Saturday, November 22, 2025

Tun M backs Kedah’s RM100mil annual claim on Penang, citing soaring land prices





Tun M backs Kedah’s RM100mil annual claim on Penang, citing soaring land prices





FORMER prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has thrown his weight behind Kedah’s demand for RM100mil in annual “lease royalty” from the federal government for Penang, arguing that the figure is modest given today’s soaring land prices.


Speaking in a podcast on Friday (Nov 21), Dr Mahathir said the federal government inherited Britain’s obligation to pay Kedah for Penang, which began at RM100,000 yearly before rising to RM10mil in 2018.


“If valued by current land prices – around RM7,000 per square foot – RM100mil is realistic. Kedah could ask for far more,” the 100-year-old statesman said, stressing that Kedah has no intention of reclaiming administrative control over Penang.

Meanwhile, Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Nor announced the state is in the final stage of appointing a legal team to take the Penang “lease” dispute to court.

Tabling the 2026 state budget on Thursday (Nov 20), Sanusi said a special task force of historians and legal experts completed its report in April 2025, following a 2023 directive from the Kedah Sultan Tuanku Sallehuddin Sultan Badlishah, to clarify the historical status of Penang and Seberang Perai.


The report has been presented to the state executive council, assemblymen and MPs, with court action expected within one to two months. Sanusi insisted the move is not a constitutional challenge but an effort to restore Kedah’s historical rights, claiming the territories were only leased to the British East India Company in 1791 for 10,000 Spanish dollars annually.

Penang maintains the areas were permanently ceded after independence, and some historians note no formal lease document has ever been found. — Nov 22, 2025


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O Dear! What will we Malaysians do without Mahathir's succinct advice?

“Only hudud law can curb alarming out-of-wedlock teens pregnancy among Malay/Muslims”





“Only hudud law can curb alarming out-of-wedlock teens pregnancy among Malay/Muslims”





SUCH is the solution proffered by a PAS meteorologist following the revelation of statistics that 54% of almost 17,000 unmarried pregnancies between 2020-2024 among girls aged 19 and below involved Malay/Muslim girls.


Given that hudud law contradicts “British-created civil law”, hence is not applicable in Shariah court, RS/GIS (remote sensing/geographic information system) specialist Azhar Ishak feels that it is high time to seek the power to amend the Federal Constitution to facilitate the implementation of hudud law.



“Islam needs to rule, not be ruled,” penned the learned environmentalist on his Facebook page in reaction to the recent revelation by Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri in the Dewan Rakyat.


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Azhar Ishak
on Thursday

Emak ayah yg budiman jagalah anak kita jgn terjebak kes2 hamil tanpa nikah, berzina tu, malu keluarga kita. Statistik menunjukkan 54% drpd 17,000 hamil tanpa nikah melibatkan bangsa melayu/ islam. Mungkin salah sorang tu anak kita, cucu kita, kaum kerabat kita, Itu sebab perlu dilaksanakan hukum hudud / qisas dimahkamah syariat jika pun dia bercanggah dgn mahkamah civil, iaitu apa2 keputusan mahkamah syariah jika bercanggah dgn mahkamah federal ciptaan British dgn sendirinya ...

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“The one who commits adultery may be our child; the present shariah laws are un-Islamic and weak – the punishment for adultery, for example, is a mere fine of RM2,000.

“If that’s the law, we’re all guilty of great sins; the shariah court judges are guilty (for meting out light punishment) … We must therefore obtain the power come GE16 (16th General Election) by voting for PAS-PN (Perikatan Nasional).”

Based on figures derived from records at government health facilities provided by the Health Ministry (MOH), Nancy has described as “deeply concerning” that a total of 16,951 unmarried girls aged 19 and under became pregnant between 2020 and 2024 (from a total 41,842 teenage pregnancies).

“Of that total, half involved Malay teenagers, followed by Iban at 11%; Peninsular Orang Asli (9%); Chinese (5%); Indians (3%); and the remainder from other ethnic groups,” she told the Dewan Rakyat.




Nancy was responding to a question from Mohd Misbahul Munir Masduki (PN-Parit Buntar) on the breakdown of pregnancies among unmarried teens by ethnicity and the measures taken to address the issue.


Broader picture

Proponents of comprehensive sex education (CSE) argue it is a preventive and empowering measure that provides young people with knowledge and skills to make informed decisions and avoid high-risk behaviours.

Studies suggest that effective CSE can help to delay sexual initiation, reduce the frequency of sexual activity, increase consistent use of contraception, hence lowering the rates of unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

On the contrary, advocates for the implementation of hudud law primarily view it as a deterrent and a religious obligation which they believe can lead to a more just and crime-free society through strict punishments.




