When Terengganu was an absolute monarchy, the Chief Minister was selected by the Sultan of Terengganu. Since the declaration of independence of Malaysia (then called Tanah Melayu) and the first general election, the Chief Minister has been the State Assembly (ADUN) member elected by a majority of all State Assembly members, who are themselves elected by universal adult suffrage of the citizens of their constituencies
——————————————————–In truth,we are reveresing our country system.As I’ve said earlier he is setting a bad precedence for other Sultan to follow.Next time it doesnt matter if a person had good qualification and hardworking,what matter the most is he had a good rapport with the sultan.What a blast to the past…….

You may have always heard good things about him but,people change just like Pak Lah, from Mr Clean to Mr Corruption.The way I see it,he is appointing Ahmad Said for the sake of appointing anyone other than Idris.Even if his intention is good it is still undemocratically constitutional as far as democratic goes.

As for the interviews,clearly the Rakyat are not supporting +”Ahmads appointment” but rather the “appointment made by the sultan”as they are still in dellusion that the Sultan is always correct,correct,correct…….

If you really want to know who the Rakyat really want as MB,why not set up a new election exclusively for selecting the MB.That way we can really who the rakyat want without royal intervention.

“”He is our “parent” and we are grateful to have him as our Sultan. Daulat Tuanku.”"

Everyone had a parrent even if they didnt know who they were,but not everyone had a sultan.In fact 95% of countries in this world didnt have one.Besides whats the difference between having a Sultan or not?

If you carefully look at the state constitution it’s a little subjective. I am not an expert on constitution but from what I read, in laymen terms, the Sultan is supposed to appoint someone who he thinks have the majority backing. Majority here is not clear whether is applies to ruling parties assemblymen, or all assemblymen or rakyat Terengganu. Even Zaid said the appointment of MatSaid cannot be legally faulted. I don’t like the guy either. I don’t think any BN guys are clean for that matter but I support my Sultan’s decision.

If you study Perak’s case also you can see the subjectivity of the constitution that I talked about. Besides MPPR member has one former senior judge member who I am sure have studied the constitution to the letter to protect Sultan from legal wrangle. I would not say his decision is unconstitutional based on that. I don’t think Sultan is above the law - far from it but from what I know of him previously, he has not shown he has crossed the law. I don’t know him personally but I know some of his soccer buddies. Yes, he used to play soccer with rakyat biasa dulu2. My dad was a longtime state government servant, interacted many many times him, told me stories about him all the time. Nothing but respect. That is the reason he has my backing. I know some people don’t trust royalties because of previous stories/incidents but he is of a different breed.

Think about it, BN won the state which supposedly mean many Terengganuians favor BN right? but when the Sultan is pitted against PM/Idris, majority backed the Sultan. Check out interviews carried out by BN-funded Utusan or TV3, many people said they supported Sultan’s choice. That confirms his choice had “majority” rakyat backing. Afterall, MB of Terengganu should be for all Terengganuians. He is our “parent” and we are grateful to have him as our Sultan. Daulat Tuanku.

I did not ask you to take my stand on the Sultan’s decision. That’s why I said “I” have faith in him - I is the key word. Even if I provide all accounts to back it up you obviously would not believe me, so do a little research. Wiki him, google him, talk to Terengganuians (not Idris Jusoh’s relatives/supporters of course), come back as learned person. If you can provide me with concrete evidence, I will humbly accept your words. Till then please learn to be more responsible. It’s what adults do….

The problem is his action is unconstitutional and could set bad precedence which would adversely affect our establishment system.Sure we can blame Idris for all bad things that occured in Terengganu but we cant ever blame the Sultan?.Come on why appoint a MB who cant even spoke english?
The Sultan are throwing our democratic system haywire…….

Take charge??? LOL.

we need a better Prime minister…

Rustam did not provide the grounds for his belief that financial interests may have played a part. So maybe you can provide the lesser informed among the readers here with some grounds for your belief that he did what he did “for the rakyat’s sake”?

It is even a greater shame when you see someone who thinks the media should only publish what he thinks is the ‘truth’!

Knock ‘em dead, DAP… show the world what you can do — minus the arrogance and hypocrisy which are so synonymous to UMNO!

