Kniasu-ness of Water Uptight Agreement?

Lately we have had water issues, wakakaka.

You have read of my WATERtight MoU, wakakaka. So now you're most welcome to read about the WATER uptight Agreement, wakakaka.

Malay Mail Online - Malaysia forfeited right to review water price, says Singapore minister

K Shanmugan

Waytha, eat your heart out, wakakaka

SINGAPORE, March 6 — When Malaysia decided not to review the water price under the Water Agreement in 1987, it has lost its right to review the price, says Singapore Minister for Foreign Affairs K. Shanmugam.

“Singapore’s position is that Malaysia has lost its right to review the water price. The Water Agreement provided for the review after 25 years. Specifically, there was a right to review the price of water jointly in 1987. However, Malaysia consciously chose not to review the price. It had good reasons for this,” he said this in reply to a Parliamentary question today. [...]

Shanmugam said that had Malaysia exercised the right to review the water price in 1987, Singapore might then have made different investment decisions to develop the Johor River, for instance the Linggiu Dam project of 1990.

In the event, he said Malaysia chose not to review the water price in 1987, and on that basis, Singapore then took several action, which also benefitted Malaysia. 

Malaysian water, Sing glass, wakakaka

He said this included building the Linggiu Dam at a cost of over S$300 million (RM773 million), which increased the yield of the Johor River and enabled both Johor and Singapore to draw water from it during the dry season.

Indeed, neither party can unilaterally change any of the terms of the 1962 Water Agreement.

Shanmugam said Malaysia benefitted greatly from the current pricing arrangement.

Guess who was the PM in 1987?

Wakakaka, yes it was HIM, the guy who always had issues with Singapore over the price of the water supplied by Malaysia to Singapore!

f**k you all ingrates

However, I do have some doubts as to which Malaysian government has oversight and say over the contract with Sing - was/is it the federal government or the Johor state government?

If it has been the former then his remaining silent about revising the price in 1987 would be indicting of him.

But if it has been the Johor state government why then didn't he, not only PM of Malaysia but also as President of UMNO, advise or even instruct the UMNO-led state government to review and revise the water price as per the water agreement?

wakakaka

Now this is the interesting part. 

In 2003 Dr Mahathir stated: "Of course, we have to raise our price and this is within our agreement. The agreement says that after 25 years we can revise the price of water but no timeline was given.

"If it (agreement) says that as soon as you reach 25 years, you must immediately revise, that is a different matter but that was not what was in the agreement."

If this is true then Singapore Minister for Foreign Affairs K. Shanmugam has not been correct in saying "When Malaysia decided not to review the water price under the Water Agreement in 1987, it has lost its right to review the price."

The fundamental disagreement is this: the Sing said Malaysia must revise the price in 1987 (and not later) or lose that right. OTOH, Dr Mahathir asserted that the agreement says Malaysia can revise the price after 25 years of the agreement (signed in 1962) which was 1987 but the agreement doesn't say it must be done there and then in 1987, meaning the revision could be done much later, after 1987.

However, Shanmugam had argued that Singapore's investment in the Linggiu Dam in Johor had been based on Malaysia not taking up its rights to revise the water price in 1987 or Sing would then not have invested in the dam.

Oh I see, wakakaka. Perhaps the Malaysian side had wanted Sing to invest in the dam so had kept quiet about the price revision, and subsequent to that, said: oops-a-daisy, we forgot about it, we actually wanted a price revision  - wakakaka.

Linggui Reservoir

Now, deciding who's right will have to be the province of contractual lawyers, that is, assuming the current Malaysian government even wants to take up the issue, wakakaka.

Just as a matter of interest, Clause 17 of the 1961 Agreement and Clause 14 of the 1962 Agreement state clearly: "The provisions of paragraphs (i) and (ii) of the foregoing clause of these presents shall be subject to review after the expiry of 25 years from the date of these presents ..." 

Twenty-five years after 1961 and 1962 respectively means any time after 1986 and 1987 respectively. 

But again, does this mean the review must take place immediately on these two dates, and not subsequent to those two dates?

I am afraid, as mentioned, we have to let the lawyers look into the agreements, assuming the Najib Administration even wants to consider Dr Mahathir's 10-year old argument, wakakaka.

