Sultan of Johor: Stop bickering about Tee’s appointment

The Sultan of Johor wants all parties, to stop bickering about Datuk Tee Siew Kiong’s appointment as the state executive member.
A statement issued by Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar via his private secretary Jaba Mohd Noah said – “Tee’s appointment as an executive member was the Sultan’s choice and it was his right to choose his line-up of the state executive council members under Phase 4 Section II of the Johor State Constitution 1895.

“All parties including MCA party members and leaders are asked to respect Sultan Ibrahim’s decision (of appointing Tee) and should stop questioning his capacity as the Sultan of Johor.

Sultan Ibrahim appointed Tee, as he wanted a representative from all the races to represent his multi-racial subjects.

Also stated was that Sultan Ibrahim is not required to seek anyone’s opinion or suggestion before appointing his preferred state executive council members' line-up, nor does a need arise for him to explain the reason he appointed Tee.

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JB street race fans rejoice

The Petronas-AAM Malaysian Cub Prix Championship event has always featured very exciting and action-packed racing. A street race will create even more excitement.


BY next year, the state capital here may see a revival of the famous Johor Grand Prix street race, marking the start of interesting motorsports events for the country.

The street race will be part of the popular Malaysian Cub Prix Championship and will be modelled after the famed Esplanade street race in Penang.

The New Sunday Times learnt that several potential locations in the city have been proposed for the street race. Among them are the Danga Bay stretch of Jalan Skudai, the Stulang Laut area and Larkin.

Another possibility is the city centre fronting Lido Beach, which was the original location for the Johor Grand Prix, which last saw action in the 1960s.

The original Johor Grand Prix was the brainchild of the then Tunku Mahkota of Johor Almarhum Sultan Sir Ismail Sultan Sir Ibrahim in 1940 as an effort to contribute to the war fund. In the 1950s and 1960s, the event sparked the interest of many budding car racers and motorcycle racers from the region.

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Petronas blames RAPID delay on Johor

The RM60 billion Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (RAPID) project will not be completed on time due to delays by the Johor government, state oil and gas company Petronas said today.

The mega project was previously slated to start operations in 2016, but Petronas announced today that the date has been pushed to early 2017.

“There has been some delay to state government, which includes housing ... There have been delays in moving the Muslim cemeteries,” said Petronas president and group CEO Tan Sri Datuk Shamsul Azhar Abbas at a media briefing here.

The controversial project has met resistance from the locals since last year, as it involves the relocation of 11 Muslim cemeteries and seven Chinese cemeteries in Pengerang, near the project site.

Shamsul Azhar also cited a delay in securing water supply for the project. Petronas stressed today that it has taken over the water supply project from the state government.

The RAPID project is on track to secure its final investment decision (FID) in March 2014, Petronas said.

In December last year, a scuffle broke out between villagers and authorities as the latter started their graveyard relocation exercise.

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Tee’s appointment had nothing to do with Umno, says Khaled

Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin has hit out at DAP for claming that MCA was subservient to the Johor Sultan after its national organising secretary Datuk Tee Siew Kiong accepted a state executive councillor post.

Tee's appointment, said Khaled, was also not due to MCA bowing to pressure from Umno but was made according to the Johor Sultan's wish to have a Chinese representative in the state exco line-up.

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MCA’s Tee may face party action over Johor exco appointment

Pulai Sebatang state assemblyman Datuk Tee Siew Kiong might face disciplinary action from the MCA central committee for accepting a Johor exco post, the party said today.

According to president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek (pic), the MCA would maintain its decision passed at the 2011 and 2012 annual general meetings to reject all government posts if it does not perform better in Election 2013.

“I would like to clarify that MCA has not recommended Pulai Sebatang state assemblyman Datuk Tee Siew Kiong to be the Johor executive councillor,” Dr Chua said in a statement.


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Khaled is Johor MB, Khalid helms Selangor

Permas assemblyman Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin was sworn-in as Johor's 15th Menteri Besar, together with nine state executive members, in front of the Sultan of Johor, Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar at the Sultan Ibrahim Building in Bukit Timbalan.
Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim receiving the letter of appointment from Sultan of Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah in Klang.


Two Menteris Besar were sworn in this morning.

In JOHOR BARU, Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin was sworn in as the Johor Menteri Besar before the Sultan of Johor at Sultan Ibrahim building.

The new exco line-up will see all new faces, except for Mahkota assemblyman Md Jais Sarday and Johor Lama assemblywoman Asiah Md Ariff.

Among the new faces were: Datuk Tee Siew Kiong (Pulai Sebatang), Datuk Hasni Mohammad (Benut), R Vidyanathan (Kahang), Abd Mutalib Abd Rahim (Layang-Layang), Datuk Abd Latiff Bandi (Endau), Ismail Mohamed (Bukit Serampang) and Datuk Zulkurnain Kamisan (Sri Medan).

Tee and Vidyanathan will both represent the Chinese community under MCA and the Indian community under MIC, being part of the Barisan Nasional state government.


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GE13: Abdul Ghani is BN candidate for Gelang Patah

Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman has been announced as the Barisan Nasional candidate for Gelang Patah.

Datuk Seri Mohamaed Khaled Noordin has been moved to the state seat of Permas while Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed stays in the Pulai parliamentary seat.

Their names were announced during the unveiling of Barisan candidates in Johor.

There was a huge thundreous applause and shouts when Ghani was announced as the candidate.

Ghani, when met, said that he was relieved but there was 20 days to go.

At least three seats have not been announced - the Tanjung Piai parliament seat and the state seats of Senai and Pekan Nenas.

They are all MCA seats and were expected to be announced soon.

A Barisan official said the delay was due to possible last-minute changes to the candidates list.

PKR’s Jui Meng to run in Segamat

Datuk Chua Jui Meng is confirmed as PKR’s man for the Segamat federal seat, ending speculation over his candidacy for Election 2013.

Party adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced the Johor PKR chief’s seat as well as candidates for five other federal seats in the southern state on the stump in Tangkak last night, The Star Online news portal reported today.

The state party’s No. 2, Dr Ahmad Faidi Saidi, was named for Pasir Gudang while Johor deputy vice-president Hassan Karim is set to run in the Ledang parliamentary seat.

TMJ resigns as JFA president

Johor Football Association president Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim resigned with immediate effect.

In a statement to the New Straits Times, the prince cited state responsibility as the main factor for his resignation.

Tunku Ismail said he sought the advice of his father - Sultan of Johor Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar before making the decision.

Giant scrolls presented to Johor Sultan

Johor Sultan, Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar (left) looks at the giant scroll that contains between 20,000 and 30,000 signatures of the public, mainly members of non-governmental organisations, presented to him at the Istana Pelangi, Johor Baru.




In a show of unity, members of non-governmental organisations (NGO), consisting of all races, presented ten giant-sized scrolls bearing more than 20,000 signatures from the public to Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar during the "Meet the Sultan" session at Istana Pasir Pelangi here this morning.



The three-metre by six-metre scrolls, to show the people's appreciation and loyalty toward the ruler, will be displayed at the Sultan Ibrahim building in Bukit Timbalan here.

The event, organised by the Johor Majlis Penyalarasan Gabungan NGO-NGO Melayu (MPGNM), saw a turnout of over 600 people from 450 NGOs who also had the opportunity to dine with Sultan Ibrahim.