I AGREE with the Pahang Executive Councillor Fadzli Mohamad Kamal that Pahang and Kelantan are in different leagues of development and cannot be compared at the same level.
Kelantan caretaker deputy menteri besar Datuk Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah had said it is not fair to compare the development of Kelantan with Selangor and Penang as Kelantan should be compared in development terms with Negri Sembilan and Pahang.
Mohd Amar cannot be more wrong.
Negri Sembilan and Pahang together with Kelantan were low-income developed states when the country achieved Independence in 1957 but in the last six decades, Negri Sembilan and Pahang have moved up into the middle-income state bracket while Kelantan remained stuck as the poorest and least developed state.
Who must take responsibility for this?
This is why I said the six state polls on Aug 12 is an occasion for the voters in the six states to think of the welfare of their children and that of their children’s children.
The electorate must decide whether Penang, Selangor and Negri Sembilan want to be as poor and backward in terms of development as Kelantan, Terengganu and Kedah or whether Kelantan, Terengganu and Kedah want to be as developed as Penang, Selangor and Negri Sembilan.
It will not take Kelantan, Terengganu and Kedah overnight in one general election to be as developed as Penang, Selangor or even Negri Sembilan but a start must be made on Aug 12.
I agree with Fadzli that Mohd Amar was wrong in comparing Kelantan with Pahang or Negri Sembilan for they are not in the same league. – July 26, 2023
Veteran lawmaker and retired DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang was Malaysia’s longest serving opposition leader (29 years on three separate occasions).
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