Am I just being a batu api, making Dr Mahathir madder at Najib with my above insinuations? Wakakaka.

wakakaka

However, Dr Mahathir was right on one point in 2003 when he mentioned that Singaporean (former) Foreign Minister S. Jayakumar’s allegation of the dispute over the water pricing problem being not a question of the price per se but a question of Singapore's sovereignty, had only been Jayajumar’s invention. 

Bernama had then quoted Dr Mahathir as saying that: Jayakumar must know of course, that it was Malaysia who gave Singapore the status of a sovereign nation.

Before this, Singapore was just a part of Malaysia and there was no reason why Malaysia should undermine the republic's sovereignty, he said, adding that in any case it is absurd to suggest sovereignty was a function of the price of water.

He said: "We sell water to them all these years even at a time when they were a British colony when no question of sovereignty arose. Now they are trying to link it to sovereignty by saying that the price of water is not important."

Personally I think Singapore has been not only unfair but a wee kniasu by insisting on paying only 3 sen per 1000 litres of Malaysian water, a price based on an agreement more than 50 years old.

Kniasu is pronounced with a nasal sound, hence
there should be a 'n' in the word
hey looes74, those Sings (your people) can't spell for nuts lah

wakakaka

And indeed the word kniasu was used by Dr Mahathir himself who had then accused Singapore of having a kiasu attitude whereby it was afraid to lose. He said:"They have never lost. They have this kiasu attitude, afraid to lose. So, when they lose, they don't know how to react. We cannot play a part in this game of theirs."

Wakakaka, how I love this word kniasu. I've also heard our Muslim poster boy Ridhuan Tee accusing a milkmaid of being not only kniasu but get this, ULTRA KNIASU, which I believe has been spot on, wakakaka.

but stale milk can still be drank, what!!

No no no, I haven't read anything about Waytha recently asking
the Indians to vote against BN (I don't sell fresh milk mah)
other than his earlier pro-BN condemnations of those DAPsters,
(oh how I so hate that Hannah for being better looking than me)

wakakaka

Sodomized before Kajang?

Malaysiakini - If convicted, Anwar likely can't contest in Kajang

I hope not, convicted that is.

I want to see Anwar contest in Kajang and how the voters there will cast their ballots. If he wins which is more likely that's fine - it's democracy.

If he loses, most unlikely, then likewise.

But if his majority falls short of that enjoyed by Lee Chin Cheh, well ... we can analyse and conduct all sorts of postmortem until the lost Hindraf cows come home, wakakaka.

But if he is convicted (and I hope not) then he and PKR will have more grandmother stories to tell, wakakaka.

The knock on the door

TMI - Former real estate agent sues Jais, says he was beaten when caught for close proximity

A former real estate agent today filed a suit against the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) for using physical force on him when he was arrested for close proximity, or khalwat, at his home in December 2006.

Hashim Mohd Said, 48, said that six Jais officers and two police personnel had burst into his home at the Seri Tanjung Apartment in USJ 16 at 4am when he was caught with his partner, who is a convert.

"They used a cane to beat me during the raid," he told reporters outside the Shah Alam Court Complex.

Hashim said that he sustained injuries all over his body including his face, and had to seek treatment at the Universiti Malaya Medical Centre and the Kuala Lumpur Hospital.

If the above is true then I need to say something about it.

It’s known “some people” love to hurt others. Give them a bit of power and whoosh, they’re off with their canes.

So we need to ask: was it necessary to whack someone found in close proximity? Or had the officers been jealous of the victim? Wakakaka.

Arab babe

Worse, in Brunei they can chop off your hands, execute you by stoning, etc all in the name of God, which means you can't question those punishments or the law officers who dispense them on the poor victims. And it won't help even if you appeal to the court, not when your hands have been amputated.

And PAS praises Brunei for fully implementing syariah.

But there’s little evidence that syariah laws have reduced crimes; au contraire they have been evidence such religious laws, because they can't be challenged, have sanctioned crimes by religious officers – for more, read my earlier post Little evidence of justice in hudud-ruled nations.

Local spirits at bridge angry?

Malay Mail Online - Man in suicide bid at new Penang Bridge

KUALA LUMPUR, March 5 — A man today jumped off the Sultan Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah Bridge today, in an apparent suicide bid just days after the Second Penang bridge was opened to the public on the weekend. […]

... the man leapt from the bridge around 2 pm but survived the plunge and was rescued by Marine Police.

