Pahang Re-visited
Earlier I wrote an article about Pahang (one of the sultanates in Malaysia) when there was a by-election at Sanggang, in the Temerloh District of the State. But things have changed since then (since about 2 years ago?), a General Election took place about 6 months ago and since then they have also opened the Karak/Kuantan Highway (on 1st August 2004) and they also had the Malaysian National Day Celebration held in Kuantan at the recent 31 August 2004. Pahang is now better known and the Central Government has now appreciated the contribution made by Pahang in the overall development of Malaysia. Maybe its because of the change in the Malaysian leadership or maybe because the Pahang State Government is more honest with themselves and is being more proactive in its dealings with the Federal Government or maybe because the state infrastructure has improved. Or maybe a combination of all the above factors.
Pahang is the biggest state in Malaya but is slow in its development, or maybe slow in reaping the profit of its development. Most underdeveloped areas had been given to FELDA (the Malaysia Federal Development Authority) to develop towards new settlements and agricultural developments with rubber and palm oil being the most tress planted. And these are slow producing crops and when developed the earnings are thinly spread and realised over a long period. So wealth does not seem so obvious. And also Pahang tried to develop its southern part through DARA, the South Pahang Development Authority. DARA and FELDA have in a way been successfully in developing the area but again wealth is slow to be realised. And Pahang used to depend a lot on timber in its forest for its wealth but its not that widespread among the people and only a few people got really that rich, the Royal and the Politicians earned the most money from timber. But the funny thing is that even these Politicians and the Royal do not that ‘much’ money, its the other people who work on these timber concessions who earn the ‘most’ money. Your guess is a good as mine. Oil is not found in Pahang. Its industrial estates give employments to Pahang people but the Pahang Government does not benefit directly from the industries in these industrial estates. Its the Companies like PETRONAS and the other Petchem Companies that benefit the most, financial wise.
The State used to have an arrogant MB (he is the MB now) but he is very quiet now. (MB = Menteri Besar or Chief Minister, an elected political head). Many MB's have been the political and Administrative Heads in Pahang, with names like Sir Mahmud, Tengku Abdullah, Tun Razak, Tan Sri Yahya, Wan Aziz, Mohd Yusof, and the innocent youthful Dato' Najib (the son of the late Tun Razak), who is now the Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, some colourful and some mild and some 'meninggalkan jasa' (leaving a deed behind) and some 'memakan jasa' (eating away the deeds of others). Whichever way one looks at it, Pahang had changed since the fifties and since Merdeka but with a smaller pace than expected even with its rich resources and cheap labour. Yes Pahang has got many State and Federal Corporations such as DARA (which is now defunct), Jengka (a Corporation that takes away almost 1/3 of the State) and of course not forgetting LKNP (now with its subsidiaries such as PASDEC and PASCORP?), LKPP, Felda, Felcra, Kumipa, KOSMA and what other else acronym one can think of.
Pahang is a Sultanate, as mentioned. "Beta berkenan" (I like that), "Itu hak beta" (that is my right) - those are the common language heard from the late 19th Century to late 20th Century, and probably to now. What does that mean in real terms, I do not know, that is the politest way I can put it. Daulat Tuanku!.
