I agree with the Pahang Executive Councillor Fadzli Mohamad Kamal that Pahang and Kelantan are in different leagues of development and cannot be compared at the same level.
The Kelantan Deputy Menteri Besar Mohd Amar Abdullah had said it is not fair to compare the development of Kelantan with Selangor and Penang as Kelantan should be compared in development terms with Negeri Sembilan and Pahang.
Mohd Amar cannot be more wrong.
Negri Sembilan and Pahang were together with Kelantan in the low-income developed states when the country achieved Independence in 1957, but in the last six decades, Negri Sembilan and Pahang have moved up into the middle-income state bracket while Kelantan remained stuck as the poorest and least developed state.
Who must take responsibility for this?
This is why I said the six state polls on August 12 is an occasion for the voters in the six states to think of the welfare of their children and children’s children, whether Penang, Selangor and Negeri Sembilan want to be as poor and backward in development as Kelantan, Terengganu, and Kedah or whether Kelantan, Terengganu, and Kedah want to be as developed as Penang, Selangor, and Negeri Sembilan.
It will not take Kelantan, Terengganu and Kedah overnight in one general election to be as developed as Penang, Selangor or even Negri Sembilan, but a start must be made on August 12, 2023.
I agree with Fadzli that Mohd Amar was wrong in comparing Kelantan with Pahang or Negri Sembilan, for they are not in the same league.