More Internal Sabotage? MO1 Made To Look Like A Fool Again

The past few weeks MO1 has been making a real fool of himself again and again. That 'major announcement at 4:45 pm' was a major bungle.

You know it was a bungle because none of the media even bothered to report that just two days after the event, Mike Tyson has been sucked up by aliens ! Just kidding. Meaning he  has become a non issue again.

The other major PR bungle was MO1 pledging to Donald Trump  "to invest"  RM100 Billion in the USA (had to revise the figure upwards) in just 5 minutes and 58 seconds! Boy that was stupid.

He pledged for MAS to buy Boeing when MAS has just ordered more Airbuses. Maybe he thinks Trump is another village idiot like him.

Then he told the Indians that he is the father of  'pembangunan kaum India' or some crap like that. I received the following (its gone viral) written by someone called Shukur Mohamad (dont know if it is a real person or not.) 

The point is it is so easy to make MO1 look so stupid. Obviously either the people around him are stupid dimwits who are making the boss look so stupid OR  the people around him are NOT stupid dimwits who are making the boss look so stupid !!

You can read Shukur Mohamad's rebuttal and see how easy it is to debunk MO1.

Here is Shukur:

*HOBI NAJIB ADALAH MEMBOHONG*

Dalam majlis MIC di PWTC, di hadapan masyarakat India, Najib buat sekian kalinya MEMBOHONG.

Kali ini Najib berbohong berkenaan GST di NEGARA INDIA dengan mengatakan GST di India adalah sebanyak 28%.

Maka bertepuklah perwakilan masyarakat India di dalam majlis MIC itu sambil mengangguk-anggukkan kepala.

Makcik JR, Pak Naib, Ketua Cawangan UMNO, penjilat pungk_k Najib dua kali laju angguknya dari perwakilan India di dalam majlis MIC itu apabila mendengar PEMBOHONGAN NAJIB itu.

Dah tidak terkira berapa banyak NAJIB BERBOHONG kepada rakyat negara ini.

Buka mulut sahaja, anak Tun Razak itu pasti BERBOHONG.

Kepada PEMBOHONG PALING BESAR DALAM MALAYSIA INI SAYA NAK BAGITAU , GST 28% itu dikenakan untuk PEMBELIAN AIR CONDITION DAN PETI SEJUK.

GST untuk rakyat MARHAEN (DI INDIA)  ADALAH SEBANYAK 5% sahaja.

Manakala bahan-bahan asas keperluan rakyat negara India tidak di kenakan cukai pun.

Dan bagi cukai perkhidmatan pula, INDIA tidak mengenakan cukai atas :

- PELAJARAN
- KESIHATAN
- PERUMAHAN
- HOTEL YANG BERHARGA DI BAWAH INR 1000 ATAU RM 64.

Manakala 5% cukai dikenakan atas :

- Tiket keretapi (selain dari coach tidur)
- Penerbangan kelas ekonomi
- Teksi
- Ruang pengiklanan.

Manakala GST perkhidmatan 28% di kenakan atas :

- Tiket wayang
- Judi dan pertaruhan
- Hotel di atas tarif INR7500 atau RM485.00

Untuk pengetahuan Najib dan makcik JR angka 28% itu untuk golongan menengah ke atas.

Bukan seperti di Malaysia dari golongan OKU, Miskin, Miskin Tegar di pukul rata sama sahaja.

Kenapa ada perbezaan antara GST Malaysia dan India❓❓❓❓❓

JAWAPANNYA :

DI MALAYSIA ADA TANGGUNGAN HUTANG YANG DI BUAT OLEH 1MDB YANG MEMAKSA RAKYAT MEMBAYARNYA WALAUPUN MISKIN.

MANAKALA DI INDIA GST DI KUTIP MENGIKUT PERBEZAAN TARAF HIDUP DAN YANG PASTINYA DI INDIA TIADA 1MDB.