Pahang State is well known for its riverine towns such as Kuala Lipis (in local language they call it Lepih - where the current famous Malay girl singer comes from), Temerloh (sometimes spelt with Temerluh - where a former/late Sudirman Hj Arshad, a famous Malay male singer this time comes from), Pekan (a town resided by most Pahang royal decent situated at the mouth of the Pahang Rives, and the interior towns such as Bentong (just about 40 km away from KL off the Karak Highway), Raub (used to be a prosperous town when gold was discovered there but no more gold now). Of the more civilised towns are Kuala Lipis which used to be the capital of the State, Temerloh where all the brave people of Pahang comes from (I should say came from, as most people in Temerloh now are just mere buffaloes, able to be dragged by the nose) and Pekan where the royalty lives (or shall I say should live, they now choose to live in Kuantan, which is the Capital of the State and whose progress is beyond expectations). Other towns are mostly occupied by "orang asli", (son of the soil or in modern terms Bumiputra), with probably many Chinese shopkeepers. But Kuantan (Kuantang in local slang) a town full of ‘foreigners’ from Kelantan and Trengganu and managed by these ‘foreigners’, these people being more diligent than the original "natives" have developed the town into a thriving community which had taken over Kuala Lipis role as the Capital of Pahang, since the late 50s. How come? Lets us be frank about it, these ‘foreigners’ have even occupied all the Felda schemes, and now the ‘foreigners’ are joined by those from Kedah as well to take over the State (at least in most Felda schemes and in the former DARA area). Strange I thought that Kedah people are so contented in Kedah that I am told many times by the former PM that they do not migrate to other States. But again Pahang people also migrate, they migrate to the Big City of Kuala Lumpur, to the bright lights and never to return to Pahang ever. Kooala Lumpoo they say. And they breed and die there
Pahang glorious past is now past and gone, beyond recovery, beyond rehabilitation, beyond maintenance, beyond a turnaround, beyond anything that is humanly possible; in those days Pahang had "braves" in Bahaman, Tok Gajah, Mat Kilau, Cik Gu Jantan and Pawang Nong. Now Pahang people are either UMNO or PAS "braves" (in those days Parti Rakyat braves as well) but now no more of the brave "braves', they are just "contented people", people who live from day to day hoping for Government handouts and subsidies such as bonus issues from KOSMA, profit from Felcra and Felda schemes. What is to become of Pahang people? They are now a new tribe altogether, the tribe called Subsidy People and slaves to those handouts.
'Apa yang masih bertahan di Pahang selain dari Gunung Tahan dan Kuala Tahan?' ( What are there that survive and withstand in Pahang other than Gunung Tahan and Kuala Tahan - 'tahan' means being able to withstand).
Pahang suffers from a dearse of culture. Other than the Turtle Dance for which it is "famous" and the late Pak Zek and Pak Sako, Pahang had not produced "cultured" people. Maybe famous singers like the late Sudirman (I mentioned above) and now the acclaimed Siti Nurhaliza (also mentioned above). But their base is Kuala Lumpur and not Pahang. Do they come to Pahang? Yes, occasionally if the fees are of the right amount. How are the fees charged? I am told per song not per show as used to be. Of course they can say they will sing so many songs per show and so they charge accordingly. Just my speculation. Of the turtle dance? Not heard much about it anymore.
Is there a famous theatre, a famous museum, a famous art gallery in Pahang? Maybe in Kuantan but those are not so famous anyway. There is one museums in Kuantan Town. Where are the theatres? What theatre? Pahang people only heard of cinemas and not theatres, they may even show you the cineplex at the Berjaya Mall if you were to ask them to show you a theatre. But at least there are cineplexes in Pahang, that is a bit of culture. There is also a museum is in Pekan and an art gallery in Hyatt Hotel, not really an Art gallery but a workshop where a painter shows his paintings for sale. Why not have official theatre (where people can perform on stage), museums and art galleries in all major towns in Pahang?. Anyone ever thought about them other than thinking about which timber concession one must get, and when is the next dividend from Felcra and KOSMA?
