In Defence Of PAS-Run States

Siew Loon Teoh and many of her ilk (orang-orang yang sewaktu dengannya) comment without understanding the background. To Siew Loon Teoh and many of her ilk, if a gorgeous woman gets raped, it is her fault for looking so gorgeous and for not covering up like the women in Afghanistan. Why show your beauty if you do not wish to get raped? What kind of logic is this when the rapist is not to be blamed for the crime?

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Siew Loon Teoh commented on “Perangai PHD Melayu ini biasalah”:

I am from Chuping, Perlis and still go back there to vote. The choice is between BN and PAS, and I always prefer PAS because they are much cleaner than any BN politician.

But the problem with PAS is that they cannot manage a state and definitely our country. Within one term, Hadi Awang was voted out of Terengganu as even the civil servants decided his one term was enough to ruin the state (refer to RPK’s article on this).

Kelantan, after 46 years of PAS rule has nothing to show. The poorest state in Malaysia with the lowest per capita income, 40% of Kelantanese have no access to piped water or to proper flush toilets.

Considered the worst financially managed state, they can’t even pay their civil servants and is the highest recipient of Federal Aid in the past 5 years. We all have to eat, have to have jobs, access to clean water and need technology and investments to grow our Country. PAS cannot do any of this. Great to be religious but it won’t provide jobs or clean water.

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Siew Loon Teoh’s comment and her view regarding PAS-run states needs to be answered because many non-Malays or non-Muslims share this same view.

Before PAS took over the state in 1999, Terengganu had about RM1 billion in income and RM600 million in expenses. This was mainly because of the 5% royalty from Petronas, which started to come in by 1975-1976 or thereabouts soon after the Petroleum Development Act (PDA 1974) was passed by Parliament in 1974.

Now, under the Malayan Agreement that saw the formation of the Federation of Malaya in 1948, all state resources, land matters, customs and traditions, plus religion, are state matters. Those were the terms for the Federated Malays States (Selangor, Perak, Negeri Sembilan and Pahang) and the Unfederated Malay States (Kelantan, Terengganu, Johor, Perlis and Kedah) to join up with the Straits Settlements (Penang and Melaka) to form the Federation of Malaya in 1948.

Mahathir illegally terminated the 5% oil royalty to Terengganu to bring down the PAS State Government

Hence there was an agreement that land, forests, water, tin, rubber, gold, diamonds, oil, gas, and anything at all above ground and below ground belongs to the states. And this includes anything in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) 200 miles from the coast (and for Terengganu and Kelantan this means the South China Sea).

So, when oil was discovered within 200 miles of the Terengganu coast in the South China Sea in 1972, legally it belonged to Terengganu. But the Federal Government wanted to nationalise it. Hence the reason for the PDA1974, which resulted in the creation of a national oil company, Petroliam Nasional Berhad or Petronas.

Legally, Terengganu owned 100% of the oil. But the Federal Government gave only 5% of it back to Terengganu in the form of royalty. Even at that time it came to RM400-600 million and later, by 1999, it was RM700-800 million (and more than RM1 billion today).

Three months after PAS took over Terengganu on 30th November 1999, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir cancelled the 5% oil royalty to Terengganu in violation of the PDA1974 and the Agreement signed between Petronas and Terengganu in 1976. This was an illegal move that violated both an Act of Parliament and a legally binding Agreement.

In 2000, Terengganu was reduced to just RM300 million in income and RM600 million in expenses. In short, Mahathir practically bankrupted Terengganu and he broke the law in doing so.

Does that answer Siew Loon Teoh’s comment: “Within one term, Hadi Awang was voted out of Terengganu as even the civil servants decided his one term was enough to ruin the state?”

It was not PAS who “ruined the state”. It was Mahathir who ruined the state, the man DAP and its 97-98% Chinese voters chose as their prime minister in May 2018.

Kelantan was denied clean water by Dr Mahathir to punish Kelantanese for voting PAS

Now, on Siew Loon Teoh’s comment: “Kelantan, after 46 years of PAS rule has nothing to show. The poorest state in Malaysia with the lowest per capita income, 40% of Kelantanese have no access to piped water or to proper flush toilets.”

In 1988, the Umno state government of Kelantan had prepared the masterplan to upgrade the state’s water supply at a cost of about RM600 million (which is more than RM1.1 billion today).

However, just before the project could be implemented, the state fell to PAS. So, Mahathir cancelled the money to Kelantan and for 30 years until 2018 Kelantan did not have money to upgrade its water supply.

You may ask: “Why must the Federal Government give Kelantan RM600 million for its water supply upgrading project?”

The formation of the Federation of Malaya in 1948 was based on certain terms and obligations, such as loans and grants to replace the taxes that the Federal Goverment now collects direct

This was what was agreed during the formation of the Federation of Malaya in 1948. Before the Federation was formed, Kelantan collected the taxes themselves. After the Federation was formed in 1948, taxes are collected by the Federal Government but the Federal Government would give back some money to the state in the form of grants and loans based on its population size or per capita.

In other words, it is the LEGAL RESPONSIBILITY of the Federal Government to give grants and loans to the states. And even DAP states like Penang and Selangor receive these grants and loans, not just PAS states like Terengganu and Kelantan.

But people like Siew Loon Teoh and all those other Chinese supporters of DAP blame the PAS State Government of Kelantan instead of blaming Mahathir for the 30 years of water misery Kelantanese had to face.

Even Mahathir made fun of Kelantan’s water problem. He laughed at the high number of cholera deaths in Kelantan (the highest in Malaysia) because of its dirty water and blamed PAS for it. He joked that in Kelantan you get “teh tarik” from the taps, not clear water.

They talk about no industries in Kelantan, another reason why the state is backward.

That is true. This is because when investors, local and foreign, wish to set up any factory they first need to apply to the Federal Government (the Malaysian Investment Development Authority or MIDA) for approval. But if the application is to set up a factory in the opposition states, it will be rejected. The applicant will then be told to “relocate to a friendly state” if they want their application approved.

Hence the government sets up a “roadblock” to prevent factories from being set up in Kelantan.

Siew Loon Teoh and many of her ilk (orang-orang yang sewaktu dengannya) comment without understanding the background. To Siew Loon Teoh and many of her ilk, if a gorgeous woman gets raped, it is her fault for looking so gorgeous and for not covering up like the women in Afghanistan. Why show your beauty if you do not wish to get raped? What kind of logic is this when the rapist is not to be blamed for the crime?

RPK