The six state polls on August 12 will decide whether Penang, Selangor and Negri Sembilan wants to as poor and backward as Kelantan, Terengganu and Kedah or whether Kelantan, Terengganu and Kedah want to be as developed as Penang, Selangor and Negri Sembilan.
The Kelantan Deputy Mentri Besar Mohd Amar Abdullah said it is not fair to compare the development of Kelantan with Selangor and Penang as Kelantan should be compared in development terms with Negri Sembilan and Pahang.
Even when compared with Negri Sembilan and Pahang, the disparity in the GDP per capita of Kelantan with both Negri Sembilan and Pahang have both widened instead of narrowed in the six decades since Independence in 1957.
For Selangor, whose 2022 GDP per capita is RM59.908, it is 3.6 times that of Kelantan, which has a GDP per capita of RM16,567, which is the lowest in of all states the country, lower than Perlis’ RM23,126, Kedah’s RM25,957 or Terengganu’s RM32,199.
Penang GDP per capita stands at RM69,886, which is 4.2 times that of Kelantan. The 2022 GDP per capita for Negri Sembilan is RM49,804 and that of Pahang is RM47,177.
That is why I say that the six state polls on August 12 will decide whether a start can be made to lift Kelantan, Terengganu and Kedah from their position among the poorest states to be among the most developed states in Malaysia so that the country can rise again and become a world-class great nation punching above its weight.