Residence Pass is only available in West Malaysia

Anyone heard of "Red IC"?

I'm not sure if this is what you refer to: holders of a Permanent Residence in Malaysia receive a MyKad in a red color, whereas regular MyKad's have a blue background.
See here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaysian_identity_card , at the section titled MyPR.

Sadly, I was rejected without any explanation but a lot of personal sympathy from the desk officers. That was about 8 months ago though the formal notice came about two months after that without explanation for the delay. I was told that it is a 'panel decision' - I assume some committee who decide. I don't know what criteria they use or any notes made. I suspect they act on the recommendation of the case officer. The puzzle is that there is no information on what else they take into account on top of the documents supplied as per the checklist. In fact an application cannot be submitted unless all documents required are supplied to the satisfaction of the receiving case officer. Mine was 'accepted' which made me hopeful. I was wrong. I was told by a senior officer that I need to wait for a year before I apply again. Again, not written down anywhere. Lesson - the processes are all about internal policies and the way things are done. As these cases (ex-Malaysians) are rare, most officers are not aware of the intricate details, it seems. Nor are top rated lawyers specialised in 'immigration'. My advice would be to be extremely cautious, as this is not a transparent process.