He is now being treated at Penang Hospital. The newspaper earlier described him as a son of a deputy minister, but has since amended this to nephew.

Our orang tua would say the local spirits must be claiming (or in this particular case, attempting to claim) human lives in revenge for the puny mortals being impertinent enough to kacau their traditional abodes.

In some ways, humans are no different to those supernatural beings because we saw during the recent naming of the bridge that our toxic politics required sacrifices be made of reason, respect and basic decency.

Anyway, in days gone by, 'twas said that human sacrifices were covertly made prior to any start to new major constructions to appease local spirits. The creepy ritual involving human sacrifice was particularly mentioned for new bridges to be erected. If no sacrifice was made, apparently the local spirits would then claim human lives and frighteningly, in a continuous fashion.

Our orang tua said that even the Mat Salleh colonial officers kept one-eye closed to such local occult practice, provided of course no Mat Salleh was the sacrificial kambing.

I'm thinking of offering looes74 for sembelih in the next major Malaysian construction like the Penang undersea tunnel, wakakaka.

don't worry looes matey, this is only required of you
but I can't guarantee there's no croc down there

wakakaka

Toxic politics?

TMI - Penang PKR lawmaker under fire for ‘insensitive’ tweet

police forensic officers at Taman Sentosa, Klang where Cpl Raja Aizan was killed

A Penang lawmaker has been slammed for tweeting remarks deemed insensitive to the family of corporal Raja Aizam Raja Mohd, who was killed in the line of duty yesterday.

Dr Afif Bahardin, who is Seberang Jaya assemblyman and a state executive councillor, yesterday tweeted: "Penjenayah bunuh polis itu tidak menghairankan, tetapi bila polis yang sepatutnya menegakkan undang-undang membunuh tahanan, itu masalah"

(It is not surprising for the police to be killed by criminals but when the police, who suppose to uphold the law kill detainees, it is a problem).

In case you've not been aware, Cpl Raja Aizam was killed by Indon hoodlums in Klang yesterday.

Haven't our politicians been insensitive? Or, have they been insensitively exploitative?

One thing is for sure, our politics have become more and more toxic?

3 sweeties, only 1 real Princess Reformasi

Do you remember when Princess Reformasi was under siege in early November 2012 for allegedly expressing her support for freedom of religion for all Malaysians, including Malays, in a forum titled “Islamic state? Which vision? Whose responsibility”?

Nurul Izzah

Sweetie was so reported by FMT in its news article Nurul Izzah backs religious freedom for all.

Needless to say, UMNO jumped eagerly on her alleged statement, with another sweetie, deputy minister Mashitah Ibrahim out to get her in some legal way, while Dr Mahathir also criticized her for her alleged unIslamic statement.

A few days later, Tian Chua's Malaysian Chronicle had then came out with an article titled Nurul is an Angel in our midst. Mashitah Ibrahim, you are a spinning pathological liar wakakaka.

I wonder whether the Malaysian Chronicle had upgraded or downgraded Nurul from Princess Reformasi to Angel, wakakaka.

But the poor sweetie was so stressed (panicked?) by the UMNO mob against her that she sought help from Dr Asri, while PAS' Dzulkefly Ahmad, then still an MP, was reported by the Malaysian Chronicle (wakakaka) for criticizng sweetie Mashitah Ibrahim as being ‘diabolical’ in attacking sweetie Nurul.

I have to admit Mashitah was/is 'diabolically' good looking, wakakaka.

Mashitah Ibrahim

Naturally sweetie Nurul denied supporting apostasy and, I believe, went on to sue Utusan Malaysia and Berita Harian for allegedly twisting her words.

Now, the person who asked her the question which led to the alleged controversial statement was none other than sweetie Siti Kassim, a member of the Bar Council human rights committee and Orang Asli rights advocate.

In the midst of the UMNO-generated brouhaha over Nurul's alleged statement, Siti Kassim came out to say that she was disappointed with Nurul for backing away from her statement that freedom of religion was a right for all including the Malay-Muslims. She lamented that Nurul has failed to stand firm on her remark.

