Jun 272009
The hourglass has been inverted and the fine sand is now rushing out of the narrow tube into the bottom bulb. The bailiff has obtained a Penang High Court order for the residents of Kampong Buah Pala to vacate their premises as a prelude to demolition.
The order is expected to be served on 2 July – and the demolition vehicles could rumble in soon after.
Can the Penang state government assist the villagers? Do they even care?
The PR/DAP state government is not interested in helping the High Chaparral residents because LGE’s government is overly friendly to big business and especially property developers. The DAP Penang State Govt does not give a damn to Penangites since it is just like UMNO and the BN and is more interested in cosying up to big property developers who have the money. After all, money talks and LGE/DAP will jump to attention when money talks.
This is now the over-arching perception in the state. DAP and LGE talks big about helping us the people of Penang but then does nothing against illegal hillslope development (like in Tanjong Bungah) and now in High Chaparral.
Time we all woke up to see through this cry-baby Chief Minister who knows not how to do anything in the people’s interest except blame Koh Tsu Koon for all the ills in Penang.
We voted for the DAP to bring change. Instead, they are acting just the same as the BN did.
Time we voted these under-performing but big-talking cry-baby clowns from office.
BTW, LGE, in-between your cry-baby sessions, please note that we want local government elections NOW not a stupid resolution asking the BN for one. How dumb can your administration be to ask for the impossible? You playing the blame-game again, right? Also, we want a Freedom of Information Act in Penang NOW. And we want an improved public transport system NOW. And we want an immediate end to all illegal hill-slope development.
Deliver now or leave office. If you cannot do the job as Chief Minister instead of Chief Cry-Baby, leave office. Resign. We can then elect someone else more capable who can deliver the change we Penangites desire.
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The Pakatan Government really do not give a damp to the poor people because they care more for development rather than the poor Public. What nonsense Caring Government or Caring Society is to Pakatan.
Just try to write a simple letter to the Penang Government, they don’t give a damp! They Chuck our letters into the bin!!!
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Andrew / Anil,
Both of you should hold your horse.
While you may have your own view solely on villagers stand.
After GE 12, most of you, including Hindraf fella seems to expect PR govt to do wonder and miracle, what BN govt cannot do for the past 50 years, most of you expect PR govt to do it within 1 or 2 years.
Secondly, whenever any controversial issue pop up, like Kg Pala or TBRA thingy, most of you seems to hold PR govt at ransom, claimed PR govt won’t be what they are today, if not becos of your or peoples votes. Yes, I did halfly agree with this statement but please define what “peoples vote” means?
Are you assume “peoples vote” means solely Villagers at Kg Pala? or TBRA residents?? Have u ever think, “peoples vote” could also consists of the buyers of Oasis? the developer? Numestro’s employees? Numestro’s investors? and etc…
Furthermore, for Kg. Pala incident, Federal Court and Appeal Court
had passed their verdicts respectively, do you think all these were caused by PR govt? PR govt in fact have setup a committee led by Deputy CM to look into this issue to help the villagers, but don’t assume everything can be very easily settle, like what Hindraf fella said ” with a stroke of a pen”, this is not kids stuff, it had gone thru so many legal procedures, don’t assume everyone of you are smarter than PR govt, CM, The judge of Federal and Appeal Court and etc. Those in the power of corridors, i.e. PR govt can simply invoke their authority to settle the case with finger tips…..
If all cases can be settled that way, why we need Courts in this country? why we need legal system in this country? Ask yourselves!!
My symphaty and support also with the Villagers and will surely want PR govt to help them to solve the problem but one have to think rationally.
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True, i , too, find it most unfair for people like Andrew in particular, just simply put their blame on PR government.
They think Lim Guan Eng is a genie, just wave his magic wand and things will just happen according to their wishes.
I dont see these groups of people make so much noise during the tenure of Gerakan. Why?
For eg the Catholic church wanted their tenants or settlers to move out for whatever reasons, and the people blame Lim Guan Eng instead for not doing anything when this is ENTIRELY the church matter. It has nothing to do with Lim Guan Eng, okay.
