GEORGE TOWN – The Penang Malay Association has taken Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhamad Sanusi Md Nor to task over his demand for RM100 million as the value of Kedah’s controversial old lease on Penang via the media.
Its president Tan Sri Mohd Yussof Latiff, 91, said today that Sanusi seems to be trying to threaten Penang by making the public assertion.
“If you want to demand an increase in the value of the lease, it should be made directly to the Prime Minister’s Department or the relevant department. Why use the media?”
“This matter can be resolved well, but Sanusi magnifies this matter as if he wants to threaten Penang,” he said at a press conference today.
Yussof also disagrees with a reported statement by a heritage activist that Siam (now Thailand) had sovereignty over Penang when Kedah agreed to lease it to the British two centuries ago.
He said the statement was unacceptable, as Penang was owned by Kedah.
“We agree with the opinion of historians at Universiti Sains Malaysia that Penang was owned by Kedah.
“(English captain) Francis Light had deceived the Sultan of Kedah at the time, allegedly wanting to protect Penang from Siamese attacks. But instead, Francis Light wanted to seize Penang from Kedah,” he said at a press conference today.
Yussof was commenting on a statement by a member of the Penang Heritage Trust, Clement Liang, as published by Free Malaysia Today last October, where he said that Kedah had leased it out without the Siamese king’s knowledge.
Liang said that Thai history textbooks and the national museum in Bangkok show that Penang island, or Koh Mak, was the first territory that Siam lost to a western power.
According to the report, King Rama III and British officials signed the Burney Treaty in 1826 to establish Siam’s independence from European powers. The treaty recognised Kedah, Perlis, Terengganu and Pattani as Siamese provinces, and Penang and Province Wellesley as British territories.
“The Burney Treaty effectively nullified the leasehold status of Penang as agreed earlier between the sultan of Kedah and the East India Company,” Liang was quoted as saying.
Yussof said he has sent two letters to the Penang Heritage Trust to seek answers, but no reply has been received. – The Vibes, November 23, 2021
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