Anyone ask why I talk about Pahang? I love the State. Its just that the State does not seem to know who loves it and who sucks it. Pahang's dilemma is that its people are too entrenched in their traditional ways of life, its Pekan Sehari (the most famous is in Temerloh), its beaches, its rivers and its jungle. Not that these in themselves are bad but when all factors combined it seems to pull development (both material wise as well as spiritual wise) away from Pahang. Should Pahang develops material wise only and open up stalls for 4 digits, encourage gambling, drinking, womanizing etc etc and call itself Pahang Darul Las Vegas instead of Pahang Darul Makmur. At night one can see almost all over town in Kuantan some people selling the 4 digit results for the day. But Pahang is no stranger to all these, especially to gambling; in the old days after the 'menuba ikan' (they poison a certain part of the Pahang River with 'tuba' Poison to stun the fish, its like a fiesta when the riverine people collected those stunned fish) then the next session was "berjoget dan berjudi" (dance and gambling). And today Kuantan Town (I know about this as I sometimes stay in Kuantan for a week or so in a month) has many 4-digit shops (I do not know how 4 digit betting is all about, the only thing I know is that they gamble on numbers, which happens to consist of 4 digits) and everyone seems to enjoy betting on these 4 digits, Muslims and non-Muslims alike. I wonder what the Pahang Muslim Religion Department is doing about this gambling by the Muslims, (Muslims are not supposed to gamble, there is notice in every 4 digit shop about this, and if you go to the Casino in Getting Highland you will find that Muslims are forbidden from entering the Casino - they cannot even play the one arm bandits - so rich Muslim Malaysians go to Perth to gamble in Casinos). The Pahang Muslim Religion Department seems to be so strict on unmarried people staying together, on religious talks and on other petty Muslim religious matters. And the increasing number of prostitutes and transvestite in Kuantan town is beyond comprehension. I am told that many are from Kelantan and Trengganu where Muslim religion enforcement are more strict. In Kuantan they even become the local tourist attractions nowadays. They even carry on their trade very openly.
Where does Pahang State play its part at the Federal level? It used to play a very active role at the Federal level, especially when the late Tun Abd Razak was the Prime Minister of Malaysia. And the Sultan of Pahang became the Agung for 4 years (as tradition would have it) about 15 years ago. Today Pahang is at the backwaters of the Federal Government. Federal Government officials only visit Pahang just before the General Election or else Pahang is only a place for them to take their family for a weekend holiday at the beach. Do they bring real development to Pahang? Not much to be seen, the Federal Government considers Pahang as a "safe place" for UMNO (one of the ruling political parties at the Federal level) even a monkey contesting a political seat in Pahang would win a seat if under the "dacing" (balance) banner, the banner for the current ruling parties, which today forms the Government of the day at the Federal level. But it is expected that Pahang will now develop at a faster pace after the recent opening of the Karak/Kuantan Highway, opened since 1 Aug. 2004. And I must record here that at the recent 31 August 2004 Malaysian National Day, the official Celebration (and Parade) was held in Kuantan town. That is something, after 47 years (of Independence) of being in the back waters.
What sort of development that can be seen in Pahang? Jengka Triangle and DARA used to be the main development areas. But with the defunct of DARA it only leaves the Jengka Corporation which runs the development in Jengka Triangle to carry on the burden. The Government at Federal level (I think) tried to form the Lembaga Kemajuan Pahang Barat, but it killed itself even before birth. They tried to bring tourism to Pahang, I would say with a bit of success. But can that success be sustained? Especially so after the 9/11 incident. But I would expect, after the opening of the Karak/Kuantan Highway, more tourists now will come this way, especially the local tourists. They will not be spending much in Kuantan as compared to foreign tourists but they will bring volume which in real terms will come to quite a big sum spent in Kuantan town. But the other towns in Pahang are not developing as fast as they should to cater for the tourist industry or any industry for that matter. The same old town and the same old buildings in most of the towns, (except Kuantan), some even still with wooden shop houses which should have been torn down years ago. See Lanchang, Karak, Kerdau, Kuala Krau, Triang (strange names to some readers and strange still if you happen to visit them), even Pekan and some part of Kuantan. Who cares anyway, most people from Pahang prefers to live in KL. Yes there is the Karak Highway and now the Karak/Kuantan Highway. But the Highway bypass most of these ‘other’ towns so I expect the same rate of growth will prevail..
