KEDAH Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammed Sanusi Md Nor has emphasised that the state’s intended legal action regarding Penang’s status will remain fully compliant with the Federal Constitution.
Sanusi stressed that Penang’s recognition as a sovereign state will not be questioned or challenged.
Rather, Kedah seeks to establish that the historical cession of Penang to British colonial powers, specifically by Francis Light, was predicated on misleading terms.
“The impending court case is about Kedah’s historical rights over Penang and has no relation to the Sulu Sultanate heirs’ bid for Sabah. It has no relation to the Sulu Sultanate heirs' bid for Sabah.
“The Kedah Malay Sultanate still exists whereas the Sulu Sultanate has ceased to exist,” he said.
Sanusi added that the state’s legal advisors will pursue the matter strictly within the constitutional framework, underscoring that the case is not unprecedented.
Reports indicate that Kedah’s legal claim arises partly from a decision by then Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed to increase the annual honorarium, originally agreed pre- and post-Independence at RM10,000, to RM10 million in 2022.
State leaders contend that the federal government should pay a higher compensation, citing historical agreements allegedly breached during the cession of Penang.
This stems from events in 1786, when Francis Light arrived on Penang Island and established it as a trading post for the British East India Company.
Over subsequent centuries, Penang, alongside Singapore, became part of British colonial territories in Southeast Asia, before eventually joining the Federated Malay States as a Straits Settlement following Malaysia’s independence.
Sanusi stated that the state’s legal team has briefed the government and will prepare full documentation within five months.
His remarks followed a stern rebuke from Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow in Parliament last week, asserting that failed historical claims, such as those of the Sulu heirs, cannot override constitutional principles.
“Penang belongs to Kedah,” Sanusi maintained, noting that the state and its Prai mainland strip were allegedly leased to the British in 1791 for 10,000 Spanish Dollars.
Meanwhile, historians who have examined Francis Light’s legacy in Penang argue that no formal lease was ever established with the Kedah Sultanate.
Instead, Light’s arrangement was considered a “gentleman’s pact,” intended to persuade the East India Company to defend Kedah against repeated Siamese incursions.
The annual honorarium, still paid today, was interpreted as compensation for using Penang as a trading entrepôt rather than as rent for a lease. - February 1, 2026