Siti Kasim said: “I believe Nurul was just trying to impress the people. She didn't think of the consequences. There’s nothing wrong about it [freedom of religion], she is saying the truth. I expected a hoo-ha after that. But as a politician, you just need to stick to the truth."

"In the following days she ‘retracted’ her remark, and said she did not support apostasy. But indirectly when you say you support freedom of religion, and if Malay wants to get out from Islam, that’s apostasy.”

I had then written: Hmmm, maybe Nurul indeed wanted to impress her audience but alamak, Siti, cut her some slack lah as Nurul is still young and really, a babe in the political woods. Besides, to a Muslim, apostasy is an extremely serious issue, where the punishment could well be death (though of course the authorities won't go to that extent in Malaysia).

Well, we hear once again about sweetie Siti. In today's Malaysiakini Angry crowd tries to barge into court, a report on the court hearing on the never-ending dispute between the Catholic Church and the Home Ministry, she (Siti, not Nurul, wakakaka) was reported as being present outside the court together with various other mobs, wakakaka, but wearing a striking black T-shirt that bore the words, "Almighty Allah, Allah - Lord of the whole world", and holding a bouquet of chrysanthemums.

Malaysiakini reported: Siti explained that her presence in court along with four others was to show the alternative views of other Malays, those who do not support the use of the word "Allah" as exclusive to Muslims in Malaysia.

Siti, while I've been one of the very few (only one?) non-Muslim who refused to support the Church's insistence on using the Allah-word, I have to salute you for your courage, resolute and personal integrity in holding on to your values, principles and amazing inclusiveness.

You are the real Princess Reformasi.

Sorry Nurul, wakakaka. And sorry too, Mashitah, you don't qualify by a zillion kilometres, wakakaka.

Addendum: fz.com's Spat breaks out at sidelines of Allah hearing (extracts):

“I [Siti Kassim] am here, along with a few other individuals to give out flowers as a symbol of peace which is reflective of Islam. We are not here to antagonise but just like these fellows out here, we have a right to express our opinion as well,” said Siti who was leading a group of more than 20 individuals from all ethnicities.

She pointed to her t-shirt which has the words: “Allah hu rabbi al amin” (Allah is the universal God) and stated that this is the true meaning of Islam, where Allah belongs to all.

“I would like to call out to all Malay Muslims, don’t let these people taint your akidah. Read the Quran and if you have your beliefs, don’t be afraid to speak up and voice it out. It’s time we, the unrepresented Malays, represent ourselves,” said Siti.

In the middle of her explanation on the meaning of “akidah” (faith), she was interrupted by an unnamed Egyptian chap who asked her what her interpretation of akidah is, to which she replied that she was not there to give out lectures but to show support for the Christians.

She was then immediately interrupted by Persatuan Muka Buku Penang (Penang Book Cover Association) chairman Salleh Ismail who blasted her in public, accusing her of “offending” and “provoking” the gathered protesters who easily numbered nearly a thousand.

“You say you are not here to antagonise anyone but your words and actions are very provoking and offensive. What is your understanding of akidah? You tell me now,” he questioned aggressively.

Siti then tried to calm Salleh down and handed him a flower while he tried to refuse her gift.

Calling him brother, Siti then tried to explain her position before the spat was broken up by the police, who quickly ushered Siti into the courthouse while taking an agitated Salleh to one side.

“She’s a murtad. She’s already a murtad,” said the 34 year old Salleh who arrived here this morning at 5.30am via bus.

Murtad is a Muslim term for an apostate.

Later, Siti told fz.com that she expected that kind of behaviour from the NGOs supporting the call that Allah cannot be used by non-Muslims in Malaysia.

“Of course I expected it. They need to learn to take a chill pill. It seemed today carrying flowers is more dangerous than carrying weapons. People fear flowers more than weapons.

“As for him calling me a murtad, only Allah knows my faith. And if his claims, that I am murtad are published, I believe I can sue him for slander or defamation. But I need to check on the legalities of it all,” said Siti.


Other 'inclusive' Sweeties

sweeties Marina Mahathri & Zainab Anwar (SIS) at Bangsar Village shopping mall KL handing out flowers and balloons as they expressed solidarity with Christians regarding the tussle over the word "Allah".

photo-news from TMI

The face that sours a thousand litres of milk

Kong Fuzi who is better known in the English-speaking world as Confucius, said that "A picture is worth a thousand words", though within our Malaysian context, kaytee says "A picture such as above is guaranteed to sour the milk of a certain maid", wakakaka.