To answer you, Tuanku Mizan has served the state government dulu and I am quite sure being YDP Agong means he has experience managing at very high sense. Even though Idris dealt with day-to-day issues, I would rate Sultan’s contribution to Terengganu far more valuable than Idris. I am not an expert in constitution, neither I am a historian so I cannot respond to your queries on that but I grew up in Terengganu and I have not heard of any negative stories being told of Tuanku Mizan. He had Tuan Guru Hj Hadi as one of his tutor even when BN was in power (pre-1999, imagine that!) and he accepted Idris as MB in 2004 with no fuss. He has not shown any preference towards any party as far as I can tell. His reason to refuse consent Idris as MB is beyond me but I have faith in him that he did it for Rakyat’s sake. In Islam, no one is above another except his conviction and piety towards Allah so ofcourse Tuanku is not beyond any of us but as far as I can tell, I am more than happy to have him as my Sultan and I will be behind him (as most Terengganuians would be) on this issue. I can see you want to relate this issue with that of other state/other royalties but I think we cannot generalize but rather take/judge case by case basis.

It’s a shame if you think Freedom of Speech means you can say whatever you want and not be accountable for its content. That tells me what kind of person you are really.

That wasnt an important point at all.Its just my own way of expressing the dichotomy of our system.Why state Raja when most are called Sultan?Why when Islam came the raja change their tittle to Sultan?make no difference isnt it?Anyway it isnt an important point at all.

“”2) Menyamakan sistem Beraja di Malaysia sebagai Monarki feudal yang mendikriminasi. Ini sekali lagi membawa pemikiran yang dangkal.”"

A system in which only certain people with certain race and religion could hold certain position isnt a discrimination??Owww…

“”Jika berlaku kepincangan dan terpaksa di bawa ke mahkamah atas keputusan Baginda itu, Baginda sendiri perlu mengeluarkan bukti-bukti dan asas-asas kukuh sesuatu perkara yang berbangkit. Bukannya ikut kehendak hati semata-mata! Ini bukan sistem zaman feudal! “”

That is unlikely to occured.Wheres the justice in the monarchy system?They are not even elected.In fact isnt status gain by blood instead of action kinda lame?What great things the Sultan ever did?Is the Sultan a genius that all of his decision are followed blindly?Did they hold an awesome lot of degree?

Eventhough most of us here dont like that Idris fella he is still involved in a day by day work,but the sultan?Did he ever experience management?
Is the Sultan that holy that we couldnt disagree with him?What if the same thing occured to the opposition?

About the constitution written by foreigners and Rukun negara by UMNO.Isnt that correct?Its a fact, even if its hard to swallow.

That’s journalism. You report what was said. Readers are intelligent and mature and they know what to believe or not believe. They are free to make up their minds - and, of course, they can do without your condescending attitude.

Rustam Sani said he thought there were financial interests involved. What’s so irresponsible of the journalist in reporting it?? You are free to read and form your own opinion. If the Sultan thinks that is slander, he should consult the state legal advisor as to what to do. You cannot shut Rustam Sani up because he is merely stating his beliefs when interviewed - right or wrong. And that is not slander or defammation!

You barking up the wrong tree here! Don’t you think you should ask the maker of the statement that, and not the person who reported it or wrote about it. I’m not even the source.

“Irresponsible posting”?? I suppose to you a journalist writing only what you like to read is “responsible” writing or posting. Have you not heard of “fair and balance” reporting? Why do you think some newspapers have a wider readership than others?

“Please be more responsible when commenting on something you are not sure of.” Have you not heard of the freedom of speech?

Hati-hati dengan pendapat tidak kukuh anda tentang sifat Perlembagaan Malaysia. Ianya boleh menimbulkan rasa tidak puas hati di kalangan rakyat.

1) ‘Kesetiaan kepada Raja dan Negara’. Rukunegara dengan penggunaan perkataan ‘Raja’ bukan ‘Sultan’, tidak relevan? Fahami dan olah maksud di sebalik penggunaan ‘Raja’ dahulu sebelum membuat kesimpulan naif. Jika di Perak digelar Sultan, dan di Perlis pula digelar Raja. Adakah berbezanya? Adakah membawa maksud yang lari dari sifat asalnya?

