‘JOHOR FOLK MUST DEFEND THEIR STATE’
Johor’s progress depends on the full support of its people, says Zahid
THE people and leaders of Johor have been reminded to defend the state to ensure it continues to be held by the state government.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said this was important because the progress of the state depended on the full support of Johoreans and leaders among the communities.
“I want to remind myself as well as Johoreans and leaders in Johor that they should not let their state be in the possession of others.
“This must be reminded to us because we need to defend (this state) together,” said Zahid when closing the nine-day Progressive Johor Expo in Kota Iskandar here.
Present were Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin, executive council members and heads of state government departments and state government-linked companies.
Zahid said plans that were made and efforts to develop Johor would be ineffective if these efforts did not receive the support and cooperation from the people.
“We must face the reality of it and we must have our feet firmly on the ground when it comes to this matter. My advice is that as a progressive state, it must continue to receive support from all quarters,” said Zahid, who did not mention any political party in his speech.
Zahid said Johoreans needed to be reminded of what could happen if they did not throw their support behind the administration leading the state government.
He said Johoreans should learn from the lessons of the people in three states who saw a change in their state governments in the past.
In a reference to Penang, Selangor and Kelantan, he said the federal government continued to channel funds for development in those state despite them not being under the same party as the federal government.
“One of these states has a high figure of foreign direct investments (FDI) that was due to our (Federal Government’s) work, but our contribution is not recognised.
“We need to be reminded that we have lost what we had before this. Some of these (states) we lost more than 20 years ago ago. Two of those places (states) we lost in the last two terms, even when much of the basic contributions came from us (federal government.
“We continue to contribute funds to the state that we lost more than 20 years ago due to our (Federal Government’s) awareness and responsibility," said Zahid.
The opposition has been declaring that Johor would be its frontline state in the 14th General Election since last year, and has been making announcements about its party leaders wishing to contest in the state.
Zahid said Johor’s progress had accelerated under the leadership of Khaled, and this development would only lead to more prosperity for the state and its people.
“The journey towards a progressive state began under the current administration of the state government. Johor is undergoing a journey towards progress, and this journey experienced a giant leap due to the leadership under Khaled.”