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This morning, Suaram Penang coordinator Lau Shu Shi, who is also Penang coordinator for the Abolish ISA Movement (GMI), and Teh Chun Hong were released on police bail.

Shu Shi told me she is required to report to the police on 21 May to find out about a possible charge under Section 90 of the Police Act. Section 90 covers disorderly conduct in police stations and states that “any person who, in a police station behaves in a riotous, indecent, disorderly or insulting manner shall be guilty of an offence under this Act”.

She also has to report on 24 May pertaining to a possible charge under Section 27 of the Police Act. This section is about police powers to regulate assemblies, meetings and processions including the requirement for organisers to apply for a licence for an assembly.

She said she was brought to the court premises this morning but remained in the court lock-up cell without being actually produced in court. They were both later released on police bail. “So it was mala fide (bad faith),” she said. Suaram activists are arguing that there was no need to hold them overnight at the police station if they were not going to be produced in court the next day. They already had their statements recorded yesterday.

One activist at the scene told me the case was not registered for the morning. The press had turned up in full force with video camera crew but after waiting for a couple of hours, nothing happened.

Shu Shi and Chun Hong, a Suaram secretariat member who also works for Pesticide Action Network, are represented by lawyer Darshan Singh.

Both the Suaram activists had participated in an Anti-ISA gathering in Penang yesterday in support of ISA detainee and Hindraf adviser P Uthayakumar’s attempts to seek medical treatment in IJN.

The above videoclip shows how Chun Hong was detained and handcuffed yesterday soon after he had filmed the scene at the Patani Road police station.

Hmm, instead of curbing crime, they are arresting and charging peaceful activists and demonstrators.

Remember, Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, when faced with an Umno-led demonstration soon after he took over the helm of the state government, had said he does not oppose peaceful demonstrations. In fact, the Chief Minister himself had recently participated at an Anti-ISA forum organised by some of the groups involved in yesterday’s demonstration.

So, if the state government doesn’t mind such demonstrations and in fact even supports the GMI campaign to abolish the ISA, whose interests were the police really serving by locking up Shu Shi, the Penang GMI coordinator, and her colleague last night?

9.00pm - Five of the activists are released. But Suaram’s Teh Chun Hong and Lau Shu Shi, who is also Penang coordinator of the Abolish ISA Movement (GMI), are still being held. Shu Shi in particular has been actively involved in organising a number of well-attended forums after the 8 March general election. Both are expected to be produced in court in Penang tomorrow morning for possible extension of remand. This reflects badly on the BN federal government’s stance on basic rights and is not likely to win it new friends. Malaysians are not going to be impressed.

7.00pm - Blog reader Kah Seng reports:

MP Liew Chin Tong (Tg Bungah, Bukit Bendera, DAP) was reported there in the afternoon. You reported PKR DUN Ravi was also there.

I was a busy body there from 5pm to 7pm. The police handling was very slow. Went in afternoon, and still taking statements around 7pm. Efficiency? Cepat, cekap, whatever that motto that keeps changing?

Police seemed to be consciously aiming at photo and video takers. Ong was reported to be taking photo when arrested. Satish also said to be following the police with a camera around Gurney Plaza when arrested. Others taking phone video at the police HQ were hassled.

Is the police afraid of multi-racial sympathy toward the ISA detainees?

5.30pm - Three more Hindraf activists or supporters are also said to be held by police: Vimal, Hindraf activist Selvam and press freedom activist Stanley, who had earlier campaigned for a boycott of The Star. This brings the total to seven detained.

3.15pm - About 10-15 people are at the police station. B K Ong, Satish, Suaram Penang coordinator Lau Shu Shi and Suaram secretariat member Teh Chun Ong are being detained. Lawyer Darshan Singh is said to be around.

