The statement by Dr Wan Shamsuddin Mohd Yusof, chairperson of the Malaysian Historical Society Kedah branch, that “Penang and Seberang Perai must be returned to Kedah ” is ultra vires the constitution and seditious.

Malaysia has achieved independence for 58 years this year, and both Kedah and Penang are separate states under the Federation of Malaysia as enshrined in Article 1(2) of the federal constitution.

Any attempt to say that Penang is not a separate and equal partner state to the federation is obviously against the federal constitution.

Similarly Dr Wan Shamsuddin’s uring to review the RM10,000 annual payment to Kedah on account of the colonial-era treaty on Penang is reflective of a pre-Merdeka mentality. In 1994, the then-prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad rejected a request by the then-Kedah menteri besar Osman Aroff to increase the payment by saying that the treaty and payment are “meaningless”.

This is a recurring issue and an embarrassment to our country as well as our two neighbouring states. We should put a stop to this matter once and for all so that opportunistic historians and politicians do not continue to harp on this matter.

Thus I appeal to His Majesty the Yang di-Pertuan Agong who is the Sultan of Kedah to abolish the RM10,000 annual payment from Penang to Kedah.

Instead, in recognition of Kedah and Penang’s historical affinity as well as both states’ contribution to the founding, formation and development of the Federation, a special Kedah-Penang history scholarship grant should be established with a seed fund of RM10,000,000 and an annual allocation from the federal government.

The purpose of the grant is to advance the development of historical studies in both states. This corresponds to the fact that Kedah is the site of millennia-old ancient civilisations, such as the Bujang Valley as well as the one recently discovered at the Sungai Batu archeological site. Additionally, Penang is host to a Unesco World Heritage Site. The setting up of the grant will promote further research and study on the history of both states as well as of Malaysia.

STEVEN SIM CHEE KEONG is MP for Bukit Mertajam and political education director, Dapsy Malaysia.