2) Menyamakan sistem Beraja di Malaysia sebagai Monarki feudal yang mendikriminasi. Ini sekali lagi membawa pemikiran yang dangkal. Sejak bila Sultan/Raja di Malaysia hanya membuat keputusan sendiri? Baginda dikelilingi oleh Majlis atau Council yang mengawal keputusan bersama. Mereka termasuklah semua pakar-pakar dalam pelbagai bidang seperti undang-undang dan sebagainya. Jika berlaku kepincangan dan terpaksa di bawa ke mahkamah atas keputusan Baginda itu, Baginda sendiri perlu mengeluarkan bukti-bukti dan asas-asas kukuh sesuatu perkara yang berbangkit. Bukannya ikut kehendak hati semata-mata! Ini bukan sistem zaman feudal!

3) Rukunegara ditulis oleh UMNO? Perlembagaan ditulis oleh Penjajah? Tak perlulah saya nak terangkan sekali lagi pemikiran yang dangkal ini. Maafkan saya, tapi pemikiran seperti ini sekali lagi boleh mencetuskan rasa tidak puas hati dan tersinggung semua pihak. Ini yang akan mencetuskan ketegangan. Kita nak hidup harmoni. Pikir-pikirkan.

Yang penting, kalau kita semua nak keluarkan pendapat tentang sesuatu isu, fahami dan dalami isu tersebut, bukan di atas permukaan sahaja.

Kita bukan dalam fasa krisis perlembagaan, tapi krisis politik. Krisis politik diselesaikan secara politik. Dan letakkan perlembagaan sebagai payung di atas untuk menyelesaikannya. Dan fahami paras mana politik berada dan paras mana perlembagaan perlu berada. Barulah semuanya berjalan lancar.

Dan ingatlah, tiada satu negara pun di dunia ini punya demokrasi MUTLAK. Semuanya kene mengikut perlembagaan masing-masing. Yang menjadi asas pembentukan sesebuah negara.

U can go see it at this site:
http://www.malaysia-today.net/2008/content/view/4951/84/

UMNO fellas it is not too late to repent and mend your ways and accept whatever you have at the moment and continue your Management and Administration solely for the welfare of the rakyat and dont go around chasing witches and shadows and barking at the moon. GET DOWN TO SERIOUS WORK.

PM stop listening to all the JUDAS AND BRUTUS who are only waiting for your downfall and BEWARE of the guy on your left and right. BE LIKE TDM put the young upstarts in their shoes and dont let them overrule you. IN POLITICS YOU CANNOT AND SHOULD NOT EVEN TRUST YOUR FATHER LET ALONE YOUR SIBLINGS AND SO-CALLED CLOSE FRIENDS. (just remove the “R” and they become FIENDS)

Pak Lah I sincerely symphatise with you and pity you and I know what is going on in your mind and PREDICAMENTS AND DILEMA you are facing. WAKE UP, WAKE UP, WAKE UP, otherwise this will be the beginning of your END.

concerned rakyat

Ketika DAP Perak mempertikaikan keputusan Sultan Perak untuk melantik Adun PAS untuk menjadi Menteri Besar Perak, tanpa segan dan silu Barisan Nasional (BN) yang ditunjangi oleh UMNO telah menuduh DAP tidak menghormati Sultan Melayu, dan bersikap biadap terhadap sultan. UMNO telah menuntut Penasihat DAP, Datuk Lim Kit Siang untuk memohon ampun dan maaf kepada Pemangku Sultan Perak, dan ianya telah dilakukan oleh Datuk Lim Kit Siang dengan segera tanpa banyak soal. Perkara ini berlaku lagi, tetapi bukanlah berkaitan dengan Parti DAP, tetapi parti Umno Terengganu. 24 Adun parti UMNO akan memulaukan majlis angkat sumpah Menteri Besar Terengganu yang mendapat restu daripada Sultan Terengganu. 24 adun berpihak kepada Perdana Menteri dan Seorang Adun mendapat restu Sultan. Kehendak Sultan tidak diperstujui oleh 24 adun UMNO dan mereka sanggup untuk memulaukan majlis angkat sumpah yang akan dihadiri oleh Sultan Terengganu. Boleh lah kita simpulkan disini, BN boleh menidakkan Sultah tetapi kalau parti pembangkang jangan sesekali kerana ianya menyentuh sensitivity masyarakat melayu, dan itu mesti dihormati. Bagaimana sekarang siapa yang lebih berkuasa untuk melantik Menteri Besar, Sultan atau Perdana Menteri. Dapatlah dilihat disini tidak ada yang “Mantap” dalam Barisan Nasional, intergritinya tidak ada, sehingga tahap untuk tindakan disiplin parti akan dikenakan kepada Adun Kijal, Datuk Ahmad Said, sekiranya menerima perlantikan daripada Sultan Terengganu. Sekiranya keadaan ini terus berlaku, dimana tidak ada persefahaman diantara pihak kerajaan dengan pihak Istana, ini akan menimbulkan satu situasi yang tidak seimbang dengan perlembagaan Malaysia. Perlembagaan Malaysia, “Kesetian Kepada Raja dan Negara”, mana perginya Kesetian Kepada Raja dikalangan pemimpin kerajaan sekarang. Sultan mempunyai hak untuk melantik Menteri Besar sesuai dengan perlembagaan negeri yang sedia ada, Sultan hanya menjalankan tugasnya sebagai Sultan yang mungkin telah melihat, menimbang dan telah mengkaji kelemahan calon Menteri Besar yang dipilih oleh Perdana Menteri. Pemimpin Kerajaan (UMNO) pandai cakap saja, tetapi tak serupa bikin….

