Photo by Camie and Gowri, courtesy of Crying Voices Kg Buah Pala today
A barren desert.
Photo by Camie and Gowri, courtesy of Crying Voices
Photo by Camie and Gowri, courtesy of Crying Voices Penan issue exaggerated?
The Sarawak Women and Family Council (SWFC) chairperson Fatimah Abdullah has said that the “sensitive” Penan issue has been highlighted and over-exaggerated because of their “political and commercial value”.
Actually, it’ is not that the Penan are of more “political and commercial value” than any other ethnic group in Sarawak. Rather, they are one of the most marginalised groups in the country – and their blockades reflect their desperation. Their situation now is a microcosm of the damaging effects of what is taking place in Sarawak: the clearing of rainforests for logging and plantations, resulting in loss of biodiversity and food sources; the dam-building frenzy (at public expense for private profit?); the emergence of polluting industry; the unhealthy nexus of politics and business; and of course the dispossession of indigenous groups from native customary land, accompanied by ill-conceived resettlement plans.
Beyond FDI towards a sustainable economy
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote an article on the Malaysian economy, which also touched on the net investment outflows from Malaysia in recent times: Capital outflows cloud economic outlook (Asia Times).
That prompted a thoughtful response from an analyst who makes a valid point – that we must discard our obsession with securing foreign direct investments (FDI), which has blinded us to alternative paths towards a more sustainable domestic economy. Instead, he says, we need to look at how we can promote domestic investment while assessing qualitatively how beneficial each investment is to the people and to the local economy:
Generally nice article. However, I thought the section on investment flows was somewhat misleading, although the overall question — why are Malaysians investing abroad — is valid and important.
Murum Dam misery for displaced Penan
A few days ago, The Star reported that the relocation of seven Penan villages affected by the proposed RM3 billion Murum Dam in Belaga, Sarawak would be carried out according to the findings of a social and environmental impact assessment.
State environmental adviser James Dawos was reported as saying that the government had appointed consultants to conduct the study, expected to be completed by year-end, and would consider their report before coming up with a resettlement plan. The villages affected are Long Wat, Long Luar, Long Tangau, Long Menapa, Long Singu, Long Malim and Long Uba. Long Wat villagers face double jeopardy: they are to be “temporarily relocated” (to enable the construction of a cofferdam to divert the river) before later resettlement.
Here’s what one analyst had to say in response:
The major omission in this news report is that it does not canvass the views of the affected Penan.
Tg Tokong: Do we know what we have lost?
Kakipulau tells us what we have lost – and are still losing – in Tanjung Tokong and elsewhere:
Tanjung Tokong was a beautiful fishing village area and before the land reclamation was done, you could see a natural sand spit going out to sea, formed by the tides. A mangrove forest grew just by the promenade that ran along the road opposite Tanjung Tokong village proper. The fisherman used to anchor their boats in the lagoon formed by the curve in the sand spit.
I’ve lived near there since I was 10 and will never forget that beautiful sight or the feel of the wind from the sea. I used to sit there for hours wanting to put that beautiful scene in a painting. It was beyond words and the peace that one feels gazing into the vast expanse of sea and the fishing boats with their gossamer nets is now only a memory.
Kg Tanjong Tokong’s fate in balance
Mahmud Yusoff, who grew up in Kg Tanjung Tokong in Penang, shares with us his thoughts on the uncertain future facing the villagers:
I was born and grew up in the kampung until Form Five and later left for further studies and work in KL; so my heart is never far from developments in the kampung i.e. through regular visits and involvement in local NGOs for the sake of villagers’ rights…
Back in 1974, the federal government (during the leadership of the late Tun Razak) decided to develop Tanjong Tokong through the Urban Development Authority (Uda). Thus, the state government transferred 48 acres of the land for a token RM1. The traditional villagers who have been there for the last 200 years were declared “squatters” through Uda’s affidavit filed in the Penang High Court on 10 December 2008. Are they doing justice to the villagers?
Tsunami watch cancelled
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.9 has struck about 33 miles from Padang in West Sumatra, according to news reports.
It comes in the wake of an 8.0 magnitude quake and tsunami in the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific yesterday.
It makes you wonder how earthquake resistant our high-rise buildings are.
Meanwhile, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre has cancelled its tsunami watch.
