Tears well up in the eyes of Sugumaran, the residents committee chairperson – Photo by Anil
2118: “I can really see sincere tears rolling down the faces of some of the villagers,” says a Penangite. “The fear of losing their shelter; kids can’t prepare for exams. This is life. Imagine if we are in their shoes.”
2053: Talks are still ongoing between the Penang state government and the developer. The state government finds itself in an unenviable position, hemmed in by residents’ demos, the developer apparently willing to negotiate but the Cooperative playing hardball, Umno(?), and what it believes to be political opportunists making use of the villagers. Much is at stake, for all sides.
2031: The villagers held a candlelight vigil and have now ended their gathering. Guan Eng was not in.
“We heard on the eight o’clock news that they are coming in tomorrow to demolish,” says a worried villager.
2021: About 50 villagers, many of them children, are now gathered outside the Chief Minister’s residence. This has upset the Chief Minister’s people, who believe they have been trying hard to resolve the crisis and that certain quarters are making use of the villagers for their own ends.
The villagers, meanwhile, are desperate as the Cooperative has said it will carry out demolition tomorrow.
1700: Radio news announces that the developer has “rescheduled” its demolition to tomorrow to “allow residents more time to leave”.
But the residents appear to be standing firm and they are not going anywhere. Between 50 and 100 activists and residents – some of them sitting on swings in the porches of houses, others chatting under a canopy near the main lane cutting through the village – are keeping watch. Others have called it a day. A short distance away, plainclothes police are keeping an eye.
Asked about the compensation offered, one villager said they had never been formally offered RM200,000 each, as often claimed. “All that was just talk – we have never seen anything in writing to that effect,” he said. What the villagers were offered earlier was an apartment worth RM75,000, along with a temporary monthly rental, or RM90,000 cash.
A few of the residents appear resigned to the prospect of co-existing side-by-side with the project. But there are also worries that the proposed double-storey terrace houses which the state is said to be trying to arrange with the developer as compensation could turn out to be small cluster ‘matchbox’ houses that would be too small and crammed for their extended families. (It is not uncommon for each village house here, with spacious compounds, to be shared by several families.)
Many are still waiting for the final outcome of the state investigative committee’s probe into the Kampong Buah Pala land transfer. How was land held in trust for the villagers (as beneficiaries) sold to the Penang Government Officers Cooperative under the BN administration? Who was the mastermind behind the sale-cum-joint venture property development deal? Who was involved in sealing the land transfer on 27 March 2008, under the new Pakatan administration? What are the political interests (if any) and developer connections behind Nusmetro Ventures (P) Sdn Bhd, the Oasis project developer? Who is the main shareholder, Mohamad Faridz Karim of Balik Pulau, who has an 80 per cent interest in the developer’s parent company, Asia Link-up Sdn Bhd? And who is the contractor for the Oasis project likely to be?
1142: About a hundred demonstrators from Hindraf, MIC and PSM are at Komtar now. They have just handed over a memo for the chief minister.
1050: Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has just announced that if demolition proceeds, there is nothing more to talk about: the state government will not give the green light for the project. This is the stand of the Penang state government, a source in Komtar informs me.
1020: Meanwhile, talks between the developer and the state government are believed to be ongoing. The state government now has the added difficulty of dealing with the hardline stance adopted by the Penang Government Officers Cooperative. But it is unlikely that the demolition team will be coming in today, predicts a source.
1012: About 200 people are still in the village. Some of them appear to be heading to Komtar, according to an eye-witness at the scene.
0830: Between 100 and 200 activists and supporters have gathered in the village, as residents wake up to an uncertain future. Most of the crowd appear to be from Hindraf, PSM and MIC.
Police patrol cars have been cruising around. The situation appears to be calm.
One eye-witness says the demolition team may not even turn up today. They could come tomorrow or days later, when the crowd, some of whom are from out of town, dwindles.
Folks, keep praying for a peaceful and just resolution.
MIC’s contribution to “help” Kg. Buah Pala’s residents is to offer to buy the land from the state govt for RM3.2 million.
What sort of political game is this? In the first place the land doesn’t even belong to the state govt. Would this problem be occurring if it does?
MIC should offer to buy the land back from the cooperative at market price and it’s not going to be RM3.2 million.
The insincerity and comical political game of MIC makes you want to puke!!
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The state government is believed to be engaged in talks with the developer. – Anil
Oh yes..the state developers also need to “cari makan”,and they probably are aware of Pakatn’s cables overseas..they will listen to LGE..just watch..