If you all want to blame, then, please by all means blame the church as the church is supposed to show love, care and concern.
Of course, my sympathies to all the villages affected. The developer should give them enough compensation for their re-location.
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penangites,
who says things are easy. sure, this is the work of Koh and UMNO cronies. and you expect the judiciary to give a ruling in favour of PR govt and go against UMNO? you must be back from MARS recently and did not know whats happening with Perak putsch.
PR is voted into power coz people want change and expect the powers-that-be to place the interest and rights of the common citizens first. and thats why we expect the PR govt to act fast to protect the villagers. do they have to die like one of the villagers in Farlim (if you remember that case) before this Govt act?
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Andrew,
As much as I want local government election and a Freedom of Information Act in Penang, you should recognise the limited power that the state government has in Malaysia. Some issue are truly not under state jurisdiction, and when it comes to issues like this, only a change in federal legislation can bring an effect to the state administration.
Furthermore, there are numerous reports on why both local elections and Freedom of Information Act isn’t set up yet. SERI has some good reports on it, and various newspaper articles has stated that the state legal advisor indicated that FOIA couldn’t be set up. It is the same in Selangor, except for the fact that Selangor administration chose to ignore the advice. Thus, Penang government will closely monitor the steps taken by the Selangor administration. Both issues are a matter of legislation, not a matter of the capability of the state administration (Though I am not saying they are competent in other matters)
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Why blame LGE alone .. he is CM , he got others thing to do .. not just look after everything ..
Please anil , please let us now who is the ADUN on the place …this is the responsebility of ADUN to make sure the issue has been raised and we should look at alternative ..
Question to ask b4 we shoot back PR ..
When will the project sign , under BN or PR gov ?
What will be the alternative? Is there any given accomodation to compensate?
Is the company , an umno link company ? …
What will be the cost, if the state interfere and stop the project? If every project like this the state gov need to cover and pay few million compensate..then penang no need to developed lah .. We must understand , the state gov does not have the privellege to ATM the money from federal BN ..
And
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In response to the earlier post calling himself/herself Penangites:
Excuses, excuses, excuses. Just like the DAP State government. We the people of Penang are NOT interested in excuses. We voted the DAP/PR for change. We are only getting the same garbage like what Gerakan/BN was dishing out to us.
I repeat: LGE and DAP, if you cannot do what we elected you for, resign. Leave office. We don’t need cry-baby loser CMs pretending to lead the state government by sitting on their fat posteriors and playing infantile blame games. There are many other Penangites far more capable and far more concerned about the real welfare of Penang and Penangites willing and able to take over.
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Why can’t the Chief Minister, Lim Guan Eng, make and take the RIGHT executive decision, which is surely to go the extra mile to preserve the historically valuable heritage village site?
Anything else is surely an excuse, isn’t it?
And shooting one’s own foot?
Like the Penang Bishop’s clearly morally wrong decision to use strong-arm (non Christ-ian/charitable) legal tactics to oust the old tenants from that St. Xavier site without first bothering to “turun padang” and take the PERSONAL time out to talk with them and to understand their legitimate concerns and then trying to GENUINELY find a compassionate/win-win way out of the supposedly current dead-end.
From past experience, it is usually the small, but critically important stuff, that determines the big survival stuff, like winning donations, legacies and elections.
“Imagine Power To The People” John Lennon.
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Ask the bkt pala residents what the election candidates promised to them when they were campaigning last year March. Why promise something you can’t deliver? Isn’t that cheating? can cheater hold public office? can the bkt pala residents sue the candidates for breach of promise?
ask the candidates themselves and campaigners if they remember what they said during their campaigns.
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Furthermore:
Suggest the villagers of Kampung Buah Pala orgianise to barricade their village to protect it from the demolition order until they hear from LGE himself PERSONALLY.
“Imagine Power To The People” John Lennon.
