How True Is This?

[Cool Hand Luke]

The Star (2nd December 2003)

Many Chinese moving out of Terengganu

PORT KLANG: Many Chinese in Terengganu are moving out of the state as they cannot stand the sufferings under the PAS-led administration, said MCA deputy president Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy. “They do not want to leave their birth state but they are forced to because they are facing all kinds of difficulties. “They cannot find work and businesses are dying,” Chan said yesterday after visiting the Pulau Indah free trade zone site. He said PAS might think of ways to hoodwink the Chinese into accepting the party, but it would never succeed. This, he said was because the sufferings of the Chinese community in Kelantan and Terengganu told the true story of suffering when living in a PAS-ruled region. He also urged Chinese who took up PAS' offer of guided tours to Kelantan and Terengganu to also talk to the local folk there. “Do not just confine yourself to the talks and sites organised by PAS. Go talk to the Chinese folk there and they will tell you a different story, one of hardship and difficulties,” he said.

[saml]

Of course in those places one would have to do an honest day's work for a day's wages.

[jericho]

Since this news came from the 'opposing' party concerning the PAS-led administration state in question, it can be truth, partly truth or a total lies as well.

What he told is just a hearsay, and instead of asking the public to find out on their own, why not show the hard evidence or probe.

Guess election is just around the corner.

[Joecool]

Actually that is what non Kelantanese is led to believe. Depending on what type of business you intend to set up. If it is in the entertainment or restaurant business where wine is served, then you might not get such a good welcome. Pork can be found in Kelantan albeit in not such a open fashion. Similar to Shah Alam I guess. So there is little or no night life which might be how some people measure on how liveable is a place.

[vsat]

I come from Kelantan. I was born and bred there. My family still lives there. A lot of people make fun of me when I tell them where my hometown is.
The truth is :

Yes, there isn't any kind of entertainment. Discos, pubs, yes and even cinemas. They switch the lights ON when they're showing a movie. It's true.
They do have separate counters as well for male and female but it's no longer implemented. The signs are stilll there but men and women queue up the same line now.
Alcohol and pork is being sold only in Chinatown.
I am now working in KL because there isn't much job opportunities in Kelantan. My fate as well as the maybe 50,000 other Kelantanese working in KL. During the Raya holidays, the town of Kota Bharu was in a standstill. EVERYBODY came home!!!! Cars lined up from the main traffic light in Kota Bharu till the district of Pasir Putih. Just like Penang when it's CNY.

All in all, we weren't oppressed nor we weren't discriminated.
If I had a good working opportunity in Kelantan, I would go back without hesitation.
There wasn't any hardship nor difficulties we faced. We respected the Malays and vice versa. I had a nice happy childhood there with friends of all races. I even had a friend who went to
West Point form my school.

But what's lacking is the progress? Nothing is being developed there. Too rigid and strict rules forced youths to go to Thailand
for entertainment. From there, they bring back diseases and cheap drugs. What the current government needs to do is improve on their development of the State.
As for the non Muslims there, I think they're doing pretty fine and dandy.

[tupai]

ambo anok kelate jugok...& proud to be 1.
Like vsat, and after 30 years in KL, London, S'pore and Hkong, i look 4ward to going back to KB and its on my retirement plan to do so. WHy?
- great beaches & perhentian is just a hop away
- great massage and karaoke in golok. cheap too.
- wife (true blue Bkt Bintang klite) loves kelantanese thai food at Tumpat; cheap & delicious. 7 fantastic dishes+drinks for less than RM80 for 7 people! Beat that.
- retirement funds can stretch easily 40% longer than in kl or penang or tioman or langkawi.
- people generally do respect each other and more genuine about it.
- drivers are only 50% as bad as kl
- no thief...other than takut kena chop off , the crowd esp, the trishaw guys will chase the culprit and then everybody, yup everybody will land a blow, kick whatever on the dumbo.
- minimum development so minimum opportunity and so minimum outsiders with bad habits over there...
i can go on...But a last word to the bachelors, the mek-mek kelate comel belako. I envy my muslim friends :-)

tupai.

p/s a 10 minute drive to work in KB is consider too long and too far...

[vsat]

I agree with tupai. Somehow, it doesn't matter which race or religion u are...if you're Kelantanese, you're already like family.
Don't let two Kelantanese meet if they're both overseas. You might think they're long lost relatives.

P/S : Actually, it takes 7 minutes to cover KB town. I've actually timed the journey.

[jericho]

Never been to Kelantan. The furthest I been to east coast is Kuantan town. Heard the coastal road leading to Kelantan and Trengganu is very scenic.

Is the coffee at the White House coffeeshop really nice ? Heard about it from from friends.

[patrick]

The last time I was there on holiday with some friends, we had dinner at a hawker square somewhere opposite A&W (I think). What I really hate is this. When it was time for prayers, a guy came around and chased everyone out of the square!! Crazy!!! We said we were not musllims and he insisted on chasing us out! We had to leave our food and everything on the table and just stand around the square until prayer time was over. It really pissed us off. Made us look soooooooo stupid!! Promised we'll never ever go back to Kelantan for a holiday again!!

[vsat]

It's true what Patrick said. Officials from the nearby mosque garbed in prayer outfits will come with a loudhailer and chase everyone away. That is the stupid side of the administration. I've even seen foreigners getting chased away.
That hawker place is called Padang Bas and it has some of the best Kelantanese dishes there. Too bad there's a mosque nearby Padang Bas. But it's really unfair that they chase people away. Even the ladies managing the hawker stalls aren't very pleased about this.
Patrick, from a Kelantanese I apologise on behalf of my state for giving you and your friends that kind of treatment.

[uchangeng]

Some people just believe that they are , somehow thru. devine connection, are God appointed law enforcers. God's law.

I have nothing against any religions, but when men play God, they really are pain in the neck!

[Cool Hand Luke]

Uchangeng - You think this is bad? We now even have people in the forum who is advocating that the government should police the privacy of our bedrooms to make sure that we do not give the country a bad name. The only way they are going to enforce this - on pre-marital sex - is to give us drugs to kill our sex drives, install CCTV cameras in our houses in case the drugs do not work on the over-sexed and all unmarried people have to go to hospitals for check-ups once every two weeks to determine whether they are virgins or not (and I sure hope that includes men as well). Isn't it incredible?

:D Have you seen 'The Miniority Report'? My apologies. Wrong thread but similar trend of thoughts!

[patrick]

vsat, apologies definitely not necessary from you. It these politicians.... I know Kelantanese are some of the nicest people and friends that I have.

In fact, sometimes, when I recall the incident, I find it funny. Just imagine 4 naive people, holding their plates of goodies trying to scamper off to the 'sideline' and there were the hawkers chasing after us trying not to allow us to take the food with us! To the uninitiated, you are supposed to leave what you are eating on the table and come back to continue after prayers!

Anyway, Kelantan is definitelyl out of my holiday calendars but no offence meant to the nice Kelantanese people!

Rgds.

[fonzie]

Just curious...

This "chasing away" thingy.....does it occurs everyday during prayers or just on Friday afternoon prayers?

Cheers!
FonZie

[CCY]

It happens to me 20 years ago .The exact situation mentioned earlier on actually happens .It is the hawkers that asked us to leave . Since we are just visitors we reluctantly leave .
Later we found out that the hawker/stallholder may get into trouble if they dont do that .
We'll ,I just pay another visit to kota baru
mid of last month well prepared because of puasa .Otherwise have to puasa as well .