Kedah Chief Minister Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor is again mired in a new controversy when he asserts that the Penang government should not interfere or criticize the affairs of the administration of Kedah as it is not appropriate for the state to become angry at their landlord.
This is followed by his claims that Penang is not a state that originated by itself but is a state that has been leased from Kedah. The statement was uttered by him in his response to Mohd Azam, the state assemblyman of Limau who inquired what the Kedah government’s strategy is in handling jealous neighboring states during the state assembly proceedings.
The claims of jealousy amongst neighboring states started after the announcement of several mega projects costing over RM3 Billion for Kedah to bring the development in the state to be on equal footing with more progressive states in the country. To fact-check Sanuni’s claims on Penang’s leased status, we shall revisit the history of the Penang state.
According to all official historical records, the territory that is now Penang was once a part of the Kedah state. The Penang state’s history only began in 1786, when Abdullah Mukarram Shah the 20th Sultan of Kedah leased the Penang territory to the East India Company in exchange for military assistance.
The agreement between the two parties consists of:
1. East India Company has to provide military assistance for Kedah as long as Kedah is attacked by enemies.
2. East India Company must not lead the enemies of Kedah.
3. East India Company needs to pay as much as 36,600 Spanish Dollars each year to Sultan Abdullah as reparation.
It was only later in 1788 that the Sultan of Kedah realized that Francis Light and the East India Company were not going to keep by their end of the agreement of providing military assistance to the state to fend off the attacks from Siam.
The Sultan then responded by assembling an army in preparations to seize Penang back in the year 1790. However, before they could do so the fort was attacked and captured by Francis Light’s forces. A new treaty was then signed by the two parties whereby the Sultan was granted an annual payment of 6,000 Spanish Dollars, on condition that the English could continue their possession of Penang.
Based on the writings of Dr. Mohd Hazmi Mohd Rusli, a senior lecturer from Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia the state of Penang has continued to make an annual payment of RM18,000 to the Kedah Sultan until today.
This further strengthens Sanusi’s claims that Kedah is the landlord for the state of Penang. Furthermore, many historical experts have claimed that the Kedah’s cession of Penang to the East India Company wasn’t valid in the first place and that the state should be returned to Kedah.
How far these claims that Penang should be returned to Kedah are valid needs to be deliberated by all of the stakeholders involved including both of the state’s governments and its people, but the historical record does indicate that the Kedah’s Chief Ministers claims are valid albeit can be regarded as having been made in poor taste.