Lady Godiva
I think it’s quite irresponsible of you to post something of which you are not sure of. If you read carefully, Rustam Sani said “I think financial…” which means he is not too sure. Where are the evidence? If you want to put up an argument, fine - back it with evidence. Otherwise it’s irresponsible posting. You are deluding people just on hearsay…how are you different from BN people?

Fyi, Sultan Mizan is people’s Sultan in every sense. He attended basic common schools (SM Sultan Sulaiman) in Terengganu and has many rakyat buddies, not friends - buddies. There are many stories that documented he went against his father a few times to be with rakyat. He is very down to earth person and as Terengganuian, I cannot imagine many people would go against him, not even if he is pit against Tuan Guru Hj Hadi, much less Idris Jusoh.

I am not quite sure what is the reason behind him snubbing Idris Jusoh but I do believe in him and I believe he has rakyat in his interest. If anything, he already showed to people how fickle minded these BN goons are when fighting for positions/titles and the lies they spread of respecting the Sultan so that’s a bonus to BR already. Please be more responsible when commenting on something you are not sure of.

Pak Lah is digging his own grave now, how can the old man listen to Khairy? Khairy is passing him a spade to dig the grave deeper so that he won’t get disturb once he step down. This has proven Oxford textbook politic has failed Khairy, has blinded the PM and the judgement day is approaching.

Whatever it is, let’s hope the Oil-$ (if 5% = RM1B…where is the other 95%=>RM19B?) under the new Terengganu-CM, it will be well distributed for the poor Terengganu bro & sis. I heard that the Kristal Masjid got a RM5 taxi boat fee to ride across to get to the Masjid. Is it true??? Otherwise, one is forced to drive one big circle (30-60min) to get there. What’s the logic if true?

I am planning my next holiday to travel around Kelantan next! Many beautiful buddhist temples to visit. Best information to get is from locals - not MTDC.

The issue is not Islam……it is the decades of narrow, shallow and damaging politics of religion to gain support and retain power at all costs.

The fact that there are Islamic terrorists involving some Malaysian Muslims in the bombing of Bali speaks volume of unchecked and dangerous Islamic extremism and fundamentalism in the country.

Politics in the country is dirty, narrow and damaging…..when you mix religion with politics, religion will be grossly tainted.

It is all about money! It is not about the rakyat! Don’t be fooled.

http://www.iht.com/articles/reuters/2008/03/24/asia/OUKWD-UK-MALAYSIA-POLITICS.php

As long as Said has the support of the majority of his assemblymen, then the constitution will not be violated. I suppose the Sultan knows these UMNO types. Initially there was all this ’solidarity’ with Jusoh but that is melting away as we speak and the Sultan looks like getting his way. Anyway, Abdullah is so weak he simply cannot take on the Agung and alienate the Malay ground further. If Abdullah had moral authority the case would be different. His reason for keeping Jusoh is purely to fill UMNO and his cronies coffers, surely a despicable reason when the people of Terengganu are suffering.

When Mahathir took on the Royalty early in his tenure he had the support of the Rakyat. This is not the case now, as Abdullah is a lame duck PM. He squandered a golden opportunity to put right the wrongs of the Mahathir era in 2004 when he had a landslide victory.He decided to ‘retire’ and leave the running of the country to his now infamous and politically illiterate son-in-law. He is now paying for abdicating the responsibillity which was entrusted to him. He has lost the not only the non-Malay ground but crucially the Malay ground is abandoning him.