Tapi nak buat macam mana Najib sendiri tidak tahu dan tidak pandai mengira kerana 25-9=14.

Walaupun Najib BERBOHONG , PEMBOHONGAN NAJIB itu pasti akan di "back up" oleh Puad Zakarshi , Aziz Kaprawi , Ahmad Maslan , Annuar Musa , Idris Haron , Noh Omar , Azalina Othman , dan makcik-makcik JR serta cybertrooper dan penjilat pungk_k Najib.

Rakyat Malaysia WAJIB MENOLAK KERAJAAN KLEPTOKRASI INI DI DALAM PRU AKAN DATANG.

*SHUKUR MOHAMAD*

My comments :  Isnt there anyone inside MO1's team who can fact check his speeches? Just Google 'Modi and GST' and you should be able to get all the info you need about the Indian GST which Shukur Mohamad has assembled above. Apa susah sangat?

Someone or a few people inside his team are seriously tripping him up. Or I am wrong and the guy is indeed just incredibly stupid.

Third option : Maybe both are happening.
Posted by Syed Akbar Ali

Shopping Malls Struggling in Greater Kuala Lumpur Malaysia

  

private consumption of shoppers dropped to 6.3% in 4th qtr 2016 

from 9% in 1st quarter of 2015

Greater KL has 120 malls, 10 more set to open or launch soon.

recent exits of Bulgogi Brothers, Tim Ho Wan and Tous Les Jours

not necessarily retail industry thriving.

malls in suburban areas dropped rentals by 0.7% year-on-year
rental ground floor RM10,000 to RM20,000 depending on size and location.

Suburban malls 20- 25% less for the same.

many retail centres, malls within Greater KL struggling 

shoppers’ overall sentiment remained weak 

suburban areas daily footfall down 25% especially on weekends.

Household consumption not recovered to prior (GST) 

consumer sentiment 80 points, below desired 100 points

rural and semi-urban areas rising cost of living hit harder 

rate of wage rises and employment much lower 

Premier malls still doing well

Suria KLCC, Pavilion, and Mid Valley performing well 

My comments :  Premier malls doing well because these are mostly patronised by higher income people (who are mostly non Melayus).  Lets thank Allah that some people in the country can still do an honest day's work and earn good incomes. 

Imagine if those people also have problems - then Mid Valley, KLCC Suria and Pavillion would also have to shut down. So let us be thankful that these few malls are still doing very well.

But other than that all the middle to lower middle market type malls are facing difficulties. Quite a few Aeons have shut down. 

Outside the malls,  the regular shops and small businesses are also suffering. Kedai Rakyat 1 Malaysia has shut down. Cake shops have shut down (birthday cakes are luxuries for many people).

The country is grinding down to a halt.  I have been saying this since the GST was implemented in 2015.  And I have been right. Kedai Rakyat 1 Malaysia has shut down. Re-read the Malay Mail story above.

Here is another prediction I want to make - if the kleptocrats win the general elections, that major petrol station operator may face problems in about two years.  

 

Surat Dari Ibu Penuntut UITM vs Duterte signs free tuition bill into law

A reader from Sabah sent me the following (Thank you Puan. Nice to hear from you again) :

1.  Hi how are you Syed?  Been following your blog as usual using  ___

My daughter is a student at UiTM ____, thus pertaining to your post on 25 September, 2017 I would like to confirm that UiTM does impose the RM30 electricity bill per student per semester. 

That's for three (3) electrical gadgets only per student eg. mobile phone, laptop, printer.  If the students are found to be using more than three electrical items that they have registered with UiTM for instance iron (seterika), mosquito repellant etc then these will be forfeited by tbe Unit Pengurusan Kolej when they do their regular spotchecks on the students' rooms. 

Items forfeited are returnable with compound payment of RM10 per item.  If they raid tbe students five times per semester the university gets to collect RM50 per item per student.