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Quote of the century:
“We are not cruel, but our decision to demolish the village still stands because the court has decided the land is ours”
Penang Government Officers Cooperative chairperson Abdul Razak Mansor.
This is how land… is preyed upon, when MIC fellows who were in the state government agreed to such ownership change.
Remember folks, this is how MIC teams up with others to play out its own kind. This has been going on for many years and still many in the current generation of Indians which is IT savvy and can see through things, continue to support MIC & BN.
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What is the point of demonstrating against the DAP govt? They are as much a victim of this as the villagers.
Rightly or wrongly, the villagers have already lost their land after the Federal Court decision. At first they were willing to negotiate for compensation but they became very hardline about staying put after Uthayakumar got involved. The villagers became very abusive to the state govt.
After Uthayakumar left for U.K. the villagers were more friendly and willing to sit down with LGE and talk to find a solution. The question is, why did Hindraf went in and instigated them to be very hard line and abusive to LGE?
What is the Hindraf brothers political agenda? Do you find them criticizing BN for anything now – Teoh’s death, Gunasegaran’s custody death, no action on Kugan, anti-ISA crackdown, etc?
Meanwhile Uthayakumar has managed to get his passport back and his sedition case has been postponed to allow him to seek treatment in U.K. Meanwhile, Waytha is finding the courage to return from London.
The plot thickens!
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This is BN’s s….! Why didn’t MIC make any noise when they sold the land during BN’s rule??? Hypocrites!
The villagers should continue to work with and push LGE govt to help them. But they must also help the state govt to help them by cooperating rather than be influenced by other outside pretenders, ie MIC, HINDRAF, other BN backed NGOs. These BN backed parties/NGOs are all out to bring down LGE. They are the ones with links to the developers…
heck, if Najib so wishes, he can stop the project with an SMS!!!!
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//Is this a Bangsa Malaysia issue or an Indian issue?//
Its both..!
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When i saw MIC people and even that thick skin Samy Vellu offering money to help Kg Buah Pala folks to buy back the land, my blood boils. Only Samy can do this kind of thing !!! He didnt even feel guilty but trying to be heroic here. Truly, he treats the villagers as fools !!!
And why is these Kg Buah Pala folks letting MIC people to come in to protest when they are the culprits in the first place???
If MIC people or Samy Vellu had the heart for the Kg Buah Pala folks or really did care for the villagers in the first place as they are claiming now, then, today, there wont be any issue of such but instead the folks are living happily and carry on with their daily lives.
My Indian brethren, dont be fooled by the MIC people. Havent you guys be fooled enough by Samy Vellu??? What happens to your Maika investments???
Boo and Woo the MIC people away!!! They are now trying to be heroes but they are the ones who caused you to lose your village during BN rule in Penang.
Ask them, where were Samy Vellu and the rest of the MIC people when the Sale and Purchase Agreement was signed??? Did they make any noise at that time and if not, why now ???
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Jeff,
You are right. Most of the villagers are quite happy with a house. I heard the same story from a reliable source.
It is only a few who are manipulated by trouble makers to ask for more.
They like to see PR fall! Their aim is to create trouble for PR.
Kpg Pala is an opportunity for them
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Or, more accurately, the Stockholm syndrome.
Wikipedia defines it as “a psychological shift that occurs to captives when they are threatened gravely but shown acts of kindness by their captors. They tend to sympathize with their captors and think highly of them because they believe that their captors are showing fervor because of their inherent kindness and thus might not be as bad as they look. UNFORTUNATELY, THEY FAIL TO RECOGNIZE THAT THEIR CAPTORS ARE MAKING CHOICES BASED ON THEIR OWN DISCRETION.
Remind you all of any recent events?
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This Whole issue is blown out of proportion by the media for political milage by BN – MIC as always being used by UNMO to make them look like the saviour…..
CM has already had meetings with the residence and all of them has agreed to work with the CM : the latest the developer has agreed to build 2storey houses and some land
as an heritage : of course that will never be out in the NEWS.
Wake up boys ; MIC objective suppose to “save” the residence having said that it keep the indians in the estates…… so that MIC can expolit them???
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Play tough. Sack the Penang civil servants involved. Tit for Tat.
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“Meanwhile, Waytha is finding the courage to return from London.”
