Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor

From Bharatpedia, an open encyclopedia


Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor
File:Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor.png
14th Menteri Besar of Kedah
Assumed office
17 May 2020
MonarchSallehuddin
Preceded byMukhriz Mahathir
ConstituencyJeneri
Faction represented in Kedah State Legislative Assembly
2008–2020Malaysian Islamic Party
2020–Perikatan Nasional
Other roles
2018–2020Opposition Leader of the Kedah State Legislative Assembly
Personal details
Born (1974-08-04) 4 August 1974 (age 49)[1]
Sik, Kedah, Malaysia[citation needed]
CitizenshipMalaysian
Political partyMalaysian Islamic Party (PAS)
Other political
affiliations
Pakatan Rakyat (PR)
Gagasan Sejahtera (GS)
Muafakat Nasional (MN)
Perikatan Nasional (PN)
Alma materUniversity of Science Malaysia
OccupationPolitician

Dato' Seri Haji Muhammad Sanusi bin Md Nor (Jawi: محمد سنوسي بن مد نور‎; born 4 August 1974[1]) is a Malaysian politician who has served as the 14th Menteri Besar of Kedah since May 2020 and Member of the Kedah State Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Jeneri since May 2018 and was the Leader of the Opposition of the state from July 2018 to the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan state administration led by his predecessor Mukhriz Mahathir in May 2020. A member of the Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), he is the party's Deputy Commissioner I of the state.[2][3]

Early life and education[edit]

Muhammad Sanusi was born in Sik, Kedah, Malaysia and he is the seventh child among 13 siblings from the marriage of Md Nor Taib (born 1942) and Meriam Ahmad (born 1949).[citation needed]

He received his primary education at Sekolah Rendah Batu 5, Sik and later his secondary education in numerous schools such as Sekolah Menengah Sains Sultan Mohamad Jiwa, Sungai Petani, Sekolah Menengah Sik as well as Sekolah Menengah Derma, Kangar, Perlis and finally ended his tertiary education in Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Gelugor, Penang.[citation needed]

Political career[edit]

  • PAS Election Director
  • Chairman of PASRelief
  • Central Director-General of PAS Security (2017 to date)
  • PAS Divisional Commissioner of Sik, Kedah (2015 to date)
  • Kedah PAS Deputy Commissioner (2015 to date)
  • Political Secretary to 10th Menteri Besar of Kedah Tan Sri Dato' Seri Diraja Ustaz Hj Azizan Abdul Razak (2008 to 2013)
  • 14th Menteri Besar of Kedah

Controversies and issues[edit]

Rare-earth metal deposits[edit]

In Early December 2020, Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor announced that the Kedah state government had awarded a Kuala Lumpur-based company a permit to prospect and extract RM 43 Trillion worth of rare earth metals. Upon further investigation, it was found that the rare earth element deposits were only worth an estimated RM 62 Billion.[4][5] The DAP have claimed that Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor is intentionally courting controversies and being provocative to draw attention away from the rare-earth element deposit controversy.[6]

Racism incidents[edit]

Alcoholism remarks[edit]

Muhammad Sanusi has been unfairly accused by the media for his alleged derogatory statements against minority communities (Indians), which linked them with alcoholism. He had said that the opposition were "drunk on the toddy of popularity" in his speeches without any reference to any community. Following this the minorities protested and called for him to apologize publicly which have the effect of linking alcoholism with certain community themselves.[7][8] However, Sanusi avoided apologizing and instead called for a ban on the Malaysian Indian Congress Party which caused the chairman of MIC, Tan Sri Vigneswaran to comment that "this is what happens when you pick an ignorant man to be [an] MB".[9][10]

Hindu Temple Demolishing[edit]

The press conference organized by the Hindu NGO Coalition requesting the minister to apologize for his statement and stop temple demolition works immediately.

Muhammad Sanusi administration enforced the law involving demolition of illegally constructed Hindu temples despite protests from the Indian community. It became a nationwide issue as the administration stance has caused many political leaders, religious leaders and NGO representatives to criticise his actions as insensitive towards Hindus.[11][12][13] The DAP suggested that the actual aim of the push for the demolition of temples was to distract from the earlier controversy around the rare earth deposits.[6] Others however supported Sanusi's act on the demolition of the Hindu temples.[14][15] The Coalitions of Hindu NGOs has requested him to stop the demolition and apologize else to bring the matter to the attention of the Palace through a reactive press conference.[16][17] Through the press conference, the coalition representatives requested Sanusi to guarantee that the demolitions will stop immediately, however Sanusi responded that everything was happening under the purview of law.[18] Participants of the press conference urged the government to be more proactive and remain sensitive and prepare an ecosystem to secure to the rights of the Hindu community in Malaysia. It was noted that UMHV is also prepared to work hands-on with the government to find a permanent solution for the issues faced by the Hindu temples and communities.[19]