Not only that Syed, the students are also being scrutinised and policed for the way they dress, their hair must be black at all times.  Even though there is no compulsion to wear the tudung for the Muslim female students but if anyone is found to have the slightest brown glimpse on her crown, Muslim or non Muslim then she must wear tudung to cover unblack hair. 

The students are also scrutinised for wearing skirts that are not ankle long.  And try sneaking out wearing a round collar t-shirt on a weekend...you will be compounded with a RM50 fine. 

The police bantuan just cannot care less if the students have enough money for food or not.

If I have to note down here there are so many other things that cause grief to UiTM students especially when the institution sees them like school children and not university students. 

That's it for now Syed.  Do continue writing, take care and God bless you.

Regards


2.  Then someone else, also a regular reader, sent me this (thank you Pak Tuan. Much obliged)  :

Assalammualaikum wbt Dear Tuan Syed,

The enclosed article refers.

Rakyat Filipina 100 juta dan GNPnya rendah daripada Malaysia tetapi dia boleh bagi free tuition yakni pendidikan percuma kepada rakyat dipengajian tinggi.

Mengapa dan macam mana dia boleh buat begitu ? Adakah kerana di Filipina tiada ameno, MO1 dan Kak Ros ?

Wallahalam,thanks.

Thank you. Here is the story:


Duterte signs free tuition bill into law

CNN Philippines
Sat, August 5, 2017

Pres Duterte signed on Aug 3 law free education
for 1m students in public tertiary, vocational schools nationwide.

Republic Act 10931 or "Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act"
full tuition subsidy for students in State universities, colleges, technical-vocational schools.


law covers "library fees, computer fees, laboratory fees, school ID fees, athletic fees, admission fees, development fees, guidance fees, handbook fees, entrance fees, registration fees, medical and dental fees, cultural and other similar or related fees."

provides stipend for poor students

2017 budget P8 billion allotted for free tuition

My comments :  The Filipinos are getting their priorities right. 

Someone I know just returned from a 10 day vacation in India. He says "India needs communism".  The disparities there are so great. They need shock treatment.

The Philippines is undertaking some shock treatment. They have to educate their people.  This 1 million student population includes vocational education. There are 100 million Filipinos. 1 million going to university is only 1% of the population.  A drop in the ocean.
They are making a political decision, with great will power. They will find the money to fund the free education. Even if they can keep up this free education for just 10 years, the Philippines would have produced at least 10 million new graduates. 

They will not become janitors and maids.
Posted by Syed Akbar Ali

BOMBSHELL – NAJIB & JHO LOW’S TOP SECRETS HACKED: DEADLY DETAILS OF 1MDB’S WORLD RECORD-BREAKING THEFT UP FOR GRABS AFTER DELOITTE & KPMG HACKED BY ‘SOPHISTICATED’ MYSTERY GROUP

The Guardian has reported:

One of the world’s “big four” accountancy firms has been targeted by a sophisticated hack that compromised the confidential emails and plans of some of its blue-chip clients, the Guardian can reveal.


Deloitte, which is registered in London and has its global headquarters in New York, was the victim of a cybersecurity attack that went unnoticed for months.

One of the largest private firms in the US, which reported a record $37bn (£27.3bn) revenue last year, Deloitte provides auditing, tax consultancy and high-end cybersecurity advice to some of the world’s biggest banks, multinational companies, media enterprises, pharmaceutical firms and government agencies.

The Guardian understands Deloitte clients across all of these sectors had material in the company email system that was breached. The companies include household names as well as US government departments.

Delloite’s other clients include Malaysia’s !MDB. All that the firm learnt of 1MDB’s world record breaking theft  is probably now in the hands of the hackers, ready to be deployed at will.

