Maintaining freedom of transit passage in international waterways is a right and not a privilege, said Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim on Tuesday (April 28).Speaking at a United Nations Security Council open debate on maritime safety and security in New York, Zhulkarnain said: «As a small island developing state whose lifeline runs through the Straits of Malacca and Singapore... Singapore takes a clear and categorical position: transit passage in Straits Used for International Navigation is a right under international law and not a discretionary privilege that can be paid for or negotiated.»He added that any erosion of international law in one region of the world inevitably sets a dangerous precedent for all others. «The stakes are not theoretical. The Straits of Malacca and Singapore carries about 23.2 million barrels of oil per day, exceeding the 20.9 million barrels per day that used to flow through the Strait of Hormuz,» he said. Read more