Kedah Mentri Besar Mukhriz Mahathir out to be ashamed for asking the federal government to raise the RM10,000 annual royalty payment to Kedah for Penang the by using a 227-year old British colonial era treaty, an opposition MP said today.

young yb sharing in mandarin forum 190813 steven sim Calling Mukhriz's move to extract royalty payment for Penang an outdated idea, the DAP's Bukit Mertajam MP Steven Sim criticised Mukhriz as "a bad son".

Sim pointed out that former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad himself had back in 1994 rejected a similar request made by then Kedah menteri besar Osman Aroff.

"Mukhriz should focus on developing Kedah for the sake of the people, instead of trying his luck to get additional funds from the federal government via the backdoor on the pretext of the said treaty.

"Dr Mahathir even termed the treaty and payment as "meaningless". Hence, Mukhriz's action is surely an embarrassment to his own father."

Sim said this in reference to a New Straits Times report in which Mukhriz claimed that money was owed to Kedah on account of the old treaty on Penang, which was made during the British rule, and the amount had therefore to be raised.

Sim noted that the colonial era treaty clashed with independent Malaya, which gave both Kedah and its neighbouring state Penang the same right to exist under the federal constitution, specifically under Article 1(2).

"I urge the federal government to stop this embarrassment once and for all. This colonial legacy should be stopped and the annual payment of RM10,000 to Kedah should be abolished," Sim said, adding that all federal funds for Kedah should be used directly for the people's benefit and not for the state leaders.