References

DOJ info would have impacted 1 MDB audit, Deloitte says-Deloitte admits it missed billions in fraudulent transactions-Msian partnership might take international firm the way of Arthur Andersen

Looks  like Deloitte will join KPMG:

Is KPMG International being “EnRoned”? : Fallout from Malaysia’s 1 MDB scandal may cost KPMG USD 10 billion

DOJ info would have impacted audit, Deloitte says
37 comments     Published Today 11:57 am     Updated Today 12:57 pm



Deloitte Malaysia said its audit of 1MDB in 2013 and 2014 would have been impacted if it had known at that time the information contained in the United States Department of Justice’s (DOJ) lawsuits to seize 1MDB-linked assets.
As such, 1MDB’s 2013 and 2014 financial statements, which the auditing firm signed off on March 28, 2014 and Nov 5, 2014, “should no longer be relied upon”, it said in a statement.

“The complaint (filed by DOJ) contains information, which, if known at the time of the 2013 and 2014 audits of 1MDB, would have impacted the financial statements and affected the audit reports and, accordingly, those audit reports issued by Deloitte Malaysia dated March 28, 2014 and Nov 5, 2014 respectively in connection with the 2013 and 2014 financial statements of 1MDB should no longer be relied upon,” Deloitte said in a statement.

This comes after 1MDB announced that Deloitte is quitting as 1MDB’s auditor, making it the third audit firm to part ways with 1MDB since its inception in 2009.

Deloitte notified 1MDB of its intention to quit in February, the state investment said in a statement yesterday.
Deloitte remains 1MDB auditor until a replacement is appointed, 1MDB said.

1MDB’s accounts from 2010 to 2012 were audited by KPMG, but the firm’s services were terminated in December 2013.
According to the Public Accounts Committee report on 1MDB, KPMG was fired after it refused to sign off on the accounts without details of investments worth US$2.32 billion.

KPMG signed off on the accounts after Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Compny guaranteed an investment, the PAC report said.

The Wall Street Journal reported another audit firm Ernst & Young was fired in 2010 for raising similar questions.
The DOJ is seeking to seize more than US$1 billion of assets it said were purchased using funds siphoned from 1MDB.
The 1MDB board yesterday said it is confident of no wrongdoing.

However, it is taking precautionary measures by discounting its 2013 and 2014 financial statements until the DOJ lawsuits have been dealt with in court.

– http://realpolitikasia.blogspot.my

THE KURDISH VOTE FOR INDEPENDENCE

More Middle East Rock and Roll : The first Kurdish Republic Votes On Independence 25th September 2017
I have written about Kurdistan before. I wrote that they will be declaring independence soon. That is what is happening right now.  This analysis is from the Soufan Center.


THE KURDISH VOTE FOR INDEPENDENCE

• On September 25, Iraqi Kurds will vote in a highly significant referendum on Kurdish independence.

• The semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan wants to become the first self-sustaining Kurdish nation, with serious regional repercussions.

• Syria, Iran and Turkey have denounced the vote, and even allies in Washington have urged delay.

• Especially for Turkey, the 'Kurdish issue' influences domestic and foreign policy decisions to an unstable degree.

On September 25, millions of Iraqi Kurds will vote in a referendum to establish an independent Kurdish nation.

The outcome of the vote in favor of the measure is not in question; the outcome of what follows is. Of the countless issues bedeviling Iraq and the region, the long simmering Kurdish question may have both the longest reach and most lasting consequences.

The degree of concern can be found in strongly-worded warnings from Ankara   to Baghdad.

Meanwhile, the U.S., which has had very good relations with Iraqi Kurdistan, now finds itself once again in the uncomfortable position of pressuring one of its true regional allies against independence.

Saying ‘the time is not right’, Washington has hoped the vote would be delayed, while Kurdish leaders believe the time will never be more right than it is  right now.

Once the votes are counted, the process of establishing some path towards an independent Kurdistan will begin, with massive challenges ahead.

Baghdad has stated it will not recognize any results of the referendum, calling the vote an illegal attempt to break up Iraq. Relations between Irbil and Baghdad have never been good but are now are their lowest, with the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan now essentially out of the Iraqi union in all but name.