Teh was taken away in handcuffs after he had used his camera at the station while Shu Shi is now being held in the hall of the police station, guarded by policewomen. When Shu Shi tried to resist upon seeing the police handcuffing her colleague Teh, the policewoman told her not to struggle as she (the policewoman) was pregnant. Shu Shi is not sure if she is under arrest but her IC has been taken away and she is being confined to the hall. B K Ong is believed to be somewhere upstairs in the station.

2.00pm - Penang-based Ong Boon Keong, better known as B K Ong, and blogger Satish were detained around noon today after participating in an hour-long demonstration said to be organised by Hindraf to raise awareness of ISA detainee Uthayakumar’s medical condition. They were rallying in support of his attempts to seek further medical attention at the National Heart Institute (IJN) in KL.

The two were among 30-50 demonstrators who gathered along Gurney Drive outside Gurney Plaza for about an hour, while some of them were said to have attempted to enter the mall.

Police and FRU personnel were at the scene. It is not immediately known what circumstances led to the two being held.

A similar demonstration was held at the Prai Megamall on the mainland.

Ong, who runs the Penang Watch website, and Satish are now being held at the Patani Road police station. Supporters are waiting in the hall downstairs while Penang State Assembly member Ravi from PKR is now at the scene. I had only met B K Ong at a forum in Penang last night when we were both on the same panel at a Suaram forum discussing the role of Public Service Media and how it can be strengthened.

We also critiqued the Pakatan Rakyat’s plans to set up its own newspaper for five states and discussed whether this was a good move.

Ong felt that steps should be taken to make it more independent than what was being planned.

For my part, I felt that any attempt to set up a state government-backed newspaper would run into problems as it would suffer from credibility issues as a result of public perception of it being backed by the state - especially if editors and key staff are appointed by the party. Such journalism would serve the interests of political masters rather than the public.

Good journalism should challenge and critique oppressive power structures. And it would be difficult to do that if a newspaper is funded or owned by the state or if its editors and key staff were appointed by political parties. Surely, that would compromise its editorial independence and journalistic integrity.

It looks like we are going to hear more about the Penang Turf Club in the news.

The controversy is simply not going away.

Here are two more hot potatoes:

First hot potato: No conversion fee charged

When the status of the Penang Turf Club land was converted from open recreational to mixed development land, by right the state government should have collected a conversion fee from the developer - even if the developer had not applied for the conversion. But the conversion was nonetheless handed over on a silver platter by the previous state government for the PGCC developer’s benefit.

The state waived hundreds of millions of ringgit in one fell swoop. How much would the fee be?

Few outside the local government know for sure what the actual rate should be in this case.

From one source, I hear it should be 25 per cent of the original value.

A second source tells me that it could be RM50 per square foot. (In Green Lane, for instance, if you want to convert houses from residential to commercial, the conversion fee is apparently around RM100psf.)

Let’s do the calculations for both methods, based on purchase price of RM488 million for 260 acres (with only 180 acres that may be developed, the remainder being hill-slopes and cemetery land):

Based on 25 per cent of the value:

RM488 million x 25% = RM122 million

Based on RM50/sq ft conversion fee:

180 acres x 43,560 sq ft/acre x RM50/sq ft = RM392 million

So the conversion fee would have been in the ball park range of RM120 million to RM400 million. Either way, we are talking about hundreds of millions of ringgit of lost revenue for the state. The developer should have been charged this fee - even if it had not applied for the conversion itself.

Let’s not also forget the profit made by the developer arising from the higher market value of the land following the conversion. Based on the current market value of mixed development land of around RM250psf:

Current value (180 acres x 43,560 sq ft/acre x RM250/sq ft) - purchase price RM488 million = RM1.5 billion revaluation profit!

Less: the cost of a constructing a new racecourse RM300 million

= RM1.2 billion surplus.

Hey presto! The developer becomes an instant billionaire, thanks to the government.

So this is one good reason for the Penang government to immediately regazette the land back to recreational status and turn the whole place into a People’s Park.