It looks as though Abdullah will not last long now. He has been badly been damaged with his tussle with the Royalty. Why back an utterly corrupt MB when you are so weak politically. He should have approved the Sultan’s choice to give himself political breathing space to consolidate his position in UMNO. Now he has enemies in UMNO, PAS, PKR , DAP and the Agung to boot!

One thing that Malaysia Today would like to raise is the matter of
Terengganu’s oil royalty which we hope Mahathir will address on 28
July. Since the mid-1970s, Terengganu had been enjoying a 5% royalty on all the oil and gas extracted in the state. That is what is
provided for under the Petroleum Development Act. In fact, not only Terengganu, but any state in Malaysia where oil and gas is extracted they would enjoy the same. However, in 2000, this royalty was withdrawn and converted to Wang Ehsan (goodwill money). Suddenly, the RM800 million or so a year that Terengganu was supposed to get as its 5% share of the oil and gas revenue was transferred out of the state and into the hands of one man, Idris Jusoh.

Malaysia was then already suffering from an outbreak of JE. But in
Terengganu it was JE of another kind, Jusoh Enterprise, Idris Jusoh’s family business. Jusoh Enterprise or JE was suddenly flush with funds, RM800 million a year to be exact. Then, in 2004, Umno, under the stewardship of Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, won back the state from the opposition. But the state did not win back its 5% oil royalty. The Wang Ehsan continued and Idris Jusoh, who now became the Chief Minister, continued to single-handedly manage the fund. Even the State Economic Development Corporation (SEDC) and the Terengganu State Economic Planning Unit (UPENT) were left totally in the dark. One man, Idris Jusoh, decided how the money was spent, and it is a lot of money.

But the new Prime Minister, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, would not tolerate one man managing the state’s coffers. He wanted Idris Jusoh’s hands out of the RM800 million a year cash box. However, to revert to the 5% royalty only meant that the money would come directly under state control. That would not serve their purpose. They wanted direct control of the RM800 million. Now it was under the control of the Prime Minister’s Department but passed down to Idris Jusoh’s hands. What they needed to do was to get Idris Jusoh’s hands out of the equation.

Then Khairy Jamaluddin, Abdullah’s son-in-law cum adviser, came out with a fantastic new ‘umbrella concept’, better than even Mahathir’s. They wanted control of the RM800 million a year. But they did not want to get it out of Idris Jusoh’s hands by putting it into the hands of the state. That would merely be a case of out of the frying pan, into the fire. They wanted direct control of the money without Idris Jusoh deciding on how the money is spent.

And this is how they did it.

First they appointed Wan Farid, Khairy’s ‘running dog’, as Abdullah’s
Political Secretary. Then they appointed Wan Hisham, Wan Farid’s
brother, as the State Exco Member in-charge of tourism. Then they gave Patrick Lim, Khairy’s business partner, the sole monopoly of all state tourism projects. Now the network is intact and Idris Jusoh has been cut off.

Patrick Lim’s job is to create all sorts of state tourism projects at
hugely inflated prices. He would then propose these projects to Wan Hisham, the man in-charge of tourism. Wan Hisham would then pass them on to his brother, Wan Farid. Wan Farid would then pass them on to Khairy. Idris Jusoh would of course be left out of the loop and he would only know about them when it was a fait accompli — as the Malays would say, “Nasi sudah jadi bubur.”

They built 30 houses at RM1 million each on an island in the
Terengganu River. They launched a RM300 million a year yacht race
called the Monsoon Cup. Hundreds of millions a year is being spent to ‘attract tourists to Terengganu’. It seems this year the amount of Wang Ehsan has shot up from RM800 million to RM1 billion — so there is even more money to play around with.

To ensure that Idris Jusoh keeps his hands out of the cash box,
Abdullah himself chairs the state meetings though he is the Prime
Minister and not the Terengganu Chief Minister. Of course, Idris
Jusoh, being the Chief Minister, is allowed to sit in on these
meetings though he has no say on what they propose. Patrick Lim,
though he is not in the government, is also allowed to attend these
meetings.

Abdullah would then propose all sorts of tourism projects conjured by Wan Hisham, Wan Farid and Khairy. Details are of course not discussed; only the gist of things and the amounts involved. Whenever Idris Jusoh raises any questions, he would be told to ‘leave it all to Patrick Lim who knows what to do’. Idris Jusoh is not to involve himself in the details.