The oil-rich and relatively diverse city of Kirkuk is among the most combustible issues between Baghdad and Irbil, with each saying it belongs to them. The Kurds have been running Kirkuk since 2014, when Iraqi military forces fled after fighting with the Islamic State.


By including Kirkuk  in the referendum, Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) President Massoud Barzani sent a clear signal to Baghdad that the Kurds intend to keep those recent and very much still-disputed gains. There is a very real possibility of armed conflict between Kurdish peshmerga and Iraqi military or Shi’a militias over Kirkuk.


To the north, it is difficult to overstate the depth of Turkish concern as it relates to the Kurds. For Ankara, Kurdish independence on its southern border would be a flashpoint among its own sizable Kurdish population. The Erdogan government views every action in Syria and Iraq through a Kurdish lens, and has put troops into the Syrian civil war to prevent further Kurdish territorial gains there. On September 23, the Turkish Parliament renewed a bill that would allow for Turkish military intervention in Iraq for ‘national security threats’ that has already been used in Syria. Ankara has also been very explicit in its warnings over the referendum’s wider impact, with Defense Minister Nurettin Canikli saying it could collapse the fragile balance in the region.


The U.S. has pressured the Kurds to at least delay the vote, putting it in the uncomfortable position of siding with Turkey and Iran at least on this one issue. The U.S. in general supports Kurdish independence but balks at the actual consequences of such a move, worried it would increase sectarian fighting in the region, and lead to major confrontations with Turkey and Iran, both of whom have poor to abysmal relations with their respective large Kurdish populations. Kurdish leaders have held off similar votes and declarations for years, trusting that the U.S. and others would guarantee a formal pathway for Kurdish independence in exchange for a more gradual timeline. The September 25 vote shows that the issue has, for Iraqi Kurds, taken on a momentum larger than any regional concerns about what comes next.


My comments :  There are  about 45 million Kurdish people living throughout the Middle East in  Iraq, Turkey, Iran, Syria and Central Asia.  That is a lot of Kurdish people.  That is problem Number 1.

Problem Number 2 is they  inhabit a contiguous area spanning adjacent parts of southeastern Turkey 20 million (Northern Kurdistan), 12 million in northwestern Iran (Eastern Kurdistan), 9 million in northern Iraq (Southern Kurdistan), and 4 million in northern Syria  (Western Kurdistan).

The Kurds are culturally, historically and linguistically classified as belonging to the Iranian peoples (Wikipedia).

This map here shows Iraqi Kurdistan which will declare its independence soon. There are 9 million Kurds in northern Iraq. 

 
The next map here shows where the rest of the 45 million Kurds are located in adjacent, contiguous lands stretching across Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Iran and Turkmenistan.

You can see the problem. Once the 9 million Kurds in Iraq declare independence, surely the 20 million Kurds in Turkey and the 12 million Kurds in Iran will also think of joining up. 

My strongest advice is instead of any ideas of union, they form a loose confederation first with an economic union, unrestricted movement of people and businesses.  But I am getting carried away.

The Turks, Iraqis, Iranians and Syrians are all against the formation of an independent Kurdistan anywhere in the world.  It is most likely that the Turks and Iranians will undertake some sort of punitive action against the Kurds.

This will be a very big mistake.  A quarter of Turkey (20 million) are Kurdish  (out of 80 million people).

Even Malaysia has at least one Kurd in Kuching, Sarawak. 

Nonetheless for a very long time the Arabs, Persians, Kurds and too many of the people of the Middle East have never been good at thinking with the head on their shoulders.

The soalan cepu mas is, if an independent Kurdish republic is proclaimed, where the Kurds are largely Sunni Muslims (like Saladdin the Great who was a Kurd) and war breaks out between Kurdistan and say Turkey or Iraq, then who will our kampong boys support?