Oh boy..to take a flight frm London to Malaysia requires courage ah?LOL!!these clowns can only shout and hand over memos.That’s all.Didn’t u all see Arutchelvan’s action on saturday?nak bershake hand dgn polis..doesnt he know that riot police all over the world are all the same?Isnt their job is to “fire” at people?
At the end of the day,the bizmen/developers too will bow down to forces that are on par with them,meaning the rulers of the state.If not,tak boleh cari makan oh.Do they have the guts to call the bulldozers and demolish?
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We Malaysian are used to this type of lopsided deal such as IPP, Tol and etc….
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A lot of people here are under the impression that Lim Guan Eng is not doing enough and just wriggling his thumbs. lETS LOOK AT IT LOGICALLY, the courts are against Pakatan, as seen in Perak, any action against Pakatan in the courts, will (may) be against pakatan… than you have the state govt civil servants co-operative who actually (grabbed) the land and as we all know who they are- pro umno people- who have the backing…
What nobody has bothered to mention is this was BADAWI’S Hometown, now wouldn’t there be some sort of “gift” from the pm to his state civil servants. Remember what Khairy said when he went to Penang and said the malays were being marginalised. Was KG. BUAH PALA the pay-off…? I wouldn’t be surprised.
Look at the big picture, LGE IS CORNERED, if he signs any document, like cancelling the sale order- he/Pakatan gets sued and even might be removed as CM and being charged for obstructing the federal court order, abuse of power etc, on the other hand the civil servants THAT MEANS ALL THE STATE CIVIL SERVANTS, will hartal or demonstrate> btw you cannot sack them, the state govt grinds to a halt, worse case scenario even jailed from trumped up charges. SO which way to turn, … and on another salient point, the residents of Kg. buah Pala are also not helpfull, why don’t they try to negotiate and settle the matter, why let outsiders come in and be champions – they are being used by exploiters from BN. Another salient point that needs to highlighted is that, as a state govt, what about the next illegal squater settlement? WILL this become a precedent? Yes we all know the BN (grabbed) the trust land and manipulated it and sold it, now how to charge all these … will the police take action, look at the balkis affair – khir toyo was cleared up from wrong doing by the police and ACA within a week, until shown other wise by the selcat hearing and still no action.
The cards are stacked against Pakatan, UNITE PEOPLE AGAINST THE GREAT EVIL, BY ARGUING YOU ARE ALL FALLING INTO THE TRAP SET BY BN, DO YOU WANT THEM TO RETURN? At least Pakatan is trying to sort this out, use your brains instead of your emotions, come next elections, vote BN COMPLETLY OUT AND THAN YOU GET TO RIGHT ALL THE WRONGS THAT HAS BEEN COMMITTED, that is why I am against repealing the ISA, I WANT ALL THE BN … TO SIT IN KAMUNTING TILL THEIR CASES ARE HEARD… So people unite calm down and let LGE solve the matter.
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Under the present circumstance, what is proposed by the State Government to the developer is probably the best deal there is for the residents.
There is little that the state government can now do short of buying out that expensive piece of real estate which I am sure many Penangites will object.
I hope the Penang Senior Civil Service Cooperatives (read UMNO supporters) should focus on making money for its members from a KTK handout than playing politics with an angry rakyat.
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Uthaya is already a free man. He can do and say anything he likes as long as it is not against BN. He will be able to register a party and head it and (perhaps) invited to join BN and given a Ministerial post. Let’s just watch and see if I am correct.
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Lawyer Fernandez who pointed out the land title condition that it cannot be transferred, sub-let or mortgage may be clutching at straws. Purchasers of apartments do not get land titles so the conditions may not be breached by a condo development.
The Hindraf brothers keep demanding that the Penang govt forcibly acquire the land under the National Land Code. Waytha said that under the law, only “reasonable compensation” need to be paid. What is reasonable compensation? Isn’t it the market price?
The Penang govt has no power to stop the houses being demolished. If the villagers insist on staying put instead of accepting compensation, there’s nothing much LGE can do for them. The PR govt will survive because Penang people know the real story. It’s people like Waytha and Uthaya who jump on the opportunity to blast the PR govt for their own political agenda and make a solution difficult by instigating the villagers to make unreasonable demands.
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…Penang Civil Servants… They are not so civil type.
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1 whole world knows cronyism,nepostism,excists in Malaysian business/politics.the settlers were offered a “reduced price from RM20/sq feet to RM10/sq feet.80% of the settlers accepted that offer price and left high chapperal.Why no shoutings from HINDRAFS,MICS,PSM back then?Why now these … are shouting..”we are yindians..we are fighting for yindian rights..we want the cheif minister to use yis cheif executive powers to buy back the land”.
