-2025, the vision is to be “a strong and sustainable metropolis of international standing” by 2025. Besides many key transport development schemes and housing development, one of the factors that are considered is the coastal zone of Iskandar Malaysia which spans the entire Straits of Johor. The aim is to rejuvenate the coastal waterfront to accommodate both urban developments and existing natural features. However, in order to protect the areas filled with natural vegetation such as mangroves, the coastal development is limited to the only 26km of the coastline that spans Nusajaya-Danga Bay-Johor Bahru City Centre and Stulang-Senibong-Pasir Gudang.20 The possibility of water-based transport such as the use of water taxis between Johor Bahru and Singapore is also discussed to enhance the local and regional connectivity networks.21 As JB’s city grow nearer and nearer to the maritime borderline, seeming to creep into the territory of Singapore, it creates an interesting phenomenon where economic activities in Johor rely greatly on Singapore. Johor and Singapore share similar climate and geography, but very contrasting governance, economy and social conditions. However, these differences do not nullify the fact that the two states complement and count on each other’s strengths to grow.

What is illegal?

Gambling

Bathing in public Being nude at home

Selling chewing gum

Indecent exposure in public

Graffiti

Feeding pigeons

Cross-dressing

Homosexuality

Homosexuality Flying a kite that interferes with public traffic

Spitting

Drugs

Smoking in public Spitting

Drugs

Gambling Singing obscene songs

Riding a horse or an elephant on the street Singing obscene songs

Singapore

Malaysia

What to do with the border?

Can the strait exists as a freezone and be free from all rules and regulations from both sides?

Can this hinterland between the two countries be designed such that the landscape or the typology mediates between spatial quality and the need for security?

Can the border function as a productive territory?

Thesis Concept The thesis aims to discover a new relationship between architecture and territories, where the border can be deemed as a hinterland; untapped on its potentials, hovering between the urbanism in the city centre and the outskirt of a country. As this border region between Singapore and Malaysia exists as a ‘border in limbo’, can the space be somewhere to be free from all rules and regulations from both sides? Can this hinterland between the two countries be designed such that the landscape or the typology mediates between spatial quality and the need for security? Or is there a need for such high security that limits the endless possibilities of this border region?

Security

The thesis also aims to rediscover the beauty of boundaries where the land meet the sea. There is beauty in the way water and land interacts, where the coastal landscape is formed. Can the design of maritime borders go beyond the typical? How can this coastal landscape evolve to something that focuses on the experience of people, beyond addressing the functional needs for security, transportation and circulation? There lies an opportunity to create a new identity for this border region. To fully activate the sea space, the architecture, for example a mixed-used building or a recreational landscape, will allow the public to engage with the sea. Since the borderline constantly shifts due to the result of land reclamation on both sides, this can be seen as an opportunity to create an architecture that constantly ‘changes’ in terms of location, programme, or even intentions.

Landscape

Freezone

Precedent on Floating Architecture

on Waterfront Landscape

on Floating City

Kelong traditional Malay fishing villages

Makoko Floating school by NLE

Theatre of the World by Aldo Rossi

Copenhagen Harbour Bath by BIG + JDS

Marine City by Kiyonori Kikutake

Pavilion of Reflections by Studio Tom Emerson

AntiRoom II by Elena Chiavi + Ahmad El Mad + Matteo Goldoni

Floating house by Friday SA

The Floating Piers by Christo and Jean-Claude

Tokyo Bay by Kenzo Tange

Site

1 km

The project will be located right in between the two countries, which is the Strait of Johor. The site will be the area near the Causeway where the traffic is the heaviest. The boundary and extent of the site is just an approximate.

1 km

100

101

Program museum public bath

In this thesis, there are different scenarios on how the landscape of the border can become. There is a possibility to create a freezone landscape and/ or a landscape filled with archipelagos. In general, the program will include the commercial landscape and leisure spaces. This creates a mixed-use development that functions like a freezone, aiding in the exchanges between Singapore and Malaysia.

theatre

Focusing on the unique typologies of the different programs, the thesis aims to look into the composition of the different programs. The approximate area of intervention will be 20,000 square meters.

petrol kiosk

The list of programs is not exhaustive.

shops

mechanics

port

swimming pool library

school

gym

sports hall

102

103

meditation space

sports hall

shops theatre library

shops

museum mechanics

school

public bath

swimming pool

petrol kiosk

port

port library

shops

gym

prayer room

Freezone landscape

Archipelago landscape

A landscape of programs extending out from the Causeway, these entities or program spaces will be in a 'freezone' state. The border region will be a productive landscape where exchanges occur.