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no point in blaming any 1..whr the hell t ppls calling thmself t most richest in msia,asia n sososo..nmbr 1 lah,nmbr 2 lah..if tis ppl rly got t hrt thy cld help tis poor ppl by a finger tips..hey u tan sri anandakrishnan whr t hel r u?..wat u gonna do wit ur tons of money?..wanna bring along to ur graveyard?…. why not u just spend a small dot frm tat money to buy tis village n give it to t poor ppl..thy wil worship u as a saviour man..oh!!!wat kind of world v r living in now? …may god save t village…
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Dear All,
I want you to think about what you are saying. Here we have people using the blame game. I know Penang voted for change in the 12th GE but I want to remind Penangites that change cannot happen in 2 years. You gave BN 50 years, cant you give PR at least a term to prove themselves? Let me remind you….. BN revoked the rent control act, you still voted for them. BN approved hillside projects, you still voted them. BN couldnt bring major development for the past 18 years, you still voted them time and again. So now, the vote went to DAP and you expect instant results?
Let me remind all of you that we are a state government fighting a federal government that basically controls almost everything including the police force. So you tell me, will you go back to BN just because the current government hasnt created a miracle in 2 years? Would you rather put up with the nonsense the previous govt always does regardless of what people think?
All I’m saying is give people a chance to perform, they are not supermen. They cant make a major overhaul in just 2 years. Have you ever been hired in a job and your boss expects you to perform as well or better than the previous guy in 2 weeks? How would you feel?
While I sympathize with the villagers, you are staying in a land own by the church. Take your issue with the church. We live in a capitalist society, ownerships are permitted therefore transfer of ownerships are also permitted by law. If you expect things like that not to happen, then Malaysia would have been a communist state.
Give the state government a whole term then draw your conclusions. Also remember, they fight an uphill battle against a non-friendly federal government.
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A little distraction
BN Perak gov’t scorches Pakatan policies
Humayun Kabir | Jun 28, 09 8:16am
It looks like the Perak BN government is bent on destroying all people-friendly policies implemented by the previous Pakatan Rakyat administration.
MCPX
When Menteri Besar Zambry Abdul Kadir took his office in February, he was reported as saying that BN would continue the people-friendly policies implemented during Pakatan’s 10-month rule.
However, this turned out to be a broken promise as about nine people-friendly policies have either been scrapped or put on the back-burner.
DAP state secretary Nga Kor Ming is disappointed with BN’s about-turn on the following Pakatan-implemented measures:
3,000 applications from residents of new and planned villages to convert their land titles from leasehold to freehold cancelled.
817 elected village headmen had their term of office terminated. The village chiefs have since filed a suit in the Ipoh High Court to be reinstated.
The proposal to change the octagon Yak Tack Seng market along Jalan Osbone into a tourist centre scrapped.
The uniform one-coupon parking system for vehicles, and at a discounted rate from April, for the whole state did not see daylight.
The proposed RM38 million new bus terminal at Meru Raya in Jelapang grounded.
The open-tender policy for approving government contracts, land and logging concessions reverted to the old system of closed tenders.
The giving state land to religious schools and Chinese independent schools also scrapped.
The policy of giving RM1,000 to the dependents of senior citizens who die too has been buried.
The process of legalising the 134 new villages put on hold.
“Just because Barisan is jealous of our people-friendly polices, it does not mean that they have to penalise the innocent people and make them suffer just to show their anger at us,” said Nga.
Nga also took to task Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin for his “makan angin” trip during his one-day visit to Ipoh on Thursday while the country was facing the worst economic crisis in history.
“He just comes to eat, drink and takes a walk to meet the people in Little India. He can utilise this precious time to plan how to overcome the economic crisis and bring the nation back to a sound economic footing,” he added.
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It is sad that a small thing like supporting a small group of poor people within Penang State cannot be done by the Penang Government. It behaves like it has no authority to do anything positive to make the changes we (the people) voted for and now need to see, at least a commitment to making that change. LGE still seems to maintain an ‘Opposition’ mentality or is groping for ideas as to how to manage a government. How much more time does the PR State government require to get into the ‘driving seat’? This cannot go on forever…
People do not live on excuses nor do they live on lip-service, which was why we kicked the BN government out of this state. Did we do that to get the same kind of thing back? Definitely, NOT!
