I WONDER WHO LIVES HERE...
Zakaria Mat Deros, a Klang state assemblyman (UMNO) in Selangor, began building his RM8-million 16-room mansion in 2006 without any construction permit from the local government. He built the illegal mansion on a large tract of state land purportedly worth more than a million ringgit (but purchased in his wife's name for around RM180,000). The area had earlier been allocated for low-cost housing. Under Selangor state law, his illegal mansion should have been seized and Zakaria prosecuted. In a gesture designed to appease public opinion, Zakaria invited 400 orphans to celebrate Hari Raya at his newly completed palace.
Former Selangor Chief Minister Mohd Khir Toyo has been criticized for overlooking Zakaria's "mistake" and not taking any action against the errant assemblyman who was a close personal friend. Zakaria subsequently resigned from public office after he was taken to task by the Sultan of Selangor. The former assemblyman reportedly died of a heart attack in his home on 11 March 2008 at about 1:30 a.m., soon after Malaysia's historic 12th General Elections on 8 March 2008 which saw Selangor wrested from UMNO control, along with Penang, Kedah, Kelantan, Perak, and the Federal Territory. Some say Zakaria Mat Deros actually hanged himself. Rumors persist, however, that Zakaria Mat Deros actually died in a conference room in the PWTC shortly after the election results were tabulated and it was learnt that Selangor had fallen into Opposition hands. According to well-informed sources, Zakaria was summoned to an emergency meeting by then deputy prime minister Najib Razak who instructed him to get his henchmen to start a racial fracas in Klang. Zakaria, already under extreme pressure because he was blamed for the loss of Selangor, got into a violent argument with Najib and collapsed. [Adapted from the Wikipedia entry on Mohd Khir bin Toyo]
SEEMS LIKE I WAS TAKEN IN BY ANOTHER EMAIL HOAX! APPARENTLY THESE IMAGES ARE NOT FROM 'ISTANA ZAKARIA' AFTER ALL BUT RATHER THAN DELETE THIS POST, I SHALL RETAIN IT WITH THIS DISCLAIMER: THE LATE UMNO WARLORD DID BUILD HIMSELF AN RM8-MILLION 16-ROOM PALACE... NOT QUITE AS "TASTEFUL" AS THE ONE SHOWN HERE BUT JUST AS OSTENTATIOUS. MY SINCERE THANKS TO ALL THOSE WHO SET ME RIGHT WITH THEIR COMMENTS.
[First posted 27 March 2008]