Then though Sabaruddin Chik was (now he is retired) the MP for Temerloh for a long time and very close to the "TOP", and yet he could not a get highway to Temerloh built earlier. And what of Najib (now Deputy PM of Malaysia), Khalil (now appointed the Governor of Melaka), Jamaluddin Jarjis (now the Minister of Technology in the Malaysian Cabinet), Fauzi (now retired?) and Zaharah (now retired?), could not they get a highway to Kuantan much earlier while sitting at their Federal pots (posts)? But now the Highway is there. Regardless, Pahang has developed in other areas; it has got Petro-Chemical Complex at Gebeng, near Kuantan. Mentakab seems to have its own industrial complex as well so does Bentung, though both seem to progress very slowly as compared to places like in Selangor and Perak. What more Penang, Melaka and Johore, they have gone far ahead over a long time now.
In education Pahang has been left too far for a long time. But it now can boast of a medical teaching hospital in Kuantan for the International Islamic University. It also has got a University in Kuantan in the form of KUKTEM (correct?) in the former MEC complex near Gambang, about 20 km east of Kuantan town on the way to KL (don’t ask me what KUKTEM stands for but its a University) And IKIP in Kuantan with ITM Branch in Jengka and the Tengku Abdul Rahman College in some shop houses in Karak. So now Pahang people will be "educated".
By the way have you observed some of the mosques in the rural areas in Pahang? They are the most ugly structures ever built. They all look alike everywhere except for those in Kuantan and the other older mosques, and those ugly mass produced mosques are made of wood and painted black (then) with funny "Malaca like" roofs. Some are now painted white, after a deliberation I suppose. And no minaret at that, how does one tell that they are mosques? Don't Pahang Muslim Religious Department has some sense of esthetic? Compare to those in Trengganu, Pahang is far cry backward in their mosque building technology. I blame that to poor imagination of the people concerned with the approval of the design of the mosques. or even no imagination at all.
Looking far ahead, in years to come, Pahang has got the potential of being progressive, provided,
1. The Pahang State Government maintains good rapport with the Federal Govt.
2. The Pahang MB maintains his moderate stature.
3. The people of Pahang wake up from deep slumber and create changes in their
political outlook and shift their paradigm to be more action orientated instead
of the subsidy mentality.
4. The Federal Govt. respects the need for accelerated development in Pahang and
not left it like an old first wife.
5. The Pahang ruling classes should understand the needs of the overall Pahang
people and not just a section of these people.
I wonder how many Pahang people have access to the Internet? In Kuantan now they have the broad band services, Streamyx. Or how many Pahang people want to have access to the Internet? Or can they afford to have access to the Internet?
I pray hard that Pahang State will progress and catch up with those States in the West of West Malaysia in the coming years.
To shout back, e-mail: mylias@tm.net.my
Pahang is the biggest state in Malaya but is slow in its development, or maybe slow in reaping the profit of its development. Most underdeveloped areas had been given to FELDA (the Malaysia Federal Development Authority) to develop towards new settlements and agricultural developments with rubber and palm oil being the most tress planted. And these are slow producing crops and when developed the earnings are thinly spread and realised over a long period. So wealth does not seem so obvious. And also Pahang tried to develop its southern part through DARA, the South Pahang Development Authority. DARA and FELDA have in a way been successfully in developing the area but again wealth is slow to be realised. And Pahang used to depend a lot on timber in its forest for its wealth but its not that widespread among the people and only a few people got really that rich, the Royal and the Politicians earned the most money from timber. But the funny thing is that even these Politicians and the Royal do not that ‘much’ money, its the other people who work on these timber concessions who earn the ‘most’ money. Your guess is a good as mine. Oil is not found in Pahang. Its industrial estates give employments to Pahang people but the Pahang Government does not benefit directly from the industries in these industrial estates. Its the Companies like PETRONAS and the other Petchem Companies that benefit the most, financial wise.
The State used to have an arrogant MB (he is the MB now) but he is very quiet now. (MB = Menteri Besar or Chief Minister, an elected political head). Many MB's have been the political and Administrative Heads in Pahang, with names like Sir Mahmud, Tengku Abdullah, Tun Razak, Tan Sri Yahya, Wan Aziz, Mohd Yusof, and the innocent youthful Dato' Najib (the son of the late Tun Razak), who is now the Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, some colourful and some mild and some 'meninggalkan jasa' (leaving a deed behind) and some 'memakan jasa' (eating away the deeds of others). Whichever way one looks at it, Pahang had changed since the fifties and since Merdeka but with a smaller pace than expected even with its rich resources and cheap labour. Yes Pahang has got many State and Federal Corporations such as DARA (which is now defunct), Jengka (a Corporation that takes away almost 1/3 of the State) and of course not forgetting LKNP (now with its subsidiaries such as PASDEC and PASCORP?), LKPP, Felda, Felcra, Kumipa, KOSMA and what other else acronym one can think of.
