NS 16th State Election & some issues drawn.

Sat. 1.8.2026

Today the 867,151 voters in the state should cast their votes in the 16th State Election since Independence. NS is the only one doing this, just like Johor did last month. Not out of necessity. Out of wasteful "pride".

The term that the out-going (meaning going out, not energetic) MB ended was only 33 months into the 60-month term. Strictly, that should mean no pensions for the first-time servers (but they'll find a way out). 

The point is, this is totally wasteful. These elections are not cheap. The rakyat is paying for the whims and fancies of these politicians.

The MB took exception to the critics, in his own "Pakatan Harapan",  about the way he handled the "Adat" case between the state ruler and his 4 Chieftains.  There are better ways at going about that "crisis" than to scrap the entire government and bring everything to screeching halt.

All the issues, of course, became fodder for the election campaigns by the candidates and their backing Parties. Right up to last night PMX (soon to be XPM ?) dug up old dungs. One explosive issue is the 4-year old RCI on Tabung Haji.

For 21 of my early working years, I served Felda. It was 1968, when "LKTP" was just 8 years old. The pain I feel now about the FGV debacle cannot be amply described in one paragraph.

The same goes to Tabung Haji.

Both Felda and Tabung Haji can be traced to the late Tun Razak directly. The noble intentions that he had should make him a saint, and I sincerely pray that Allah Grant him the blessing he deserves. Too bad his oldest son does not contribute here.

Like great leaders in human history, Razak Husein recognized good ideas, and the good men behind them, and in position to act upon that, he did, and in the righteous way.

LKTP was Tun Ismail's baby. Tabung Haji was conceived by Ungku Aziz. Both men deserve honourable mentions in the annals of Malaysian history.

The original source of funds for Tabung Haji was the mini-savings of the pious Malays who scraped and skimmed their modest income to do the compulsory pilgrimmage they were taught in their Islamic teaching. Ungku Aziz saw this when doing his studies in the rural areas, especially in Terengganu. Setting up a fund was the logical solution to this "bottling of pennies" in the kampong house.

Uncoordinated land development by some states, with poor management, was taken up by the DPM in the early years of Merdeka. The Parliamentary Act of 1960 established Felda. What can go wrong planting rubber and oil palm on a large scale ? The British did it and sucked untold billions into Great Britain.

By the time Felda and Tabung Haji were seized by the politicians, Felda had RM 3 billions cash, TH 10 billions. Putting the greedy politicians in charge was like having rats falling into the rice bin ("macam tikus jatuh ke beras"). 

The FGV debacle and the TH RCI tell the rest of the story.

Most importantly, the perpetrators are still around. Specifically, PMX should proceed with the needful immediately. Isa for FGV and Najib for TH are just the tips of the icebergs.

The NS "Adat" crisis ia another lingering pain "in-the-you-know what".

What NS is going through here happened 250 years ago. There was a solution. Why can't they do it again ?

Of course it helps when everybody behaves in a civilised manner. But when people, who ought to know better, don't do better, the worst happen. What we need is calm & collectedness, not madness. Stoking the fire ("batu api") is not sane, much less helpful. 

This is a country ruled by law. Get the law to solve things. Even if the Adat champions protest, it's imperative that Law intervenes. The right rakyat will see what's right.

The "Undang crisis" wouldn't have happened if the holders of the title are more thoughtful. Some had modest backgrounds, and landing the Undangship, which is for life, should have been appreciated. Some  let foolishness overide sanity. 

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