MB: Kedah is oldest state

KEDAH wants the Malaysian Government to accord the state recognition as the ol-dest state in the country based on its history.  

Kedah Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid said Kedah has records and findings to prove that the state was much older than Malacca. 

He said the state was willing to work with the Culture, Arts and Heritage Ministry to conduct re-search and studies to support its claim. 

“Our records show that the first Sultan of Kedah, Sultan Muzaffar Shah, founded the state in 1136 while Malacca was founded by Parameswara in 1402,” he told newsmen after tabling the Kedah 2007 Budget at the state assembly yesterday. 

Earlier at the assembly, Mahd-zir said that based from the histo-rical findings in the Bujang Valley and Merbok, the state was once an international site for traders from South-East Asia, Arabia, India and China. 

Mahdzir said the state planned to set up an agency to develop and promote Merbok and Bujang Val-ley.  

“The state is serious about this and we want the area to be-come a tourist attraction and to achieve this, we need recognition from the Government,” he said. 

At the same press conference, Mahdzir expressed regret over an incident which involved a Domes-tic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry enforcement officer be-ing beaten up by a group of Thais at the Bukit Kayu Hitam border on Saturday morning. 

Mahdzir said the incident should not have happened and he hoped that police and other authorities at the border would take necessary action to prevent a recurrence. 

In the incident, the officer, As-wadi Abdullah, 27, suffered cuts and bruises when a rowdy group of Thai nationals who were prevented from crossing into Malay-sia attacked him.