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Johor Chief Minister accuses Dr M of scaremongering

KUALA LUMPUR — Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s allegation that Chinese nationals will swamp Johor via the Forest City development was empty scaremongering, said Johor Chief Minister Mohammed Khaled Nordin.

Mr Mohammed Khaled Nordin (in picture) said Dr Mahathir Mohamad's attack on Johor’s Forest City was empty scaremongering. Malay Mail Online

Mr Mohammed Khaled Nordin (in picture) said Dr Mahathir Mohamad's attack on Johor’s Forest City was empty scaremongering. Malay Mail Online

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JOHOR BARU — Former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad’s allegation that Chinese nationals will swamp Johor via the Forest City mega project was merely empty scaremongering, said Johor Chief Minister Khaled Nordin on Monday (Jan 23). 

“The total land size of the state is 1.8 million hectares while the total land size affected in the Forest City project is only 1.977ha, which is only 0.108 per cent of the land in Johor ... With only less than 1 per cent of the area involved, it is impossible for the China mainlanders to occupy the state and this shows that Dr Mahathir is only making the accusation to scare Johoreans,” the Chief Minister was quoted as saying by The Star Online.

Mr Khaled also pointed out that the Forest City project is a state government initiative undertaken by both foreign and local investors, even though Chinese firms hold the majority stakes. 

“It is not 100 per cent foreign-owned as locals have a 42 per cent stake in it,” he said at a Chinese New Year Bazaar grassroots event. 

Forest City is a US$100 billion (S$143 billion) property development by Chinese firm Country Garden. The mixed development project is expected to be completed in 30 years. 

The firm has partnered Esplanade Danga 88, an associate company of Kumpulan Prasarana Rakyat Johor (KPRJ), which is the southern state’s investment arm. The largest shareholder of Esplanade Danga 88 is Johor ruler Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar. 

Mr Khaled said the project was necessary to help boost Johor’s competitiveness, especially against Singapore. “The world economy is very challenging now and without foreign investment, we will be faced with a worsening economic situation.”

He also said that there was no evidence to support Dr Mahathir’s claim that 700,000 Chinese would get citizenship by buying property in Forest City. 

“I believe the rules applied by our Immigration Department are very strict as it is impossible for Chinese mainlanders to get Malaysian nationality only by purchasing a house in the state,” he said.

Dr Mahathir and Johor Sultan Ibrahim have engaged in a war of words over the Forest City development, with the former premier claiming that mainland Chinese property owners could be given permanent residence status and allowed to vote if they reside there for more than three years. This drew criticism from the Sultan, who accused Dr Mahathir of indulging in racial politics.

Meanwhile, Chinese netizens have lashed out at Dr Mahathir over his comments that China’s investment in Forest City is a threat to Malaysian sovereignty. 

“Being an old friend for over a decade, Dr Mahathir had turned on China. It’s a big deal,” influential state-run tabloid Global Times quoted netizen yuchundaxianglianzhuli as saying.

Another netizen jiemohu wrote on Sina Weibo “Shall we boycott Malaysia for this?”

The allegations made by Dr Mahathir on his blog on Forest City had also drawn criticisms from the Chinese Embassy in Malaysia.

In a statement released in its official website earlier this month, the embassy said that “somebody applauded Sino-Malaysian relations in office but fanned the flame of anti-Chinese sentiment after”.

“With such a drastic change in views, how can he gain respect from the international community? And how will he gain the trust of Chinese Malaysians?” the statement added. AGENCIES

 

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