After awhile Idris Jusoh got quite pissed and tried to resist. One
project that he knew nothing about was placed before him and he was told by Patrick Lim to sign the papers. But how could he sign the papers when he knew nothing about it and would eventually have to bear responsibility for it?

Patrick Lim walked out of Idris Jusoh’s office and phoned Wan Farid
who complained to Khairy. Within an hour Idris Jusoh received a phone call from Abdullah who ordered him to sign the papers, which he of course did straight away.

Patrick Lim’s hold on Abdullah was apparent to all but somehow not to Idris Jusoh. One day Abdullah visited Terengganu to chair the regular meetings on how to spend Terengganu’s RM800 million (which is now RM1 billion because of the increase in oil prices). Idris Jusoh fetched Abdullah from the airport but before his car could move Patrick Lim’s car cut in front of Idris Jusoh’s car and Abdullah got out of Idris Jusoh’s car and got into Patrick Lim’s car. Idris Jusoh should have realised then who really runs Terengganu.

Yes, RM1 billion a year is a lot of money. This money, which should
belong to Terengganu, is not going to the state. It is going to Wan
Hisham, Wan Farid, Patrick Lim and Khairy. And Abdullah chairs the
state meetings to decide how the money is spent. And Wan Hisham, Wan Farid, Patrick Lim and Khairy help spend the money. And they spend it all. And Idris Jusoh has no say in how it is spent. And if he refuses to sign the papers he will get a phone call from Abdullah.

Now do you know who runs this country? Abdullah says he and not his son-in-law runs this country. Idris Jusoh however will tell you that Khairy runs this country. And Khairy also runs Terengganu and manages its RM1 billion a year through Wan Hisham, Wan Farid and Patrick Lim. And Abdullah chairs the Terengganu State meetings on behalf of Khairy and according to the plan on how Patrick Lim wishes to spend the RM1 billion a year.

And now do you know why Mahathir is so pissed? And he has every reason to be pissed. In fact, I too am pissed. And that is why I agree that Mahathir stays pissed with Abdullah and his son-in-law. The Terengganu issue alone is enough for me to get pissed. And rest assured that Terengganu is but the tip of the iceberg.

Yes, it is nice being able to walk in the corridors of power. And much can you do when you walk in the corridors of power. And RM1 billion a year is nice to manage if you have that power to do so. And when you walk in the corridors of power you would of course have that power

which is the RICHNESS…@Hs

One thing that Malaysia Today would like to raise is the matter of
Terengganu’s oil royalty which we hope Mahathir will address on 28
July. Since the mid-1970s, Terengganu had been enjoying a 5% royalty
on all the oil and gas extracted in the state. That is what is
provided for under the Petroleum Development Act. In fact, not only
Terengganu, but any state in Malaysia where oil and gas is extracted
they would enjoy the same. However, in 2000, this royalty was
withdrawn and converted to Wang Ehsan (goodwill money). Suddenly, the
RM800 million or so a year that Terengganu was supposed to get as its
5% share of the oil and gas revenue was transferred out of the state
and into the hands of one man, Idris Jusoh.

Malaysia was then already suffering from an outbreak of JE. But in
Terengganu it was JE of another kind, Jusoh Enterprise, Idris Jusoh’s
family business. Jusoh Enterprise or JE was suddenly flush with funds,
RM800 million a year to be exact. Then, in 2004, Umno, under the
stewardship of Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, won back the state from the
opposition. But the state did not win back its 5% oil royalty. The
Wang Ehsan continued and Idris Jusoh, who now became the Chief
Minister, continued to single-handedly manage the fund. Even the State
Economic Development Corporation (SEDC) and the Terengganu State
Economic Planning Unit (UPENT) were left totally in the dark. One man,
Idris Jusoh, decided how the money was spent, and it is a lot of
money.

But the new Prime Minister, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, would not tolerate
one man managing the state’s coffers. He wanted Idris Jusoh’s hands
out of the RM800 million a year cash box. However, to revert to the 5%
royalty only meant that the money would come directly under state
control. That would not serve their purpose. They wanted direct
control of the RM800 million. Now it was under the control of the
Prime Minister’s Department but passed down to Idris Jusoh’s hands.
What they needed to do was to get Idris Jusoh’s hands out of the
equation.