…Samy Vellu can easyly … buy back high chapperal..betui tak?Why Samy offered to buy at RM10/sg feet,amounting to RM3.2 million.And there is one young joker who is shouting the most these days,offered LGE RM40 million.Neither this young joker nor samy have actually deposited any money..semua pandai cakap,pandai drama saja,pandai wayang kulit…. If the state offers them double story houses,worth atleast RM600,000 per house,grablah!!
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Damn Greedy!!!! So if 200,000 ringgit ok but not 90000 ringgit. What a load of rubbish.
No, he was just clarifying the real compensation that was offered, because I asked him about it…. – Anil
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No worries, after Perak, then Selangor and NOW IT IS PENANG and we have all the bloggers wanting PENANG to be the next battle zone after Selangor and fall like Perak. I will be the very first to rejoice to see the support given by the bloggers. Just for 23 familes, PR Government falls – a world record and history.
Happy to have a UMNO lead Government in Penang again. Thnaks all for the support
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If the developers or koperasi decided to demlish the village, BN will win the election for sure and the developer will reap a double whammy!
Why? Because the villagers and Indians were manipulated by BN.
Assuming that LGE revoked its approval for the construction of houses and the developers will definitely sue the state Government to a tune pf RM150 million.
You know la our court. I don’t have to elaborate…
It is almost sure that the developers will win big. Penang lost heavily.
Lim Guan Eng said that the legal battle will be long and tough. Lim is wrong! Just look at the Perak crisis. The judgement was overturned at lightning spped by the court of appeal…. Similarly, the court can expedite this case as fast as they want.
Come election, the Indians are real angry with DAP and PR. They vote overwhelmingly for BN and that spells the end for PR!!
Meantime the developer can go on building the projects and for that matter get approval of OCs faster than whne PR was in power. They reap the profit from buyera and extras from court rulings!
Hey! Its win-win-win all the way. Oh yes, maybe no compensation at all for the villagers – More win!!!
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Folks
It is hard to comprehend the supporters of Pakatan / DAP here (which sis very obvious even to a casual observer).
What the villagers and those who support them want is not EXCUSES but solution. People are busy defending LGE and deflecting the blame to divert on KTK. Folks, wake up !! We packed KTK off in the last GE for precisely doing such deals. So KTK is history and LGE is the CM.
We don’t care who is to blame ( which might not necessarily KTK alone based on the evasiveness of LGE displayed so far). We just want to save KBP.
That this issue has dragged without solution for 17 mths is a poor reflection of LGE’s capabilities as a CM. Had not for the unrelenting struggle of the villagers and their supporters from JERIT, PSM, Hindraf, MIC and others this village would be conveniently forgotten by LGE.
LGE, no more BS…we are sick and tired of your Tai Chi and unending excuses.
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Demonstrating outside the CM is not the answer. In fact you all should hear what T-Mohan said, bring back the old government and we will solve the Buah Pala issue…hahahahahahhahaha….grow up lar Mohan. You are full of ….
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PR govt should be kick out in the next GE, becos they should concentrate on developing Penang, rather than get involve in Kg Buah Pala’s matter.
Despite a high profile involvement (CM and 2DCMs), the villagers still not satisfy, PR govt still blamed by the Villagers. Why continue help them? Should let the bulldozer slam down the place long time ago, why wait until tomorrow.
From the very beginning, some of the KBP villagers obviously not intend to resolve case. I think now they have achieved the goals. Finally, tomorrow bulldozer will come in to meet them.
Some jokers now so quick to bring in RM3.2 million to SAVE the villagers, try to buy the land now which worth RM100 million. WOW!
Might as well asking these jokers to steal the land by force and give to the villagers. Robin Hood style!
Are these jokers from a newly formed party? or just born yesterday? or have been in the govt for the past few decades? Memory lapse or what during their tenure??
Where is the superhero’s leader hiding now? why the saviour never visit him in Putrajaya?
Kampung Buah Pala Villagers,
Please MAKE SURE all of you vote in BN/UMNO (Koperasi Pegawai Kerajaan PP/Numestro), MIC, MCA, Gerakan and even HINDRAF in the next GE. Remember!! They are your saviour!!! Stop voting for PR govt!! They may compensate you with a bungalow each after the election.
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