A TALE OF TWO ROYALTIES
Recently when I asked somenone what he thought of the Kelantan royalty issue, he remarked: "Oh, she's gone home to huru-hara in Indonesia."
He was joking, of course - a rare trait in a lawyer - as he knew I was referring to the other royalty issue: the oil money allegedly owed by PETRONAS to Kelantan.
But I suppose one has to maintain a certain level of lightheartedness to see the two issues with a degree of levelheadedness.
The Kelantan Prince's alleged abuse of his estranged Indonesian wife Manohara, initially sensationalised by the media, is slowly losing its appeal even in her home country, especially when bits and pieces of what look like legitimate and credible information about her mother and her possible motives keep surfacing.
Personally, I have always maintained that no one would really know about what goes on behind closed doors, be it of a palace boudoir or of an ordinary folks' bedroom. And there are always, always, always two sides to a story, any story.
One should hope that given due time and appropriate perspective, a clearer picture would emerge to cast away doubts and unhappiness so that the Prince and his bride could re-build their life (if they choose to) and live happily ever after.
The same degree of levelheadedness should apply when it comes to the Kelantan oil royalty claims. One needs to question the basis of the claims. Are they based on sound legal ground, or are they politically manipulated?
The lawyer with the sense of humour said the claims do not hold water, much less oil. He said it has been legally established that all states in Malaysia are only entitled to royalty payments if oil and gas are found and produced within their land and water territories. Their water territories are only up to three nautical miles from their respective shoreline. The areas beyond the three nautical miles from the shoreline are under the jurisdiction of the Federal Government.
Now, it is also factually known that there's no producing oil and gas fields within the three nautical miles from the country's shoreline. The producing fields offshore Kelantan are in the waters jointly claimed and owned by the Thai and Malaysian governments. Another area is jointly claimed and owned by the Malaysian and Vietnamese governments.
But what about Terengganu, and Sabah and Sarawak, which are enjoying the oil and gas royalty? Terengganu, it seems, received some sort of ex-gratia payments until these were disputed a few years ago. This dispute is still being resolved in the courts of law. Sabah and Sarawak are another story, I was made to understand, as they had long receivid the oil benefits even before the country came into being.
To those who are quick to say that Kelantan has been robbed of what is rightfully hers, I would suggest that they should do a bit of research. Learning about the history of your own country would also help.
And those listening to these people should take the claims with a cupful of salt.
Sea salt.
Recently when I asked somenone what he thought of the Kelantan royalty issue, he remarked: "Oh, she's gone home to huru-hara in Indonesia."
He was joking, of course - a rare trait in a lawyer - as he knew I was referring to the other royalty issue: the oil money allegedly owed by PETRONAS to Kelantan.
But I suppose one has to maintain a certain level of lightheartedness to see the two issues with a degree of levelheadedness.
The Kelantan Prince's alleged abuse of his estranged Indonesian wife Manohara, initially sensationalised by the media, is slowly losing its appeal even in her home country, especially when bits and pieces of what look like legitimate and credible information about her mother and her possible motives keep surfacing.
Personally, I have always maintained that no one would really know about what goes on behind closed doors, be it of a palace boudoir or of an ordinary folks' bedroom. And there are always, always, always two sides to a story, any story.
One should hope that given due time and appropriate perspective, a clearer picture would emerge to cast away doubts and unhappiness so that the Prince and his bride could re-build their life (if they choose to) and live happily ever after.
The same degree of levelheadedness should apply when it comes to the Kelantan oil royalty claims. One needs to question the basis of the claims. Are they based on sound legal ground, or are they politically manipulated?
The lawyer with the sense of humour said the claims do not hold water, much less oil. He said it has been legally established that all states in Malaysia are only entitled to royalty payments if oil and gas are found and produced within their land and water territories. Their water territories are only up to three nautical miles from their respective shoreline. The areas beyond the three nautical miles from the shoreline are under the jurisdiction of the Federal Government.
Now, it is also factually known that there's no producing oil and gas fields within the three nautical miles from the country's shoreline. The producing fields offshore Kelantan are in the waters jointly claimed and owned by the Thai and Malaysian governments. Another area is jointly claimed and owned by the Malaysian and Vietnamese governments.
But what about Terengganu, and Sabah and Sarawak, which are enjoying the oil and gas royalty? Terengganu, it seems, received some sort of ex-gratia payments until these were disputed a few years ago. This dispute is still being resolved in the courts of law. Sabah and Sarawak are another story, I was made to understand, as they had long receivid the oil benefits even before the country came into being.
To those who are quick to say that Kelantan has been robbed of what is rightfully hers, I would suggest that they should do a bit of research. Learning about the history of your own country would also help.
And those listening to these people should take the claims with a cupful of salt.
Sea salt.
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