Then Khairy Jamaluddin, Abdullah’s son-in-law cum adviser, came out
with a fantastic new ‘umbrella concept’, better than even Mahathir’s.
They wanted control of the RM800 million a year. But they did not want
to get it out of Idris Jusoh’s hands by putting it into the hands of
the state. That would merely be a case of out of the frying pan, into
the fire. They wanted direct control of the money without Idris Jusoh
deciding on how the money is spent.

And this is how they did it.

First they appointed Wan Farid, Khairy’s ‘running dog’, as Abdullah’s
Political Secretary. Then they appointed Wan Hisham, Wan Farid’s
brother, as the State Exco Member in-charge of tourism. Then they gave
Patrick Lim, Khairy’s business partner, the sole monopoly of all state
tourism projects. Now the network is intact and Idris Jusoh has been
cut off.

Patrick Lim’s job is to create all sorts of state tourism projects at
hugely inflated prices. He would then propose these projects to Wan
Hisham, the man in-charge of tourism. Wan Hisham would then pass them
on to his brother, Wan Farid. Wan Farid would then pass them on to
Khairy. Idris Jusoh would of course be left out of the loop and he
would only know about them when it was a fait accompli — as the
Malays would say, “Nasi sudah jadi bubur.”

They built 30 houses at RM1 million each on an island in the
Terengganu River. They launched a RM300 million a year yacht race
called the Monsoon Cup. Hundreds of millions a year is being spent to
‘attract tourists to Terengganu’. It seems this year the amount of
Wang Ehsan has shot up from RM800 million to RM1 billion — so there
is even more money to play around with.

To ensure that Idris Jusoh keeps his hands out of the cash box,
Abdullah himself chairs the state meetings though he is the Prime
Minister and not the Terengganu Chief Minister. Of course, Idris
Jusoh, being the Chief Minister, is allowed to sit in on these
meetings though he has no say on what they propose. Patrick Lim,
though he is not in the government, is also allowed to attend these
meetings.

Abdullah would then propose all sorts of tourism projects conjured by
Wan Hisham, Wan Farid and Khairy. Details are of course not discussed;
only the gist of things and the amounts involved. Whenever Idris Jusoh
raises any questions, he would be told to ‘leave it all to Patrick Lim
who knows what to do’. Idris Jusoh is not to involve himself in the
details.

After awhile Idris Jusoh got quite pissed and tried to resist. One
project that he knew nothing about was placed before him and he was
told by Patrick Lim to sign the papers. But how could he sign the
papers when he knew nothing about it and would eventually have to bear
responsibility for it?

Patrick Lim walked out of Idris Jusoh’s office and phoned Wan Farid
who complained to Khairy. Within an hour Idris Jusoh received a phone
call from Abdullah who ordered him to sign the papers, which he of
course did straight away.

Patrick Lim’s hold on Abdullah was apparent to all but somehow not to
Idris Jusoh. One day Abdullah visited Terengganu to chair the regular
meetings on how to spend Terengganu’s RM800 million (which is now RM1
billion because of the increase in oil prices). Idris Jusoh fetched
Abdullah from the airport but before his car could move Patrick Lim’s
car cut in front of Idris Jusoh’s car and Abdullah got out of Idris
Jusoh’s car and got into Patrick Lim’s car. Idris Jusoh should have
realised then who really runs Terengganu.

Yes, RM1 billion a year is a lot of money. This money, which should
belong to Terengganu, is not going to the state. It is going to Wan
Hisham, Wan Farid, Patrick Lim and Khairy. And Abdullah chairs the
state meetings to decide how the money is spent. And Wan Hisham, Wan
Farid, Patrick Lim and Khairy help spend the money. And they spend it
all. And Idris Jusoh has no say in how it is spent. And if he refuses
to sign the papers he will get a phone call from Abdullah.

Now do you know who runs this country? Abdullah says he and not his
son-in-law runs this country. Idris Jusoh however will tell you that
Khairy runs this country. And Khairy also runs Terengganu and manages
its RM1 billion a year through Wan Hisham, Wan Farid and Patrick Lim.
And Abdullah chairs the Terengganu State meetings on behalf of Khairy
and according to the plan on how Patrick Lim wishes to spend the RM1
billion a year.

And now do you know why Mahathir is so pissed? And he has every reason
to be pissed. In fact, I too am pissed. And that is why I agree that
Mahathir stays pissed with Abdullah and his son-in-law. The Terengganu
issue alone is enough for me to get pissed. And rest assured that
Terengganu is but the tip of the iceberg.