Kita nak hantar pesawat TUDM ke negeri yang mana satu? As the stomach churns.
Posted by Syed Akbar Ali

Kurdish Vote Won’t Spark A Sustained Oil Price Rally

Kurdistan
Turkey and Iraq have stepped up the pressure on Kurdistan after the semi-autonomous region of Iraq voted for independence. Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to block Kurdish oil exports through Turkish territory, while Baghdad called for an international boycott of Kurdish oil sales.

The Kurdish people appeared to have voted overwhelmingly for independence on Monday, pending final results. But the Kurdish Regional Government has said that the vote, which won’t be recognized internationally, will be a starting point for negotiations with Baghdad, and not the culmination of real independence.

Turkey’s President called the referendum “illegal, null, and void,” and threatened to shut down exports through the pipeline that runs from Kurdistan to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan. “Let’s see where they are going to drain off the petrol — we control the valve,” he said. “Once you turn off the valve, it will be over.”

The referendum was also opposed by Iran, as well as the United States, which argued that it would destabilize the region.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Sunday that all foreign countries should not purchase oil from Kurdistan, arguing that the sales are illegal if not conducted under the auspices of the Iraqi central government. Iraq “asks the neighboring countries and the countries of the world to deal exclusively with the federal government of Iraq in regards to entry posts and oil,” a statement from the Prime Minister’s office said.
Related: Aston Martin CEO: UK Fossil Fuel Ban “Meaningless”

Kurdistan produces just over 600,000 bpd, or about 15 percent of Iraq’s total output. Most contentiously are the oil fields around disputed areas in Kirkuk, which the Kurds took control of in 2014 when ISIS burst onto the scene and rapidly seized swathes of territory from the Iraqi government. “The Iraqi government is not going to stand still and watch Kirkuk’s integration into Kurdistan, and the mobilization that we’re seeing is an Iraqi effort to reassert control over the contested territory,” Ayham Kamel, director of the Middle East and North Africa at Eurasia Group, said in a Bloomberg interview. Ethnic clashes “might become a pretext for much wider mobilization,” he added.

Kurdistan is largely at the mercy of its much more powerful neighbors. The bulk of the region’s finances come from oil exports, much of which go through a pipeline across Turkey to the Mediterranean. If Turkey takes draconian action to shut down Kurdish oil exports, it would cripple the Kurdish economy.

“If this boycott call proves successful, a good 500,000 fewer barrels of crude oil per day would reach the market,” Commerzbank said in a note. The threat of the boycott, as well as the possible shuttering of oil flows through Turkey, led to a significant increase in crude prices, which touched two-year highs on Monday. Brent rose above $58 per barrel, the highest price in more than two years, although prices fell back slightly on Tuesday.

A more serious scenario would be some sort of military clash between Kurdistan and its neighbors. Turkey conducted military exercises along its border with Kurdistan, and Turkish President Erdogan ominously warned that “we may arrive one night, suddenly.”

Kurdish President Massoud Barzani called for calm and diplomatic negotiations, but on Tuesday the Iraqi government ruled out talks. “Barzani is playing a dangerous game of poker,” Anthony Skinner, a director with U.K.-based forecasting company Verisk Maplecroft, told Bloomberg by email. “He is counting on Turkey, Iran and the U.S. not being able to sustain a united stance on pressuring the KRG.”

The gamble is risky, but if the Kurds can stave off retaliation, there is an upside. Because any clash would be a lop-sided affair, given the lack of international support for formal Kurdish independence, military hostilities are unlikely. Turkey could shut down the pipeline that carries Kurdish oil, but Ankara also benefits from tariffs it receives for allowing those shipments to proceed. Baghdad has much less influence, so if Turkey declines to follow through on its threats, the independence vote could give the Kurdish government some leverage with Baghdad in negotiations over revenue sharing, a longstanding grievance that has not been addressed. The Iraqi government has tried for years to halt Kurdish oil exports, but to no avail.

Related: As OPEC Compliance Peaks, Can The Drawdowns Continue?