The other issue is that of our heritage status. If LGE really wants Penang to keep it’s newly won World Heritage status, he should realise the value of the history of Kg. Buah Pala. It has existed for 200 years and would be a real tourist attraction and money earner for the state. If LGE understands this he should be fighting to keep it instead of only seeing the inner city of Penang Island as a Heritage site and allowing the rest of the state to be ‘destroyed’ by so-called development that increases the hardships of lower income earners.
Perhaps his attitude boils down to not being a Penangite, not knowing or appreciating this state from its roots and history, not having lived in this place for most of his life. I used to think that wanting only Penangites to managed Penang affairs was discriminatory but in LGE case, I understand the wisdom of that now. We need a CM who understands the needs of the people of this State, not just anyone from outside who to all intents and purposes appears to dish out what we had relegated to the garbage dump. We don’t want our state to be a DUMP!
If LGE and the PR Government are sincere, they better show their sincerity soon, as people are becoming more and more disillusioned with them. it is time we did not accept any old rubbish. Penangites are not that stupid any more.
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Yes, when the developer developed Farlim, one was shot dead i remember, did any Andrews shout at Koh Tsu Koon or make any noise at all at the BN government???
The answer is obviously NO because BN continued to rule Penang till last year March only the people suddenly woke up from their slumber. Sigh sigh sigh !!!
If Kg Pala’s project was approved under PR govt, then, you can blame PR govt, otherwise please dont be childish.
My suggestion is, Andrew and others, please support your concern with action, all of you go and storm at the developer’s office. Dont be a crying baby and sulking here !!!
For those naive Penang people, Penang is not entirely under PR govt so to speak but it is still under the control of BN government.
See, what happen to Perak now??? Perak was voted by the people of Perak legally and it was under PR govt and see how BN robbed Perak and what can PR do when the judges (decided in favour of) BN. Nizar put in so much of fight. Did he win?
Or, can u win BN?
If u think LGE is giving excuses and not doing enough (less than one and a half years tenure), then, by all means vote your beloved Tan Sri Koh back into office in the next GE, ok?
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Andrew,
You should form your own political party and compete in next GE vs BN and PR and once you become CM, invoke yr executive power to demolish Oasis and give back the land to the villagers, everything will get resolved. Talk is cheap.
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As a full time volunteer and activist in the Kampung Buah Pala case. Its simple, if BN really wants to help sincerely, it can do so through federal power, But think long-term ok.
We must also remember, most of the Penang DAP government people are imported. Even their political secretaries are imported. We need local Penangites who truely know the ins and outs of the state. Come next election, of course at the rate BN is moving, we dont want to bring them back to power in Penang but instead the DAP must be daring enough to export out the imported leaders like LGE, Jeff Ooi, Ramasamy, ….
Now coming back to Kampung Buah Pala, yes the developers are also people, but remember, think otherwise, think environment, If you say ok if I think environment thus we dont need development anymore, thats wrong, all I can say is currently the island is not able to support such kind of development like The Oasis, we dont have infrastructure, If 10 years down the road when Penang has the infrastructure, and The Oasis wants to come in to Kampung Buah Pala, I will say no because by then, Kampung Buah Pala would be a pure indian cultural and traditional village in Penang.
Watch out for http://www.dalbindersingh.com/blog tonight at 9pm. I am posting all the videos of promises made by politicians from the time of BN till PR(pre march 8 promises) as well as how the developers came like gangsters, burned houses and many more…
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And I remind all, the struggle to preserve this land and village is on. God will decide who is the winner not even the courts.
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Dalbinder Singh Gill, dont talk rubbish that Lim Guan Eng and others are not Penangnite so they cant rule penang becos they do not understand much of Penang.
What kind of reasoning is that?
