Sun 7 Dec 2025.
I asked Rahim "what's this about Terengganu and Felda ?"
His one-word reply was "stupid".
After an earlier pre-Merdeka start as a Government land- development project, opening up less than 10 acres per lot in a few states like Pahang (eg Bilut), NS (eg Sg. Lui, Labu), Melaka (eg Macap Umbu, Solok Menggong), the Federal Government passed an Act of Parliament in 1960, firmly establishing the Federal Land Development Authority, to develop large swathes of state land into viable rubber, oil palm, cocoa and even sugar cane plantations throughout all the states except, of course the island of Penang, and because of the customary land areas, Sarawak.
I joined Felda in its 9th year of operation, and stayed for 21 long years. In that time I had visited all the Felda schemes that existed then, including the not-yet-settled schemes in Sabah, Johor, Kelantan and Pahang.
The impact of the development for the whole nation cannot be questioned. The landless poor had been provided with a certain future, with some states gracious enough to allow the migration of settlers from other states because of the natural imbalance between the rural population and the schemes built. The oil palm and rubber crops, especially, brought large foreign exchange income, the very real income, for the country then, as it still happens today.
Every effort was made to secure the financial capital from internal and external sources needed to carry out the expensive development involved. In my stay, Felda was run stringently, diligently, and most economically by technocrats, with zero interference from the politicians. The staff was not paid their worth, by my reckoning, because the management was too stingy to put it at par with the private plantations doing less than what Felda was involved with. As the result, when the last non-political Chairman was replaced by a political appointee, he left Felda with no debts and 3 billions in cash.
What's happening now, under the political appointees, is another story.
The Felda accounts are there to be scrutinized and laid bare. The management was forward-looking enough to had gone computerized as early as the 70's. All the records are intact.
Why now the PAS Government in Terengganu wants to undo all the good work ?
The former MB and past President of PAS, Datuk Asri, once was Felda's Minister-in-charge. We even accepted his expansion of PAS activities in the schemes. He certainly knew what Felda was doing in Terengganu.
Is PAS trying to squeeze money from Felda, or FGV ?
Measure if you can, all the good that Felda has brought to Terengganu, against all the accusations of illegalities and land-tampering, raised after 65 long years.
I suggest PAS reads the holy Quran again, and look at the verses on doing good on the land given by Allah, and avoiding greed, jealousy, and a initiating animosity, hate and quarrels.
May Allah Show His Mercy.
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