TMJ's land in Singapore

THE business news agency Bloomberg carried a report on Sept 3 headlined, 'Massive Tax Bill Clouds Sale of Singapore Land by Malaysian King's Son.' In Malay, this translates roughly as: a massive tax bill is casting a shadow over the sale of land in Singapore by the son of Malaysia's King. The report followed news that the Crown Prince of Johor, Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim, intends to sell land he owns in the republic. Bloomberg and several other Singapore news outlets reported that the tax on the sale could exceed S$2 billion (approximately RM6.38 billion). The tax, known as a land betterment charge, has emerged as a negative factor in negotiations with several parties interested in developing the site. In response, Tunku Ismail brushed aside the issue. He said he was more than happy to pay taxes in both Malaysia and Singapore. He said that, as a taxpayer, this was simply part and parcel of life. The eldest son of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Sultan Ibrahim, is reportedly planning to sell 16.6 hectares (about 41 acres) of land acquired through a land swap with the Singapore Government last year. The swap allows for low-density development on land located not far from the Singapore Botanic Gardens. Previously, his original parcel of land was located adjacent to the Botanic Gardens. Publicly available information online confirms that the Regent of Johor is among the largest private landowners in Singapore. Anyone interested in history would know that economic dealings involving Tunku Ismail, or any Malaysian party for that matter, are a continuation of the history of Johor and Singapore — particularly the ceding of Singapore to the British by the late Sultan Hussein Shah and Temenggong Abdul Rahman in 1819. Under the agreement, Singapore and the small islands within a 10-geographical-mile radius around it were ceded in full and in perpetuity to the British. Naturally, some may wonder: if the Sultan and Temenggong had ceded the entirety of Singapore to the British, how did the Johor Sultanate and its royal family come to own so much land in the republic? The answer is that although Johor ceded the entirety of Singapore to the British, the Sultanate and members of the Johor royal family continued to own large tracts of land through inheritance and purchases, particularly during the 19th century. Then, some may ask another question: why is Penang still part of Malaysia, while China regained Hong Kong and Macau, but Singapore did not? Leases The answer is that Penang was not ceded to the British by the Kedah Sultanate. Instead, it was leased from 1786 and the lease was renewed in 1800. However, there is still debate today over whether the lease was meant to be perpetual. The leases of Hong Kong to the British and Macau to the Portuguese by the Chinese rulers were also intended to be perpetual. But when the monarchical system ended in China and it became a republic, negotiations were held with the United Kingdom and Portugal. The agreements made during the imperial era were replaced by the Sino-British Joint Declaration, signed in 1984. Among other things, the agreement provided for the return of the entire territory of Hong Kong to China on July 1, 1997. The original Sino-Portuguese agreement of 1557 was rendered void following diplomatic negotiations between China and Portugal in 1979, with Macau defined as 'Chinese territory under temporary Portuguese administration.' Macau was returned to China on Dec 20, 1999. Returning to the highly valuable landholding owned by Tunku Ismail in Singapore, media reports say his representatives are actively negotiating with international buyers, including parties from the United States. He has reportedly applied to the Singapore Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) to begin the development process, which could potentially generate a gross development value (GDV) of between S$3.8 billion and S$4.7 billion (RM12.11 billion to RM15.01 billion). Datuk A Kadir Jasin is a National Journalism Laureate. The views expressed in this article are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Sinar Daily.