Pahang is a Sultanate, as mentioned. "Beta berkenan" (I like that), "Itu hak beta" (that is my right) - those are the common language heard from the late 19th Century to late 20th Century, and probably to now. What does that mean in real terms, I do not know, that is the politest way I can put it. Daulat Tuanku!.
Pahang State is well known for its riverine towns such as Kuala Lipis (in local language they call it Lepih - where the current famous Malay girl singer comes from), Temerloh (sometimes spelt with Temerluh - where a former/late Sudirman Hj Arshad, a famous Malay male singer this time comes from), Pekan (a town resided by most Pahang royal decent situated at the mouth of the Pahang Rives, and the interior towns such as Bentong (just about 40 km away from KL off the Karak Highway), Raub (used to be a prosperous town when gold was discovered there but no more gold now). Of the more civilised towns are Kuala Lipis which used to be the capital of the State, Temerloh where all the brave people of Pahang comes from (I should say came from, as most people in Temerloh now are just mere buffaloes, able to be dragged by the nose) and Pekan where the royalty lives (or shall I say should live, they now choose to live in Kuantan, which is the Capital of the State and whose progress is beyond expectations). Other towns are mostly occupied by "orang asli", (son of the soil or in modern terms Bumiputra), with probably many Chinese shopkeepers. But Kuantan (Kuantang in local slang) a town full of ‘foreigners’ from Kelantan and Trengganu and managed by these ‘foreigners’, these people being more diligent than the original "natives" have developed the town into a thriving community which had taken over Kuala Lipis role as the Capital of Pahang, since the late 50s. How come? Lets us be frank about it, these ‘foreigners’ have even occupied all the Felda schemes, and now the ‘foreigners’ are joined by those from Kedah as well to take over the State (at least in most Felda schemes and in the former DARA area). Strange I thought that Kedah people are so contented in Kedah that I am told many times by the former PM that they do not migrate to other States. But again Pahang people also migrate, they migrate to the Big City of Kuala Lumpur, to the bright lights and never to return to Pahang ever. Kooala Lumpoo they say. And they breed and die there
Pahang glorious past is now past and gone, beyond recovery, beyond rehabilitation, beyond maintenance, beyond a turnaround, beyond anything that is humanly possible; in those days Pahang had "braves" in Bahaman, Tok Gajah, Mat Kilau, Cik Gu Jantan and Pawang Nong. Now Pahang people are either UMNO or PAS "braves" (in those days Parti Rakyat braves as well) but now no more of the brave "braves', they are just "contented people", people who live from day to day hoping for Government handouts and subsidies such as bonus issues from KOSMA, profit from Felcra and Felda schemes. What is to become of Pahang people? They are now a new tribe altogether, the tribe called Subsidy People and slaves to those handouts.
'Apa yang masih bertahan di Pahang selain dari Gunung Tahan dan Kuala Tahan?' ( What are there that survive and withstand in Pahang other than Gunung Tahan and Kuala Tahan - 'tahan' means being able to withstand).
Pahang suffers from a dearse of culture. Other than the Turtle Dance for which it is "famous" and the late Pak Zek and Pak Sako, Pahang had not produced "cultured" people. Maybe famous singers like the late Sudirman (I mentioned above) and now the acclaimed Siti Nurhaliza (also mentioned above). But their base is Kuala Lumpur and not Pahang. Do they come to Pahang? Yes, occasionally if the fees are of the right amount. How are the fees charged? I am told per song not per show as used to be. Of course they can say they will sing so many songs per show and so they charge accordingly. Just my speculation. Of the turtle dance? Not heard much about it anymore.