Yes, Tan Sri Koh Tsu Koon is a pure breed Penangnite, so what had happened to Penang under Koh’s rule (18 long years !!!) ???
So, who can be PM of Malaysia, only those borm in KL or what?
I hope u talk sense in the future.
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Testing! I have just message that I wanna bring across. I have to go
Dalbinder,
IT’S ECONOMY, STUPID! IF YOU GET MY DRIFT, THEN TALK
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My wish is that YAB LGE come out with a statement on this issue.
He needs to lay bare the issues involved and explain why he will or will not do what the residents have requested.
If the legal issues involved are clear and if the state government is at a distinct disadvantage in a legal tussle , I don’t want the state government to go bankrupt to save a piece of land where the rights of the owner has already been decided by the courts.
One way would be to negotiate with the developer and get a good and equitable compensation for the residents.
Basically I believe land or property, once sold to a third party, must not be taken back by executive decision of the state without fair compensation.
Right of ownership is protected by law.
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Hello Andrew and all frustrated on PR government folks
If you don’t want PR government, what else you can choose????? BN government, hahaha, the government who initially sold the land to the developers?
If not PR government, I believe last year, Kampung Buah Pala already become history…..You must understand something what is out of the control from PR goverment since they also cannot break the court rules……
The funny thing is Kampung buah pala residents ask PR government to pay 3 million in order to buy the land……What a funny request? If Lim GE agree to pay 3 million, what can PR government use on this land? Pay 3 million just only to save small amount of villages home? Why not those residents take out 3 million to buy the land back?
Do you think that 3 million actually can help alot of penangites. Many of non bumi schools is not getting any fund from BN goverment, now I can see Lim GE admistration is doing well on this issues, i.e. allocate some budgets from state goverment income and ask for sponsorship + donation. LimGE government allocate 130K ++ to buy rice and etc to help more than 5000 poor peoples. Do you all already forget the contribution form Lim GE admistration? Do u think BN goverment will able to make same friendly policy like PR government.
Think 3 million can helps for more than 10K peoples compare to 3 million help only 20 family with 400 peoples, which one you choose?
Offcourse we are sympathy to the resident on Kampung Buah Pala, but what we can do? Last time, when the developers offer a compensation to the resident refuse, but they don’t accept and I hear that they want for much better compensation, i.e. luxury bungalow and etc, now the developers win the court order which they don’t need to pay any cents to resident………Do you think now the developers will give any cents to the residents?
So I think now the best solution what can PR goverment do for the resident is reallocate some place for those residents.
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As much as I sympathise with the villagers, they are indeed in the wrong side of the law based on the scenarios given. And as many of you have indeed pointed out, and as easy as it sounds to compulsorily acquire the land (and im not denying that its easy), it’s just that someone has to fork the money out and i wouldnt want the govt to subsidize these for the sake of few families who… erm.. want to be preferred over others? The govt should help them only by way of an assistance and not purchase the lands for their houses? Heck, why wouldnt LGE do the same for me? Then again, the villagers dont even want to accept any other form of token or compensation and rather wants the land banket free at the expense of taxpayers.
For all those volunteers out there, i suggest u guys start collecting donations (if you are die hard activist). In fact, you should have started that a long time ago.. I do think that PR is wrong if it did in fact promise what it couldnt deliver and the villagers have every right not to vote them in the future. At the end of the day, to us, they have done the right thing but for the fake promise. I admit i would hate it if that were to happen to me. Imagine this, liars doin the right things. Hmmm..
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I hope whatever decisions taken by LGE should be within the legal boundaries of the law. We don’t want PR to start behaving like those BN fellas bending the rules to suit their fancies which is what got the villagers in the situation currrently?
Once PR goes down the road, whats to stop them from behaving like the BN people in the future? Penangites voted for a clean govt for all not so that a section of society gets what they want
having said this I agree with some commenters that LGE should hold a discussion with reps from the villagers and lay the facts bare for all to see. If LGE can help – he should, but within the boundaries of the law.
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