Poor dahleeeng, but please look at it as half a glass full rather half a glass empty ..... of stale milk of course, wakakaka.

But wait, gosh gawd omigosh, does this mean that Lim Guan Eng has, like kaytee, jumped over to the other side, the BN side ..... and no doubt as looes74 would accuse, is now pally chummy buddy with his lover boy Ah Jib Gor? Wakakaka.

MoU so WATERtight?

Malay Mail Online - Law prohibits disclosure of MoU, says Khalid

When a state MB spent near to RM10 billion of public money on a water agreement and claimed he couldn't reveal the details of that agreement (MoU), then by anyone's olfactory sense it smells, and mighty stinkingly too.

Where the f* is the transparency and accountability of his so-called C.A.T?

What? It's only water lah, what's the big deal?

Penang 2nd Bridge - a bridge too far for some!

TMI - Najib opens second Penang bridge, naming it after the King

Jambatan Sultan Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah

My post today is not so much about the bridge nor about the politicians, past and present on both sides of politics associated with its development, but rather about its naming after the current Yang DiPertuan Agong, the King of Malaysia, who is also the Sultan of Kedah. While I believe it's appropriate to name Malaysia's current iconic landmark after HM the Agong, I believe also the Kedah connection is equally strong.

Sultan Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah

Before I get onto my beef re the topic today, a wee historical recollection of the island's foreign visitors may be in order.

In the 15th Century (June 1405) Admiral Zheng He with an armada of 317 ships and a total crew  of 28.000 men, probably including some expeditionary marines, sailed from Suzhou and visited SE Asia including Penang.

It may please some Malaysians that Zheng He was a Muslim with the name of Ma He (the 'Zheng' was bestowed upon him by the Ming Yongle Emperor in honour of his distinguished military service).

His great-great-great-grandfather was a Persian by the name of Sayyid Ajjal Shams al-Din Oma. I wonder whether the family were Shiites? If they were, it's fortuitous for them that Zheng He arrived more than 600 years ago because today he might have been harassed if not chased out by one of the JA-organizations we have, wakakaka.

Admiral Zheng He, a Chinese Muslim, visited Malacca during Sultan Mansur Shah's reign. His fleet visited SE Asia, South Asia (India etc), the Middle East, Somalia & the Swahili coast.

Naval historian-author, Gavin Menzies, claimed Zheng He reached Americas 70 years before Columbus.

He didn't have a bin Abdullah to his name, wakakaka.

You may also wish to read my BolehTalk post Bend the ethnic belief - Bin the 'bin Abdullah'.

Anyway, the only thing Admiral Zheng He did on arrival in the Malay Peninsula was to name Penang island on his maritime chart as Bīnláng Yù (of course long long before it became Penang Island - the local name for it at that time was Pulau Ka-Satu).

In 1592, more than 150 years after Admiral Zheng He's visit, an Englishman by the name of James Lancaster, a soldier and a trader but actually like most English trader-sailors at that time such as Francis Drake and Henry Morgan, just a robbing-plundering pirate, came to Penang.

James Lancaster

He used the island as his base for pirating trading ships for around 4 months before he left. I wonder what were the nationality of the ships he plundered? Were they Portuguese, Dutch, French, Chinese, Indian, Thai*, Indons or local Malays? Eventually he became a director of the East India Company, the group that colonized India - perhaps it was his plundering credentials that got him the job.

* Thailand was always known as Meaung Thai to its people but outsiders called it Siam. However, King Mongkut (mid 19th Century) gave the word Siam official legitimacy until 1939 when the nation's official name reverted to Thailand. We shall stick to Thailand here.

Around that time, northern Malaya was on and off under Thai suzerainty, the local power. When they were not under Thai control they were raided and plundered, not only by the Thais but the Burmese as well - what the heck, where were the cousins (Indons) when Kedah needed them - oh dear I see, so the Mataram Sultanate at the end of the 17th Century was itself under threat from the Dutch.

That was when another English trader-adventurer wakakaka arrived in Penang.