Taking away the Causeway, the coastal border will return to be ports to facilitate exchanges of goods and people. The landscape will become an archipelago of spaces.

meditation space

106

107

Credits

Bibliography

Images

p5 Pablo López Luz. p6,7 Wikipedia. p11 Top: Jessica Chou. Bottom: John Moore. p12,13 Pablo López Luz. p17-19 Johnny Harris from Vox. p22 Top: Pius Utomi Ekpei. Middle and bottom: Tosin Gbemile. p23 Tosin Gbemile. p26,29-33 Author. p34,35 Tony Holt. p36,37 GoogleMaps Satellite. p39 Unknown. p42 Top: Unknown. Bottom: Wikipedia. p58,59 Unknown. p61 Top: singas.co.uk. Bottom: Unknown. Top: Unknown. Bottom: New Straits Times. p63 Top: The New Paper File. Bottom: Author. p72,73 Author. p75 Top: Jason Quah from Today. Bottom: AsiaOne. p77 Author. p87 Straits Times File. p88 Top: Author. Middle and bottom: Ore Huiying. p106,107 Author.

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Maps All map drawings are courtesy of Openstreetmap, Google Maps and Snazzymaps.

13 14

Illustrations

p57 Data from https://kclau.com/blogging/exchange-rate-trap and https://www.xe.com/currencycharts p66-71 Data from Architecture of Territory by Milica Topalovic and personal account.

16 17 18 19 20

I would like to extend my gratitude to my thesis mentor Joshua Comaroff, as well as my friends and family.

108

109

Anderson, Malcolm. Frontiers: Territory and State Formation in the Modern World. Cambridge: Polity Press, 1996. Charney, Jonathan I. International Maritime Boundaries. Netherlands: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2005. Chu Hwai, Lim. "Augmented Transgression: Unveiling the inconsistency of the Border Spaces Between Singapore and Malaysia." Master of Architecture diss., National University of Singapore, 2011. Comaroff, Joshua, and L'Heureux, Erik. Phamphlet Architecture: Wet. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2016. Delaney, David. Territory: a short introduction. Malden: Blackwell, 2005. Donnan, Hastings, and M. Wilson, Thomas. Borders: Frontiers of Identity, Nation and State. New York: Berg, 1999. Ibanez, Daniel, and Katsikis, Nikos. New Geographies 06 -Grounding Metabolism. Cambridge: Universal Wilde, 2014. Iskandar Regional Development Authority. Comprehensive Development Plan ii 2014-2025. Johor, 2014. Kent, H. S. K. “The Historical Origins of the Three-Mile Limit.” The American Journal of International Law 48, no. 4 (1954): 537-53. doi:10.2307/2195021 Kuan, Seng, and Lippit, Yukio. Kenzo Tange: Architecture for the World. Zurich: Lars Muller Publishers, 2012. Lim Yi Yong, Charles. SEA STATE. Singapore: National Arts Council, 2015. Lluis Alexandre Casanovas Blanco, Ignacio G. Galan, Carlos Minguez Carrasco, Alejandra Navarrete Llopis, Marina Otero Vezier. After Belonging: The Objects, Spaces, and Territories of the Ways We Stay in Transit. Zurich: Lars Muller Publishers, 2016. Shiraishi, Takashi. Across the Causeway: A multi-dimensional Study of Malaysia-Singapore Relations. Singapore: ISEAS Publishing, 2009. Topalovic, Milica. Architecture of Territory: beyond the Limits of the City: Research and Design of Urbanising Territories. Zurich: ETH D-ARCH, 2016. Topalovic, Milica. Architecture of Territory Hinterland: Singapore, Johot, Riau. Singapore: Tien Wah Press, 2013. Topalovic, Milica. Constructed Land: Singapore 1924-2012. Vilnius: Petro ofsetas, 2014. Tze Wei, Tan. "Changing Power, Changing landscapes. Urban Transformation of Johor Bahru and Woodlands: 1855-2009." Master of Architecture diss., National University of Singapore, 2009. United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. “Territorial Sea and Contiguous Zone.” Accessed February 20, 2018. https://www. un.org/Depts/los/convention_agreements/texts/unclos/part2.htm Valencia, Mark J.. Maritime Regime Building: Lessons Learned and Their Relevance for Northeast Asia. Netherlands: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2001. Vox Border Series. “Nepal/China: How mountains become borders” Accessed December 5, 2017. https://www.vox.com/a/borders/nepalchina

Edited by Ng Xing Ling Mentored by Joshua Comaroff Master of Architecture Thesis Prep Singapore University of Technology and Design