However, the implementation of hudud law in Malaysia is highly controversial. Critics, including various NGOs and human rights activists, argue that is incompatible with the Federal Constitution, discriminates against women and non-Muslims, and can lead to injustices in practice.

Above all else, reviews of countries where hudud law has been implemented show no clear evidence that it effectively reduces crime rates.

At the end of the day, say what you like for one wonder if hudud law can also serve as a viable political tool.

“If you want to expect other (political) parties (to uphold hudud law), their principles of struggle are very far from Islam even though many of them are Muslims,” reminded Azhar.

“We must link politics with the afterlife – not just wandering around in this world. We’ve to pat our chests and question our faith as to how we wish to answer Allah Azawajala as his servants in the afterlife.” – Nov 22, 2025


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What hudud law can prevent teens' out-of-wedlock pregnancy?


The IDF’s Latest ‘Ceasefire’ Massacres



Consortium News
Volume 30, Number 324 — Friday, November 21, 2025


The IDF’s Latest ‘Ceasefire’ Massacres


Israeli forces killed at least 28 Palestinians — including 17 children — in Gaza on Wednesday following their massacre of 13 Palestinians in a refugee camp in southern Lebanon



An Israeli soldier in the Gaza Strip on Feb. 29. 2024. (IDF Spokesperson’s Unit/Wikimedia Commons/ CC BY-SA 3.0)

By Brett Wilkins
Common Dreams


Israel Defense Forces strikes killed at least 28 Palestinians including a woman and 17 children in the Gaza Strip Wednesday in the latest of what local officials say are over 400 Israeli violations of a tenuous ceasefire.

The IDF said it carried out strikes targeting neighborhoods in Gaza City and Khan Younis after “terrorists” opened fire on occupation troops — none of whom were harmed — in what the IDF called “a violation of the ceasefire agreement.”


⭕️ Several terrorists opened fire toward IDF soldiers operating in Khan Yunis. This action constitutes a violation of the ceasefire agreement. In response the IDF began striking terrorist targets across Gaza.
Israel Defense Forces
@IDF
❌ ANOTHER CEASEFIRE VIOLATION: Several terrorists were identified crossing the yellow line and approaching IDF troops in northern Gaza, posing an immediate threat. Following identification, the IDF eliminated the terrorists to neutralize the threat.
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Gaza officials said that more than 100 people were also wounded in Wednesday’s attacks, including one which medical personnel said targeted a building housing displaced families in the Zeitoun neighborhood, southeast of Gaza City.

Hamas — which rules Gaza and led the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel— condemned the attacks as “a dangerous escalation” and refuted the IDF’s claim while accusing Israel of attempting to “justify its ongoing crimes and violations.”

Hamas also urged the United States to exert “immediate, serious pressure” on Israel to “respect the ceasefire and halt the aggression against our people.”


Israel’s military carried out deadly air strikes across Gaza yesterday, as the UN warned families lack adequate shelter for winter, with heavy rains flooding tents and damaging scarce food supplies. 🔴 Follow our LIVE coverage: aje.io/7gw1h2
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Israeli forces also continued bombing southern Lebanon on Wednesday, a day after at least 13 people were killed in an IDF airstrike on a Palestinian refugee camp in Ain al-Hilweh near Sidon. Local officials said most of the victims were children playing soccer.


An F-15I Ra’am jet during the Israeli Air Force’s “Operation New Order” bombing campaign on Lebanon, Sept. 27, 2024. (IDF Spokesperson’s Unit/Wikimedia Commons/ CC BY-SA 3.0)


Israel has been accused of repeatedly violating its ceasefire agreements with Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.


[See: Craig Murray: Lebanon’s Teetering Ceasefire]


More than 300 Palestinians have been killed and over 750 others wounded in what officials say are nearly 400 Israeli violations of the October ceasefire with Hamas.

Since agreeing to a truce with Hezbollah in November 2024, Israeli forces have also killed at least 121 civilians, including 21 women and 16 children, in Lebanon, according to officials there.


Israeli airstrike on Hezbollah’s Beirut headquarters on Sept. 27, 2024. (Jimmyp84/Wikimedia Commons/ CC0)


Overall, Israel’s 775-day assault and siege on Gaza has left at least 249,000 Palestinians dead, maimed, or missing and millions more forcibly displaced, starved and sickened.

Israel’s bombardment and invasion of Lebanon killed more than 4,000 people, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health. This figure includes at least 790 women and 316 children. More than 16,600 others have been wounded. Upward of 1.2 million Lebanese were also forcibly displaced by Israel’s attacks and invasion.

A day of ordinary ceasefire in Gaza: Israel killing 28 Palestinians amidst the silence of the states that just voted a ‘peace’ plan. The neverending suffering of the Palestinians and the sinister politicking around it, are the shame of our times.
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Brett Wilkins is a staff writer at Common Dreams.