His name was Francis Light. Today he is not a very popular guy in Malaysia wakakaka because it pisses off many Malaysians or rather Malays when Penangites celebrate his landing on the island on 11 August 1786 as the founding of Penang with him as the founder, a preposterous claim-celebration when Malays and even Chinese, Thais and various other SE Asians were already there or had landed there (like Admiral Zheng He) nearly four hundred years prior to him. But it's f**king good for Penang tourism, wakakaka.

But look, those were the days of British imperial power when its trader-adventurers wakakaka, people like Francis Light, went around the world and claimed other peoples' countries as British possessions.

Francis Light

Those Pommie buccaneers would either cheat, threaten and seize such land, or claim them as terra nullius, a Latin term meaning 'land belonging to no one', where 'no one' means those they saw as non-beings, like the Australian aborigines.

Anyway, Francis Light was working for the East India Company and wanted Penang as a base to keep an eye on French and Dutch colonialism in SE Asia (mateys, it’s all about the lucrative trade, especially in spices), so he leased the island from Sultan Abdullah Mukarram Shah, the 20th ruler of Kedah, in exchange for military protection from the ever threatening Thai and Burmese armies who were eyeing Kedah for the occasional jolly weekend of raping, pillaging and burning, and no doubt boozing as well with over-fermented tapai or toddy, wakakaka.

Light named the island as the Prince of Wales Island in honour of the English Tengku Makhota (crown prince) but the new name didn't strike a chord with most of his contemporaries because almost everyone who knew or lived in Penang called the island either Penang or by its local or Chinese name.

But the poor sultan of Kedah was cheated kau kau because the East India Company had no intention of being involved in the Sultan's problems with other Malay states or Thailand or Burma. Light hid that fact from HRH when he offered military protection for Kedah in return for use of Penang as his base, and he also hid his offer to the Sultan from his own company, wakakaka. In other words, he acted on his own 'initiative' (of devious lies and bullshit), which meant he leased the island from the Sultan Kedah with a bounced English cheque, wakakaka.

Of course on discovering that deceit, HRH wanted the island back but was unsuccessful in his effort as to be expected in a case of keris versus guns. Worse, he was forced to cede Penang to the East India Company for an honorarium* of 6,000 Spanish dollars** per year.

* honorarium means a payment made without the giver recognizing themselves as having any liability or legal obligation

** probably the first international currency at that time

Wikipedia said this of his successor: Lieutenant-Governor Sir George Leith secured* a strip of land across the channel as a buffer against attacks and named it Province Wellesley (today Seberang Prai). The annual payment to Sultan of Kedah was increased to 10,000 Spanish dollars per annum after the acquisition. Today, the Penang state government still pays RM 18,800.00 to the Sultan of Kedah annually.

* no doubt as a result of the Poms screwing the Kedah Sultan again

My point about the above historical recollection has been to inform so as to enable you to pontificate fairly on the connections between HRH Sultan Kedah and Penang, notwithstanding that Penang today is a separate state from Kedah.

Mind you, late last year Kedah MB Mukhriz, anak kepada Dr Mahathir, wakakaka, attempted to demand a larger annual sum from Penang. I wonder whether his demand plus another subsequent one for Penang to pay for river water used (though that'd be illegal) wakakaka, had been coloured by the fact that Penang is under Pakatan rule, wakakaka. Malaysiakini reported on 21 November 2013:

Kedah Mentri Besar Mukhriz Mahathir out to be ashamed for asking the federal government to raise the RM10,000 annual royalty payment to Kedah for Penang the by using a 227-year old British colonial era treaty, an opposition MP said today.

Calling Mukhriz's move to extract royalty payment for Penang an outdated idea, the DAP's Bukit Mertajam MP Steven Sim criticised Mukhriz as "a bad son".

Sim pointed out that former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad himself had back in 1994 rejected a similar request made by then Kedah menteri besar Osman Aroff.

"Mukhriz should focus on developing Kedah for the sake of the people, instead of trying his luck to get additional funds from the federal government via the backdoor on the pretext of the said treaty.

"Dr Mahathir even termed the treaty and payment as "meaningless". Hence, Mukhriz's action is surely an embarrassment to his own father."

Sim said this in reference to a New Straits Times report in which Mukhriz claimed that money was owed to Kedah on account of the old treaty on Penang, which was made during the British rule, and the amount had therefore to be raised.

