Of Blues : Kelantan and waves...

"Wang ehsan" politics is really a dangerous game to play. The reasons are clear

Update : After putting the post, this scribe chanced upon Kickdefella's blog on "wang ehsan" and deeply symphatise with Mazlan Hashim. For those of you out there who has the influence to employ, please consider to employ Mazlan Hashim.

1. Hah ! I caught most of you grinning with the catchy "blues". Sorry to disappoint you but this posting has nothing to do with the other notorious blues made famous by Linda Lovelace...
2. It all started small and reaches its first peak during the height of Manek Urai by-election campaign. PAS raised the issue of oil royalty money because oil has been extracted from Kelantan offshores.
3. As usual, BN sidestep the issue then by passing the buck to Petronas. Muhyiddein did instructed Petronas to answer over Kelantan's oil royalty claim way back on 9th July 2009. And we are still waiting for Petronas's explanation or stand on this issue ...
4. Again, as promised, PR legislators continuously brought up the issues with the federal government until finally 1M PM6 Najib announced in the parliament that the federal government will pay "wang ehsan" or compassionate fund to Kelantan.
5. People, Don't jump up with joy yet. There are catches to Najib's announcement. Amongst them :-
   • 1m PM6 announced that the wang ehsan, in the for of development programmes, would begin next year;
   • the allotment of wang ehsan will take into consideration of production and sale of Petroleum from Bumi Selatan field;
   • Development programmes will be carried out by federal government;
   • 1M PM6 denied that the payment (wang ehsan) is related to the possibility of snap polls;

6. If 1M PM6 thinks that his announcement will make Nik Aziz happy, he better thinks again. Nik Aziz said that although he is grateful for the "wang ehsan" but he is not satisfied.
7. Annuar Musa was quick to jump in and declare that UMNO Kelantan too has also fought for the compassionate fund. My response to Annuar Musa's statement is simple - if Kelantan UMNO also fought for the compassionate fund, then Kelantan UMNO fail to see that Kelanan deserve royalty money and not "wang ehsan".
8. "Wang ehsan" politics is really a dangerous game to play. The reasons are clear :-
   • what is the reason for wang ehsan programmes start in 2010? Records showed that the oilfields in Kelantan started their production in 2005. What happen to the monies from petroleum production from 2005 to 2009? 4 years is along time and surely a lot of money involved here. What happen to the monies "set aside" for oil royalty? Where is it? Who spends it? What is it spent for?;
   • Why only Bumi selatan oilfields? There are various records that indicated a total of approximately 35 platforms operating off Kelantan. Are all of these fall within Bumi selatan oilfields? If not, where is the rest? Why is it not considered in the "wang ehsan" programme? Where will the money set aside for oil royalty for these oilfields spent? On whose instruction?;
   • Federal government to carry out the development programmes, why? On what basis must federal government control the spending? Previous auditor general's report has highlighted the many blunders that federal government incurred in developing the nation. Should the same be burdened to Kelantan? Is this not a form of siphoning funds for the benefit of the few? Shouldn't the monies be paid to Kelantan government so that they an manage their state?
     

9. "Wang ehsan" has been synonymous with Terengganu to such an extent that it draws a frightening parallel if "wang ehsan" development is carried out in Kelantan. Back in 1999 when PAS managed to wrest Terengganu from BN, the federal government then announce that the "oil royalty" enjoyed by Terengganu state has been withdrwan and replace with "wang ehsan" development programmes.

   From 1999 to 2004, the federal government channel "wang ehsan" project through several individuals and UMNO divisions, totally by-passing PAS-controlled state government. How BN spend the monies then to "pursuade" the voters to retrun the state to BN. They did that in 2004 wih what was termed as "Gelombang biru" or "Blue waves".

   Except for the name change and the individuals involved, the script will still be the same. 1m PM6 will use the same strategy used by AAB in Terengganu to win over Kelantan and maybe...just maybe...after BN won Kelantan then Najib will consider to re-termed "wang ehsan" into "oil royalty", fully controllled by the state government.

10. So there you have it...Kelantan Blues for getting what they are asking for. They ask for oil royalty and the Najib responded with "wang ehsan".
11. Kelantan is also hoping to do ala-Mexican waves in Bukit Jalil this 7th November. After all, the last time they came this close to win the Malaysia cup is in 1970. For the sake of Malaysian sports, hope that Negeri's fans will also participate in keeping the waves "rolling" around Bukit Jalil.
    
12. I wonder whether Rembau times, Barking magpie, Husin Lempoyang, Kick defella will be huddling together at the sidelines as cheerleaders to their teams...if they do, forget about politics and finance for that 2 hours, will you?
13. As I penned down this posting, the Federal courts are sitting on the crucial Perak's MB vs MB case. Going by the latest news that it will be a 5-bench sitting (instead of the full 11-bench, as requested by Nizar) headed by Alauddin and Malaysian Insider's views, I will say that it is already a forgone conclusion that Zambry will win the case by at least 3-2. If ever the results is in favour of Nizar, then I foresee Alauddin will be in hot soup to defend his decisions regarding this case.
14. Kelantan blues, ala-Mexican waves - who will be triumphant this coming Saturday? Will it be Annuar Musa or will it be Mohd Hassan? Mohd Hasan needs Negeri to win badly too, at least to keep his political life in NS afloat. Annuar Musa hopes that a Kelantan win will propel him back into Najib's good books (and the lucrative "wang ehsan"). Nizar needs the win to seek audience with HRH Perak to dissolve the state assembly whilst Zambry needs the win to continue governing Perak.
15. Wang ehsan or not - 1m PM6 Najib should give the money to Kelantan state to spend on development. The federal government has been proven to be "big spenders" by Auditor General, should Kelantan suffer more out of federal's shortcomings? You, out there, can make up your mind - either to continue living under "BN hallucination" or "PR reality", the choice is yours. Make your stand and be heard (or be seen clue : go visit Shanghai fish)
    

Till then...G'nite M'sia...wherever u are...