Yes, it is nice being able to walk in the corridors of power. And much
can you do when you walk in the corridors of power. And RM1 billion a
year is nice to manage if you have that power to do so. And when you
walk in the corridors of power you would of course have that power

when things are not going their way. Why there wasnt much fuss

when the Perlis MB of PM choice was rejected? Why the special

attention the PM & UMNO giving to the Terengganu MB chaos?

Keep an OPEN eyes to this! something fishy…

These are the FIVE RUKUN NEGARA MALAYSIA.
It’s obvious UMNO failed nearly all of the above.
Where is the “KESETIAAN KEPADA RAJA DAN NEGARA”?

One should never however endorse the Sultans action of appointing anyone that he like as this will contribute to more problem than solution.What happen if the oppositions are in the same situation as those Terengganu.Just because the Sultan dont like that person he could boot him whenever he pleased.That is totally against the principle of democracy.

To complicate the matter our country had more than one monarch and each of them cost the peoples money and they are not even elected unlike the BN wakil rakyat that we sorta despice of.

Remember, with the monarchy system we get discriminatory laws such as non muslim/malay cant be MB,need certain amount of malays as excos and so on.

Sure we had the rukun negara but it was written by UMNO.We ha constitution but it is written by foreigners.

rukun negara number 2:

Kesetiaan pada raja.

I know this might sound “loyar buruk”,but really we dont have Rajas.we have Sultans.

Monsoon (Cup) winds of change
Posted by Raja Petra
Monday, 24 March 2008

Mat Said is a fighter. And even as a ‘nobody’ he stood his ground against an outraged Eric Chia who was foaming at the mouth while screaming the Prime Minister’s name. No Chinese gangster or Menteri Besar or even the most powerful Prime Minister could shake him. And that is the kind of Menteri Besar His Majesty the Agong would like as head of his state government.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Guano pulok puak-puak Amno ni bekeng sangat? Dah Tuanku amboh, amboh lah! Mende nak main paksa-paksa pulok? Bila menatang Cheena buat kacau kat Perak, bising. Ni, menatang Amno pulok nak tunjuk bekeng. Beso kemaluang Ganu kite.

That is probably what the Kuala Terengganu folks at the Pasar Payang wet market are lamenting. When the Rulers keep quiet, the rakyat complain and question the purpose of retaining the Monarchy if the Rulers do not earn their salary. However, when they do act, the raykat complain and accuse the Rulers of getting involved in politics. The Rulers must work for the people, argue the rakyat. The bottom line is, the rakyat don’t really know what they want.

In the 1990s, a well-known Malaysian business magazine reported that Terengganu is the second richest state after Selangor but its rakyat are the second poorest after Perlis. The Kelantan Menteri Besar, Tok Guru Nik Aziz Nik Mat, retorted that Kelantan may be poor compared to Terengganu, but its people are rich. “Kekayaan Kelantan di tangan rakyat,” said Nik Aziz. Kelantenese, Nik Aziz stressed, do not need to depend on the government. They will travel far and wide, even to Singapore, to earn their living. And they will send money back to the state to help prop up its economy.

This is true. You can find a Kampong Kelantan in Singapore but not a Kampong Terengganu or Kampong Kedah or whatever. And Kelantanese will go back to Kelantan to pay their zakat (tithe) so that the money can go to the state and not to the federal government. And that is why the federal government attempted to nationalise the zakat collection — they wanted to deny the state the money. But Kelantanese are stubborn and they are in fact proud that they can survive without federal funding and in spite of being squeezed of federal funding.

Take their water supply as one example. Kelantanese are being denied clean water because the federal government will not give the state the money it needs to improve its water supply. Because of this many have died of cholera over the last two decades but the Kelantanese refuse to hand the state back to Barisan Nasional although by doing so they could then get clean water and would no longer suffer so many deaths. Kelantanese treat the high number of deaths and the loss of their loved ones as ‘collateral damage’ which one has to endure when opposing the federal government. Yes, they are sad that many have to die, but in any struggle people die and the struggle against the tyranny of the federal government overrides all other considerations.

Terengganu, however, is not like Kelantan. The people of Terengganu are not so stubborn or resilient. ‘Ganu’ means rainbow and ‘terang’ means bright. Kelantanese used to refer to the land south of their state as ‘bright rainbow’ and that is how the state eventually became known as Terengganu. Terengganu, of course, has gold and the English say that at the end of the rainbow you will find gold. But there is not that much gold really. Sure you can find some, althou