Football racism remarks[edit]

During a press conference of Malaysian football club Kedah FA, Muhammad Sanusi acting as the president of the club made racial remarks of its foreign players, by referring to them as 'Awang Hitam' which translates as 'black man' (the word Awang means a man in Malay). In addition, it was also considered one of the derogatory terms used by certain dailies to identify African men.[20]

Thaipusam holiday[edit]

On 21 January 2021, Sanusi said the Thaipusam festival would not be marked as a public holiday since there is no celebration of the annual festival for the year given the spike in Covid-19 cases, and all public gatherings will be barred. He said the state would allow state assemblyman service centres to operate via drive-through services for the people in their respective constituencies. However, only one-third of devotees will be allowed to pray at temples during the festival.[21]

The MCA has also described Sanusi's decision as illogical and disrespectful of the country's minorities' rights. The MIC deputy president Datuk Seri M. Saravanan said the decision sends a negative signal about PAS to all minorities in the country. "He has planted the seed of fear in the minds of all minorities," said Vell Paari. The former MIC secretary-general said PAS central leadership tried its best to portray the party as being inclusive. He also criticised PAS for saying that MIC did not support PAS during the 14th General Election (GE14) in 2018. He reminded Sanusi that during GE14, PAS was not a component of the Barisan Nasional.[22]

Arrests of critics and COVID19 Corpse Joke[edit]

In August 2021, four people were arrested for allegedly insulting Sanusi over his "joke" on the freezer containers to hold corpses of COVID-19 victims. The first arrest was made on a 61-year old senior citizen who was detained at his house at 3:57am in Lenggeng, Negeri Sembilan and taken to Sungai Petani, Kedah which is more than 400 kilometer away from the suspect's house, after a police report lodged by Sanusi’s special officer, Azizan Hamzah.[23] Two more people were arrested in Mergong Perdana and Kepala Batas after a police report was lodged over the offensive comments made by the two persons on Facebook.[24] An IT analyst from Taiping was the fourth person to be arrested, which prompted the suspect's pregnant wife to comment "I feel that you don’t need to be a MB if you cannot take criticism. Better to just sit down and look through FB comments all day,”.[25] The series of arrests and questioning of citizens for their criticisms of a publicly elected official drew sharp rebukes and criticism from the Malaysian public, Centre for Independent Journalism, opposition politicians and a Federal Minister from the ruling government.[26][27][28][29][30][31]

Termination of 4-D lottery license renewal[edit]

In November 2021, Sanusi had spark another controversy by announcing a stop renewing licenses of all of the 4D in Kedah during a press conference. Sanusi states "This move is to ensure that Kedah will be free from gambling." and he also mocked Penang state by stating "Those who want to buy (4-D lottery numbers) can go to Penang".[32][33].However,everybody knew that gambling is totally wrong in every religion.

Election results[edit]

Kedah State Legislative Assembly[34][35]
Year Constituency Votes Pct Opponent(s) Votes Pct Ballots cast Majority Turnout
2008 N23 Belantek, P013 Sik Template:Party shading/PAS | Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor (PAS) 7,974 49.20% Template:Party shading/Barisan Nasional | Mohd Tajuddin Abdullah (UMNO) 8,226 50.70% 16,475 252 86.60%
2018 N24 Jeneri, P013 Sik rowspan=2 Template:Party shading/PAS | Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor (PAS) 10,626 46.32% Template:Party shading/Barisan Nasional | Mahadzir Abdul Hamid (UMNO) 8,171 35.61% 27,641 2,455 84.70%
Template:Party shading/Keadilan | Mohd Nazri Abu Hassan (PPBM) 4,146 18.07%

Honours[edit]

