Who is head of state?

This column is a Citizen Ranger report and not part of my series on 1Bangsa Malaysia.

A good friend from Singapore was upset that PM Najib Abdul Razak did not attend the state funeral for the late Singapore leader, Lee Kuan Yew. I then did some research and found out that the Yang di-Pertuan Agong attended; and he is our head of state. I suppose the PM could have attended, but the government wanted the highest and most symbolic form of representation for Malaysia.

Now, is that the only important role and responsibility of the head of every state in Malaysia? Not really. In the peninsular Malay states, they are also head of religion and they are called upon by the constitution to uphold Malay rights and ensure Malay development. In other states, the governors assume similar responsibilities.

Does the head of state also have a role to protect the rule of law in Malaysia? Why do I ask this question?  How else can the state develop and not break down into anarchy?

For example, in the state of Kelantan, the sultan said the floods were caused by too much environmental degradation. He is right because many senior Umno politicians have repeated that, although PAS does not seem to see the same issues in the same way; except for hudud.

Call for help

Last week I received the strangest call I have had in a long time. It was a friend from Australia; he asked me to go to Ipoh and look into an issue of concern to many residents of the Haven Resort, wherein he owns a unit and so does another famous and good Perakian friend of mine.

I decided to respond to the call for help and took the Electric Train Service (ETS) to Ipoh, which left impressively on time and arrived almost exactly on time. For senior citizens like me it only cost RM17 one-way.

I was received by my hosts who were the owners of units there. I was given a full and comprehensive tour of the area surrounding the Haven Resort and briefed on core issues and concerns of the local residents.

It was obvious from the number of foreigners I met at the complex that this is a favourite holiday spot, and a cherished rest and recreation resort. It has a scenic and calm beauty about the place so much so it is almost therapeutic for the soul. It is nature at her best.

Residents’ issue and concerns

Both my friends have paid a good sum for what they own there, but I am told that the value has already gone up significantly. Nevertheless they are really concerned that a new project for development which has not followed legal due processes has started on the groundworks.

They believe it will destroy the current beauty and calm of this special location, and more critically cause flooding and other environmental problems. I also hear the resort has won many awards for it beauty and elegance of both construction and finish.

There is only one billboard which announces the said project, but there was no approved development order board as per City Hall requirements; with proper and full approvals. So, my first question is: has this project been approved by Ipoh City Hall? Below is one picture of the board.

My second and even greater concern is that when I checked with the Approved Local Area Plans document published by the federal and state Town and Country Planning Authority dated July 2012; the same location wherein the development is taking place is properly marked in white as public space for utilities and infrastructure.

At the press briefing organised by the developers of the project, when I asked about this change of stated purpose and when such a change for development of two 15-storey buildings happened, there was pindrop silence and no one answered my question. To me this is the most fundament and dangerous legal precedent.

Such abuse of public lands in my neighbourhood is the reason that I have chosen to not pay assessment until the MB and mayor of the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) address my seven queries I made at a sub-committee of the select committee on competency, accountability and transparency (Selcat).

We are a federal system of governance, and the state of Perak follows the same if not similar laws in terms of legal needs for compliance. Therefore my rhetorical question if the sultan of Perak knows about this abuse of state and federal laws? I have a chapter in my book about the present sultan of Perak espousing rule of law when he was still only a regent.

Other residents’ views

At the press briefing, one of the local residents, Mohd Amin Abdullah ( left ), stood up and claimed he was speaking for all the other residents and argued in favour of the development. He used the ‘right to development argument’ although he publicly stated that he objected to the development of even the Heaven Resorts.

Later I found out that he was not even an owner or resident of the immediate adjoining  neighbours that he claimed he represented. He is not even an owner of Permai Lake View Apartments, much less its chairperson (he had sold his unit there in 2013), and the legitimate chairperson of the JMC is Said Ahmad.

As it was a press briefing, and most were only local pressmen and women, I did not take issue with the lack of integrity of his argument, but I did express that the rule of law applies to all; regardless of citizenship or otherwise.

Starting April 1, 2015, the goods and services tax (GST) is supposed to be implemented.  What are the full implications of that initiative? The implicit assumption is that we are a services economy? What does this mean in real and accounting terms? That means our economy can run on its own because of the kind and quality of services we can provide.

It implicitly means that we are shifting from being a manufacturing economy to becoming a services one. That implies we have at least three if not four sectors which drive our economic growth and development; extractive, agriculture, manufacturing, and services. Are all these as stable as we assume they are? Can then enough revenue be generated by the GST for the level of our current abuse of funds and spending?

My view

The only reason Haven Resort brought unique value creation and development to that corner of Ipoh is because it could attract foreign investors of the scale and proportion of what is visible. For state government cronies to break the law, and pretend that they know how to artificially create value is a wrong assumption.

For now it is simply an illegal project and the sultan should put his foot down before we destroy even the little we have created in value for Perak.