Is there a famous theatre, a famous museum, a famous art gallery in Pahang? Maybe in Kuantan but those are not so famous anyway. There is one museums in Kuantan Town. Where are the theatres? What theatre? Pahang people only heard of cinemas and not theatres, they may even show you the cineplex at the Berjaya Mall if you were to ask them to show you a theatre. But at least there are cineplexes in Pahang, that is a bit of culture. There is also a museum is in Pekan and an art gallery in Hyatt Hotel, not really an Art gallery but a workshop where a painter shows his paintings for sale. Why not have official theatre (where people can perform on stage), museums and art galleries in all major towns in Pahang?. Anyone ever thought about them other than thinking about which timber concession one must get, and when is the next dividend from Felcra and KOSMA?
Anyone ask why I talk about Pahang? I love the State. Its just that the State does not seem to know who loves it and who sucks it. Pahang's dilemma is that its people are too entrenched in their traditional ways of life, its Pekan Sehari (the most famous is in Temerloh), its beaches, its rivers and its jungle. Not that these in themselves are bad but when all factors combined it seems to pull development (both material wise as well as spiritual wise) away from Pahang. Should Pahang develops material wise only and open up stalls for 4 digits, encourage gambling, drinking, womanizing etc etc and call itself Pahang Darul Las Vegas instead of Pahang Darul Makmur. At night one can see almost all over town in Kuantan some people selling the 4 digit results for the day. But Pahang is no stranger to all these, especially to gambling; in the old days after the 'menuba ikan' (they poison a certain part of the Pahang River with 'tuba' Poison to stun the fish, its like a fiesta when the riverine people collected those stunned fish) then the next session was "berjoget dan berjudi" (dance and gambling). And today Kuantan Town (I know about this as I sometimes stay in Kuantan for a week or so in a month) has many 4-digit shops (I do not know how 4 digit betting is all about, the only thing I know is that they gamble on numbers, which happens to consist of 4 digits) and everyone seems to enjoy betting on these 4 digits, Muslims and non-Muslims alike. I wonder what the Pahang Muslim Religion Department is doing about this gambling by the Muslims, (Muslims are not supposed to gamble, there is notice in every 4 digit shop about this, and if you go to the Casino in Getting Highland you will find that Muslims are forbidden from entering the Casino - they cannot even play the one arm bandits - so rich Muslim Malaysians go to Perth to gamble in Casinos). The Pahang Muslim Religion Department seems to be so strict on unmarried people staying together, on religious talks and on other petty Muslim religious matters. And the increasing number of prostitutes and transvestite in Kuantan town is beyond comprehension. I am told that many are from Kelantan and Trengganu where Muslim religion enforcement are more strict. In Kuantan they even become the local tourist attractions nowadays. They even carry on their trade very openly.
Where does Pahang State play its part at the Federal level? It used to play a very active role at the Federal level, especially when the late Tun Abd Razak was the Prime Minister of Malaysia. And the Sultan of Pahang became the Agung for 4 years (as tradition would have it) about 15 years ago. Today Pahang is at the backwaters of the Federal Government. Federal Government officials only visit Pahang just before the General Election or else Pahang is only a place for them to take their family for a weekend holiday at the beach. Do they bring real development to Pahang? Not much to be seen, the Federal Government considers Pahang as a "safe place" for UMNO (one of the ruling political parties at the Federal level) even a monkey contesting a political seat in Pahang would win a seat if under the "dacing" (balance) banner, the banner for the current ruling parties, which today forms the Government of the day at the Federal level. But it is expected that Pahang will now develop at a faster pace after the recent opening of the Karak/Kuantan Highway, opened since 1 Aug. 2004. And I must record here that at the recent 31 August 2004 Malaysian National Day, the official Celebration (and Parade) was held in Kuantan town. That is something, after 47 years (of Independence) of being in the back waters.