References[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 "Muhammad Sanusi pemimpin mesra, mudah didekati". Sinarharian. 17 May 2020.
  2. "Muhammad Sanusi dijangka angkat sumpah MB Kedah esok". 16 May 2020. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
  3. "Menteri Besar baharu Kedah angkat sumpah esok". 16 May 2020. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
  4. "Kedah to tap RM62 billion rare earth deposits, not RM43 trillion". Malaysiakini. 3 December 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  5. Johan, Syahredzan (11 December 2020). "COMMENT | Leaders must not indulge in racial insults". Malaysiakini. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  6. 6.0 6.1 Ong, Justin. "Kedah MB demolishing temples to divert from his claim of 'RM43t' in mineral deposits, says DAP rep | Malay Mail". www.malaymail.com. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  7. Tee, Kenneth. "Amanah joins call for Kedah MB to publicly apologise over 'drunk on toddy' comment | Malay Mail". www.malaymail.com. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  8. "Kedah MB tells critics to take BM classes after racial slur accusations". Malaysiakini. 7 December 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  9. Nambiar, Predeep (3 December 2020). "This is what happens when you pick an ignorant man to be MB, MIC says after ban remark". Free Malaysia Today. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  10. Choong, Jerry. "Criticised over temple demolition, Kedah MB tells MIC and DAP critics not to be drunk on 'toddy' of popularity | Malay Mail". www.malaymail.com. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  11. "Kedah MB broke promise over temple demolition – minister". Malaysiakini. 3 December 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  12. Reporters, F. M. T. (3 December 2020). "Kedah MB broke his promise on temple demolition, says Saravanan". Free Malaysia Today. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  13. Surendran, N. (3 December 2020). "LETTER | Kedah MB's defence of temple demolition unacceptable". Malaysiakini. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  14. Salleh, Syahirah (24 December 2020). "Tidak roboh bangunan dibina ikut peraturan". HarakahDaily. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  15. "Kedah MB: No guarantee to not demolish illegal buildings". Malaysiakini. 21 December 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  16. Reporters, F. M. T. (21 December 2020). "Roboh kuil: Sanusi harus pohon maaf dan diambil tindakan oleh Istana, desak NGO". Free Malaysia Today. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  17. Kaur, Minderjeet (21 December 2020). "Apologise for unethical remarks, demolishing temple, Hindus tell Kedah MB". Free Malaysia Today. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  18. Topics, Head. "NGO desak MB Kedah beri jaminan tiada lagi kuil akan diroboh | The Malaysian Insight". Head Topics. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  19. "NGOs condemn temple demolition, demands apology from Kedah MB". Multilingual e-Newspaper | The Hindu Press. 21 December 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  20. "By calling footballers 'awang hitam', was Kedah MB ignorant or insensitive?". TwentyTwo13. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  21. "No Thaipusam public holiday for Kedah this year, says MB | The Star". www.thestar.com.my. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  22. "Sanusi's decision sending chills to all minorities, says MIC | The Star". www.thestar.com.my. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  23. "61-year-old arrested for taunting Sanusi over freezer container 'joke'". TheVibes. 9 August 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  24. "2 more arrested for insulting Kedah MB". FreeMalaysiaToday. 10 August 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  25. "Pregnant wife upset over hubby's 3-day remand for scolding Kedah MB". Free Malaysia Today. 11 August 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  26. "'Politicians shouldn't go after critics' – minister says amid Kedah MB's offensive". MalaysiaKini. 12 August 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  27. "CIJ raises alarm over arrests of citizens for criticising Kedah MB". New Straits Times. 11 August 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  28. "Why so quick to nab senior citizen who criticised Kedah MB? – Ramasamy". Yahoo. 10 August 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  29. "Arrested for insulting Sanusi? You must be joking". Free Malaysia Today. 12 August 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  30. "Stop trampling on people's freedom to criticise politicians, Kedah MB told". Malaysia Kini. 11 August 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  31. "Arresting Kedah MB's critics uncalled for, say lawyers". Free Malaysia Today. 10 August 2021.
  32. "4D lottery shops banned in Kedah, MB tells buyers 'to go to Penang'". The Star. 14 November 2021.
  33. Free Malaysia Today. 16 November 2021 https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2021/11/16/even-china-has-banned-gambling-says-pas-backbencher/. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  34. "SEMAKAN KEPUTUSAN PILIHAN RAYA UMUM KE – 14" (in Bahasa Melayu). Election Commission of Malaysia. Retrieved 17 May 2018. Percentage figures based on total turnout.
  35. "The Star Online GE14". The Star. Retrieved 24 May 2018. Percentage figures based on total turnout.
  36. "Kedah MB is now 'Datuk Seri'". New Straits Times. 1 November 2021. Retrieved 1 November 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  37. "MB Sanusi heads awards list on Kedah Sultan's birthday". Malay Mail. 1 November 2021. Retrieved 1 November 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

External links[edit]

Government offices
Preceded by
Mukhriz Mahathir
Chief Minister of Kedah
2020–present
Succeeded by
N/A

Template:Menteris Besar and Chief Ministers

Information red.svg
Scan the QR code to donate via UPI
Dear reader, We kindly request your support in maintaining the independence of Bharatpedia. As a non-profit organization, we rely heavily on small donations to sustain our operations and provide free access to reliable information to the world. We would greatly appreciate it if you could take a moment to consider donating to our cause, as it would greatly aid us in our mission. Your contribution would demonstrate the importance of reliable and trustworthy knowledge to you and the world. Thank you.

Please select an option below or scan the QR code to donate
₹150 ₹500 ₹1,000 ₹2,000 ₹5,000 ₹10,000 Other