Sim noted that the colonial era treaty clashed with independent Malaya, which gave both Kedah and its neighbouring state Penang the same right to exist under the federal constitution, specifically under Article 1(2).

"I urge the federal government to stop this embarrassment once and for all. This colonial legacy should be stopped and the annual payment of RM10,000 to Kedah should be abolished," Sim said, adding that all federal funds for Kedah should be used directly for the people's benefit and not for the state leaders.

But I suspect it's not so much that Penang is administered by Pakatan (though there's that too) but more about him wanting both demands against Pakatan to be on his UMNO credentials, wakakaka.

Leaving aside the honorarium (which incidentally, as mentioned above, is a payment made without the giver recognizing themselves as having any liability or legal obligation), shouldn't we at the very least recognize the historical connection between Kedah and Penang?

That brings us to the naming of Penang's 2nd bridge, Malaysia's latest iconic structure, and why I deem it being named after HRH Sultan of Kedah, who is also the current Agong, as most correct. This action represents a historic recognition of the connection between the two states, appropriately so with a bridge.

But I was appalled by some of the interactive comments in TMI's Najib opens second Penang bridge, naming it after the King. Some truly sad remarks are as follows (unedited):

What has Penang to do with Kedah? Give a name that gives pride to the Penangites.

Sorry, just curious. Will you change the name when the Agong changes?

Is this really necessary.....these guys really know how to rub people the wrong way.....if it is really a naming session instead of just opening the bridge should have just named it after someone who had contributed alot to Penang.....

So easy to call it '2nd Penang Bridge' - short and simple and easy to remember.

Change to any name, however, you like it and we still easily remember to call it as 2nd bridge.

and the most shameful of all,

I don't understand why the King, sultan of Kedah needs to have his name. I think Jabatan Sir Francis Light would be moe appropriate. 

He (or she) wants to name the bridge after Francis Light!!?

I can't believe a couple even thanked Lim Guan Eng, wakakaka. Now, even as a DAP supporter I am compelled to ask what had Guan Eng done for the construction of the second bridge, a federal project?

Mind you, Guan Eng himself hasn't even claimed anything. It's only those morons who saw fit to slot in words of thanks to him for the bridge, wakakaka. Either they know something I don't or they are the most idiotic of idiots who must have embarrassed Guan Eng kau kau.

This has been how those idiots got poor innocent Guan Eng (insofar as the naming of the bridge is concerned) on to the bad side of conservative Malays. Utusan Malaysia, always looking for any, the flimsiest, opportunity to demonize DAP in the eyes of the Heartland, claimed that Guan Eng had been unhappy with the bridge being named after the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong, its usual fabrication of course.

Guan Eng retorted: "It is completely untrue that I am unhappy with the bridge being named after the King. It is the federal government's right to name it. There is no unhappiness."

Guan Eng has had nothing to do with the bridge, but if those morons want to thank Guan Eng, wait until the to-be-constructed tunnel is completed.

But more worrying have been the disrespect for HRH Sultan of Kedah merangkap DYMM YDP Agong who is one of the finest rulers we have. I can understand (though I won't be crude as to commit lèse-majesté) if there are snide sneers, oblique hostilities or quiet disdain for certain ruler or rulers who have not shown exemplary conduct and examples to their subjects. 

But why show such disrespect to HRH Sultan of Kedah, a good bloke and one whose lineage has very strong historical connections to the island of Penang?

In Australia, there is a significant republican movement but its members have always accorded respect, civility and cordiality to HM the Queen. 

Now, even if there is a republican movement in Malaysia, its members (if not already jailed for lèse-majesté, wakakaka) should behave in a civilized manner and continue to show respect for the offices of the rulers, well at least until Malaysia theoretically succeeds in coming a republic through an official referendum.

In the end, Malaysians must realize that Malaysia is a democracy with a constitutional monarchy. I hope they know what monarchy as per the Constitution means, and if they don't, please learn from our neighbours the Thais or even the Japanese or Poms, Dutch, Danes, Norwegians, Swedes, Belgians and Spaniards.

I ask only because they have appallingly shown that the naming of Penang's 2nd bridge has been for them 'a bridge just too bloody far'.

school kids crossing the Banggol Jering river, Pasir Mas

I hope this has been sorted out - if not, Najib, what are you doing for it?