Speaking at an interview during a gathering of youths recently, the outspoken Johor Regent, Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim, also popularly known as TMJ, had boldly voiced his aspiration for the state to emulate Sarawak - which is deemed to be a “partner” in the Federation!
According to him, Johor does not “belong” to Malaysia and that it is actually a partner to the federal government; as such, he has called on Putrajaya to start treating the state accordingly.
Not mincing words, he further asserted that Johor can't be “beggars” forever and that it had its own legitimate rights, while adding that changes must be made to the existing federal system to address the matter.
Meanwhile, he also proposed that politicians in the state join forces to form a “Gabungan Bangsa Johor”, similar to the hugely successful Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) coalition, adding that when they join forces and are united, the federal government cannot afford to turn a deaf ear to their demands, and they can then become - the kingmakers in the country!
Tunku Ismail went on to illustrate how GPS which is made up of several Sarawak-based parties, has ingeniously harnessed the grand political grouping to its advantage and has managed to negotiate more effectively with Putrajaya.
Furthermore, he also lamented the fact that the state’s tax revenue was all channelled to the federal government while highlighting that from the massive RM48-49 billion a year it generated, the state is only recompensed a measly RM1.4 billion!
The straight-talking Johor Regent also pointed out to the mainly young audience that it was not possible to take care of all Johoreans with the RM1.4 billion a year, adding that in future he expects at least 20-30% of the state’s total revenue to be returned to Johor for the benefit of its people.
Nevertheless, while Tunku Ismail may long for his state to be treated like Sarawak which enjoys some degree of autonomy, it has to be stressed that Johor does not have a “MA 63-type” agreement like the two east Malaysian states; however, the wealthy southern state is rather unique in some ways, for example, its state Constitution is said to be the first of its kind in the country while it is also the only state in the country to have its own private army!
Another fascinating aspect is that, in addition to being among the biggest states in the country with a population exceeding 4 million, Johor has always had visionary rulers who have all contributed in one way or another to make it a prosperous, modern state. In fact, it is also the only state in the country boasting two major ports!
Furthermore, while its erstwhile rulers have traditionally maintained close rapport with the British, its more recent rulers have forged a strategic and extremely fruitful tie with its highly advanced southern neighbour Singapore.
In fact, Singapore is the state’s second-largest foreign investor, contributing around 70% of Johor’s total foreign direct investment in the manufacturing sector; for the record, last year the state had reportedly secured a whopping RM70.6 billion worth of foreign investments in various sectors.
However, what must surely take the “pride of place” in Tunku Ismail's royal household and amongst his diverse “Bangsa Johor” people, has to be the Johor-Singapore special economic zone (JS–SEZ) - modelled along Shenzhen in China - with the landmark joint agreement between Malaysia and Singapore slated to be signed by end of 2024.
The much-vaunted, high-impact exclusive economic zone is expected to further boost the economy of both Johor's Iskandar Malaysia region and Singapore - with the southern state tipped to even out-perform vibrant Selangor!
Historically, it would appear that Johor has always got what it wanted, with even the controversial KL-Singapore High Speed Rail (HSR) project that was nixed by the previous government now firmly back on the drawing board, with the real possibility of it being revived; much to the chagrin of Dr Mahathir?
Considering all that and coupled with the brash youthful drive and single-mindedness of Tunku Ismail, being the next in line to the Johor throne, will anyone dare to bet against his lofty plans for the state to be treated as a “partner” in the Federation - together with his other, perhaps, bigger plans - from being fulfilled?
Information source: FMT and Straits Times Singapore
JK Joseph is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
The User Content (as defined on Newswav Terms of Use) above including the views expressed and media (pictures, videos, citations etc) were submitted & posted by the author. Newswav is solely an aggregation platform that hosts the User Content. If you have any questions about the content, copyright or other issues of the work, please contact Newswav.