What sort of development that can be seen in Pahang? Jengka Triangle and DARA used to be the main development areas. But with the defunct of DARA it only leaves the Jengka Corporation which runs the development in Jengka Triangle to carry on the burden. The Government at Federal level (I think) tried to form the Lembaga Kemajuan Pahang Barat, but it killed itself even before birth. They tried to bring tourism to Pahang, I would say with a bit of success. But can that success be sustained? Especially so after the 9/11 incident. But I would expect, after the opening of the Karak/Kuantan Highway, more tourists now will come this way, especially the local tourists. They will not be spending much in Kuantan as compared to foreign tourists but they will bring volume which in real terms will come to quite a big sum spent in Kuantan town. But the other towns in Pahang are not developing as fast as they should to cater for the tourist industry or any industry for that matter. The same old town and the same old buildings in most of the towns, (except Kuantan), some even still with wooden shop houses which should have been torn down years ago. See Lanchang, Karak, Kerdau, Kuala Krau, Triang (strange names to some readers and strange still if you happen to visit them), even Pekan and some part of Kuantan. Who cares anyway, most people from Pahang prefers to live in KL. Yes there is the Karak Highway and now the Karak/Kuantan Highway. But the Highway bypass most of these ‘other’ towns so I expect the same rate of growth will prevail..
Then though Sabaruddin Chik was (now he is retired) the MP for Temerloh for a long time and very close to the "TOP", and yet he could not a get highway to Temerloh built earlier. And what of Najib (now Deputy PM of Malaysia), Khalil (now appointed the Governor of Melaka), Jamaluddin Jarjis (now the Minister of Technology in the Malaysian Cabinet), Fauzi (now retired?) and Zaharah (now retired?), could not they get a highway to Kuantan much earlier while sitting at their Federal pots (posts)? But now the Highway is there. Regardless, Pahang has developed in other areas; it has got Petro-Chemical Complex at Gebeng, near Kuantan. Mentakab seems to have its own industrial complex as well so does Bentung, though both seem to progress very slowly as compared to places like in Selangor and Perak. What more Penang, Melaka and Johore, they have gone far ahead over a long time now.
In education Pahang has been left too far for a long time. But it now can boast of a medical teaching hospital in Kuantan for the International Islamic University. It also has got a University in Kuantan in the form of KUKTEM (correct?) in the former MEC complex near Gambang, about 20 km east of Kuantan town on the way to KL (don’t ask me what KUKTEM stands for but its a University) And IKIP in Kuantan with ITM Branch in Jengka and the Tengku Abdul Rahman College in some shop houses in Karak. So now Pahang people will be "educated".
By the way have you observed some of the mosques in the rural areas in Pahang? They are the most ugly structures ever built. They all look alike everywhere except for those in Kuantan and the other older mosques, and those ugly mass produced mosques are made of wood and painted black (then) with funny "Malaca like" roofs. Some are now painted white, after a deliberation I suppose. And no minaret at that, how does one tell that they are mosques? Don't Pahang Muslim Religious Department has some sense of esthetic? Compare to those in Trengganu, Pahang is far cry backward in their mosque building technology. I blame that to poor imagination of the people concerned with the approval of the design of the mosques. or even no imagination at all.
Looking far ahead, in years to come, Pahang has got the potential of being progressive, provided,
1. The Pahang State Government maintains good rapport with the Federal Govt.
2. The Pahang MB maintains his moderate stature.
3. The people of Pahang wake up from deep slumber and create changes in their
political outlook and shift their paradigm to be more action orientated instead
of the subsidy mentality.
4. The Federal Govt. respects the need for accelerated development in Pahang and
not left it like an old first wife.
5. The Pahang ruling classes should understand the needs of the overall Pahang
people and not just a section of these people.
I wonder how many Pahang people have access to the Internet? In Kuantan now they have the broad band services, Streamyx. Or how many Pahang people want to have access to the Internet? Or can they afford to have access to the Internet?
I pray hard that Pahang State will progress and catch up with those States in the West of West Malaysia in the coming years.
To shout back, e-mail: mylias@tm.net.my
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