Should Johor leave the Federation of Malaysia?

When the Tunku Mahkota of Johor , Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim feud with a minister , Tunku Idris younger brother also upload relevant article on Instagram, and also a collective agreement with the Federation of Malaya. Johor have the right to leave the Federation of Malaysia, if terms in the agreement is violated. 1MDB is violating these terms and conditions.

Lets look at what people in Johor think of the governing body of Malaysia and its main component party, UMNO.

UMNO is racist. UMNO is fake. UMNO is hopeless. UMNO is weak. UMNO is made of a bunch of thieves. The list goes on and on, and that pretty much summarizes the perception of the political party that has been governing Malaysia since Independence in 1957. Before you start foaming at mouth screaming seditious, let’s digest the facts.

UMNO is racist because it doesn’t allow non-Malay to join the party. UMNO is fake because the original UMNO had died during the 1988 Judicial Crisis. Today’s UMNO is UMNO Baru (New UMNO) created by Mahathir Mohamad. UMNO is hopeless because it infects the country with corruption, cronyism, nepotism and what not.

UMNO is weak today because 53% of voters believe its leaders are nothing but scumbags. UMNO is made of a bunch of thieves because until today, its leaders couldn’t answer satisfactory about the whereabouts of the RM42 billion debt 1MDB has accumulated. Heck, it has actually started mega bailouts using peoples’ money from Felda Global Ventures, EPF, Retirement Fund Inc. (KWAP), Lembaga Tabung Haji and whatnot.

Hell, they even had the cheek to tell civil servants not to expose secret dealings such as raising toll rates in order to fleece more hard earned money from the average Ahmad, Ah Seng and Arumugam. The multi billion dollars mega bailout of 1MDB’s power plant by Tenaga Nasional Berhad (KLSE: TENAGA, stock-code 5347) is just the beginning.

With a racist, fake, hopeless and weak government rule by thieves, do you need to be a rocket scientist figuring out why suddenly the Kingdom of Johor is “testing water” about getting out of Malaysia? With the country’s external debt skyrockets closing in to RM1 Trillion, who can blame the Johor Sultanate for toying with the idea, assuming there was one in the first place?

Apparently, an Instagram post by Johor prince Tunku Idris Sultan Ibrahim suggesting a possible secession of the southern state from Malaysia, has created a stir in Malaysian politics, which is already in its biggest mess since World War II. The other states which have been voicing about secession were Sabah and Sarawak.

Just like Johor’s agreement inked by the late Sultan Abu Bakar to become part of the Federation of Tanah Melayu, which ultimately leads to the creation of Malaysia; Sabah and Sarawak have their 20-point agreement too. However, without its own sultanates and the rampant corruption within their own leaders, Sabah and Sarawak’s threats were not taken seriously.

In reality, Johor would have remained as poor as Sabah and Sarawak, if not poorer, without major investment from neighbour Singapore. That’s why the most prosperous of the whole Kingdom of Johor is the southern part, obviously due to its close proximity to Singapore. Every day, hundreds of thousands of Malaysians crossed the 1,056-meter Johor-Singapore Causeway to work in Singapore.

The relationship between Singapore-Johor is precisely the same like Hong Kong-Shenzhen. Both need each other dearly. It is not an exaggerated statement to say Johor needs Singapore more than it needs Malaysia. Hence, they would be more than happy to get the hell out of Malaysia, if the history of Malaysia booted Singapore repeats itself on Johor.

If Gangster Nazri Aziz was sincerely offended by Johor Crown Prince, Tunku Ismail Ibrahim’s mocking at prime minister Najib Razak for chickening out from the “Nothing to Hide” forum, he should have had taken offence by the Sultan Ibrahim Ismail too. Earlier this month, the sultan said Malaysia is becoming 5Malaysia instead of 1Malaysia.

Of course, the sultan was referring to the multi streams education system in the country, which not only fails to unite the multiracial Malaysians, but also creates low quality junk students. Amusingly Sultan Ibrahim also criticised politicians (read: UMNO hypocrites) who scream about nationalism but instead send their children to boarding schools in Australia and United Kingdom.

In the same breath, not only Sultan Ibrahim seems to be criticising the Education Minister, who happens to be deputy PM Muhyiddin Yassin, he also insults PM Najib Razak’s pet project 1Malaysia, no? So, how come Nazri Aziz dared not “whack” the sultan? Or for that matter, why Ibrahim Ali did not cry seditious when the sultan champions English language?

The fact that all three members of the royal family – Sultan Ibrahim, Crown Prince Tunku Ismail and Prince Tunku Idris – openly criticizes, mocks and threats UMNO-led government, speaks volumes about a “prospect” of a mega Palace and Constitutional Crisis. If indeed a secession is on the card, the sultan himself has started the ball-rolling, without even UMNO realizing it.

Similar to 2014 Scottish Independence Referendum, the Sultanate of Johor may just ask the people of Johor what they really want in a Johorean Independence Referendum. And when that happen, what can UMNO do? Johor could be another Brunei, enriched with mass resources but allows its Johor dollar to be managed together with the Singapore dollar at a 1:1 ratio by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

It would definitely be hilarious and exciting to see people from Malacca, Negeri Sembilan and Pahang paying tolls just to cross over to the Kingdom of Johor to work, every day, because they can make close to 3-times earning “Johor Dollar”, as compared to toilet paper “Malaysian Ringgit”.