Second hot potato: Prime land sold cheap to Abad Naluri (but still unpaid)

Now, Abad Naluri was supposed to build a new replacement race-course in Batu Kawan over 300 acres of land acquired from the Penang Development Corporation. This land is now prime land in Batu Kawan as it is just next to the site of the proposed second bridge for Penang (what a “coincidence”!), the ground breaking ceremony for which was held in 2006 by Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi.

And how much did Abad Naluri pay for this land?

According to one source, the purchase consideration was RM46 million for 300 acres (still not paid).

Let’s do the calculation:

RM46 million divided by 300 acres divided by 43,560 sq ft/acre = RM3.52psf!

And this probably includes the cost of earth filling by the PDC.

RM3.52 per square foot for prime land?!! What the…

It is now said to be worth 15psf, which means that Abad Naluri would have made;

Current market value (RM15/sq ft x 300 acres x 43,560 sq ft/acre) - Purchase consideration RM46 million =

unrealised revaluation surplus of RM150 million for Abad Naluri if the sale were to bes completed.

It’s time for the Penang state government to take back the Batu Kawan land and sell it at its real value or use it for the people’s benefit e.g. low-income housing.

Now, let’s look at the chronology of events:

2002

Nov 25 - Turf Club EGM approves sales of Turf Club land in Batu Gantung and acquisition of Batu Kawan site.

2003

March 21 - Preliminary agreement said to have been entered into with Abad Naluri. Under this agreement, Abad Naluri has paid advances totalling RM10 million, presumably as “compensation” to Turf Club members.

No mention in Annual Reports of progress of deal since then.

2004

May 12 - Agreement entered into between Turf Club and Abad Naluri for sale of the Turf Club land in Batu Gantung.

Abad Naluri also enters into Principal Agreement with PDC for purchase of Batu Kawan land, for which it has still not paid RM46 million for 300 acres. Terms and conditions apparently still not finalised.

2005

July 5 - And yet, layout plan for Batu Kawan race course approved by MPSP.

2006

By Sept/Oct - Abad Naluri submits application for planning permission for PGCC.

Nov 12 - Abdullah Badawi officiates at the ground-breaking ceremony of the proposed second bridge in Batu Kawan, right next to new race-course site.

2007

March 28 - Earthworks approval for Batu Kawan site obtained from MPSP; earthworks said to have commenced after this - even though purchase consideration not fully paid!

June 28 - Conversion of Turf Club land from recreational land to mixed development gazetted under the Penang Structure Plan, thus turning PGCC developer into instant billionaire!

Oct 17 - Prime Minister Abdullah launches PGCC, flanked by then Chief Minister Koh Tsu Koon and Patrick Lim - even though acquisition of Turf Club land not yet been completed.

Penang civil society groups launch concerted and successful anti-PGCC Campaign, mobilising Penang public, who send 2,500 letters and 500 emails to Chief Minister Koh.

2008

Jan 14 - Koh issues directive to return the planning application to the PGCC developer, who now has to revise the plan before it can be approved.

March 8 - But it’s too late. Penang ruling coalition is shockingly trounced in the general election. Gerakan loses all state seats and Koh is dumped in Batu Kawan parliamentary seat. It’s a complete wipe-out.

March 12 - New Chief Minister Guan Eng says no approval has been given for PGCC.

Over in Batu Kawan, Abad Naluri has made hardly any progress in constructing replacement race course. Instead, cows seen grazing on the site!

April 1 - Supplementary agreement entered into between Turf Club and Abad Naluri extends the original agreement, which should have lapsed. The agreement is extended to 2011.

April 7 - Penang Turf Club holds AGM, amidst uneasiness among members over the deal.

April 10 - Abad Naluri chairman resigns.

April 14 - PTC opens documents for inspection by members, but says documents not for circulation to members; members only “free to make notes of the documents”. Some Turf Club members unhappy that allegedly material changes to the original deal not brought to their attention.

May 1 - New vultures said to be entering the picture through the back door, showing interest in Turf Club land.

May 8 - Turf Club members lodge police report.