The Kurdish government also recently resolved some outstanding issues with energy companies operating within its borders, restructuring debts and sending payments to some drillers. Rosneft just announced plans to invest $1 billion in Kurdistan to build a natural gas pipeline, a move that comes on the heels of hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of loans to the Kurdish government earlier this year, to be paid back by future oil sales. The recent deals bolster Kurdistan’s energy outlook.

In short, the belligerent rhetoric surrounding the independence vote between Kurdistan and its neighbors could have already peaked. That might mean that the case for higher crude oil prices will need to come from elsewhere; oil bulls cannot base their bets on supply disruptions from Kurdistan.

By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com

LEAVE JOHOR, GO TO AFGHANISTAN’: IN SHOW OF LEADERSHIP PUTTING NAJIB TO SHAME, JOHOR SULTAN WARNS ‘MUSLIMS ONLY’ LAUNDRETTE OWNER, DEMANDS APOLOGY FOR CREATING RACIAL ANGST

Politics | September 27, 2017 by | 0 Comments

JOHOR BARU: The Sultan of Johor, Sultan Ibrahim Ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar, has ordered the controversial Muslim-only launderette in Muar to immediately stop its discriminatory practice or risk being shut down by him.

“I cannot accept this nonsense. This is Johor, which belongs to Bangsa Johor and it belongs to all races and faiths. This is a progressive, modern and moderate state.


“This is not a Taliban state and as the Head of Islam in Johor, I find this action to be totally unacceptable as this is extremist in nature,” he said.

His Majesty said he also ordered the state Islamic religious affairs committee chairman Abdul Mutalip Abd Rahim, the religious council and the district council to investigate the matter.

The Sultan added that he had also spoken to Mufti Johor Datuk Mohd Tahrir Samsudin as well as state exco for religion Abd Mutalip Abd Rahim over the matter.

“I want the owner to apologise to me and the people of Johor. He has made Johoreans very angry and embarrassed because this is not the Johor we want.

“The owner has gone against the vision of a united, harmonious, moderate and tolerant Johor. If he still insists on carrying on the Muslim-only practice, he can leave Johor. I suggest he set up shop in Afghanistan. His thinking is sick and goes against everything that Johor stands for.”

His Majesty, who was visibly upset, said he and his family members were “deeply appalled” by the action of the launderette owner, saying if this was not stopped, it would lead to more narrow-minded actions in the name of Islam.

Pictures of the launderette went viral last week when it was reported that it had a sign saying that only Muslims were allowed to use its machines.

DON’T TRY TO BE CLEVER, SAME GOES FOR OTHER RACES

He said the owner had first put up his Muslim-only notices and after the issue became controversial, the owner put up a new sign to say it was “Muslim-friendly.”

“Don’t try to be clever. It’s still the same. The owner needs to have his brains cleaned up.

“I want to put a stop to such extremism. Extremism has no place in my state. We take pride in being Bangsa Johor and I want to know where the owner of this launderette learn his Islam? Islam teaches the faithful to be tolerant and respect other people and faiths,” he said at Istana Bukit Serene here yesterday,



On Monday, Johor Prince Tunku Idris Sultan Ibrahim expressed dismay over the launderette’s move, asked: “Is this for real? I’m appalled” in his Instagram.

The Sultan said the mosques in Johor were open to non-Muslims, for example, as long as they were properly dressed and he could not imagine non-Muslims being banned from entering the mosques, saying he was concerned over rising religious extremism.

“I wonder where this launderette owner washes his clothes when he is overseas? Is he saying only the clothes of Muslims are clean and those of non-Muslims are unclean? That’s what he means, I believe.

“From now on, I am directing the state executive council and all the councils to insist that any business owners who carry out such blatant discriminatory practices should have their licences revoked. Don’t mess around with your narrow-minded religious prejudices.”

His Majesty added that he could not keep quiet on the issue, as if this was allowed to go unnoticed, “then next we will have taxis for only Muslims or non-Muslims.”

He said he also did not want other races to carry out similar actions.

ANN