MPPP Councillor opposes increased density
MPPP Councillor Lim Kah Cheng has registered her objection to the Penang state government’s decision to raise the permissible density for property development. She made these remarks during an adjournment address on 25 September 2009:
Saya ingin merakamkan bantahan saya terhadap keputusan baru Kerajaan Negeri untuk menaikan kepadatan pembangunan di Pulau Pinang. Keputusan ini tidak mampan dan akan menjejaskan kesejahteraan rakyat Pulau Pinang dan akan menakibatkan persekitaran kita merosot. Infrastruktur kita yang berada masa sekarang memang tidak mencukupi dan tidak boleh menyokong kepadatan yang lebih tinggi. Rakyat Pulau Pinang sekarang menghadapi keseksakan jalan, banjir, pencemaran, krisis pengumpulan sisa pepejal dan kekurangan kemudahan kemudahan sosial seperti Tadika, Taska dan sekolah sekolah dan penagkutan awam yang efficien. Kualiti kehidupan rakyat Pulau Pinang akan merosot dengan keputusan yang di buat tanpa mendapatkan pandangan pandangan semua stakeholders di negeri ini.
Heritage lost?
Is this what a heritage city is about – derelict land, decaying buildings and a high-rise construction site?
Photo by a Penangite
The sign just about sums it up.
Photo by a Penangite
The sign just about sums it up.
Time to enact Freedom of Information law
In case you did not realise it, yesterday was International Right to Know Day. The Centre for Independent Journalism has worked with other NGOs to come up with a Freedom of Information Bill.
Climate signs “surpass worst-case scenarios”
The signs are there that climate change has surpassed worst-case scenarios scientists predicted just two years ago, reveals The Climate Change Science Compendium 2009, a UN report released on 24 September.
The report, released on 24 September, analysed 400 scientific reports released through peer-reviewed literature or from research institutions, according to a Reuters report.
An yet, here we are merrily continuing with our corporate-driven unsustainable development as if global warming doesn’t concern us and thinking that we and our future generations will be somehow immune from its effects.
Kg Buah Pala: Release Pakatan exco minutes too
There’s still quite a bit of unfinished business in this saga.
Why is it so important? First, land which is now said to be worth RM80-100 per sq ft was alienated to the Koperasi for RM10psf or RM3.2 million by the previous BN administration. Millions of ringgit that could have gone to the people of Penang were effectively handed over on a silver platter to the Koperasi-Nusmetro in exchange for peanuts. The big issue is, could the Pakatan state government have stopped the deal in its tracks?
Was the new state government in Penang unaware of the Kg Buah Pala crisis during the crucial period from when they came into power on 8 March 2009 until the land transfer was effected on 27 March 2008? Let’s zoom in on this period.
March 2008 8 – Opposition parties sweep to power in Penang. 13 – Buah Pala villagers meet the new Penang Chief Minister and inform him about their situation. 14 – But the very next day, the state government accepts final payment of RM2,247,000* for the Buah Pala land, nearly a year after the last payment, and almost 10 months after the Land Office asked for final payment. 15 – The villagers are tipped off that final payment has been made.
They just can’t keep their hands off Penan areas
Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister Alfred Jabu has held up the Penan village at Suai in Ulu Niah in Sarawak as a “role model” for Penan villages, according to the Borneo Post.
But even in Suai, the state can’t keep its hands off Penan lands, and they too have to fight to assert their rights, as this excerpt from the Malaysian Mirror indicates:
MIRI – A meeting between 40 Penan landowners in Suai and representatives of SPB Pelita Suai Sdn Bhd ended successfully today when the landowners agreed to remove blockades on the promise that they be paid between RM1,900 and RM18,900 depending on the size of their land.
More going out than coming in
Malaysia’s financial account shows a large net outflow of investments in both the first (far right column) and second quarters of 2009.
Where is all the money going? – Source: Bank Negara
The latest Unctad investment flows report shows a similar net outflow of foreign direct investment in 2008.
I stumbled across those figures while writing the following piece on the Malayisan economy for Asia Times:
| Financial Account | RM million | Q2/09 | -24,198 | -29,758 | |
| Direct Investment Abroad | RM million | Q2/09 | -8,964 | 435 | |
| Direct Investment in Malaysia | RM million | Q2/09 | 863 | 2,761 | |
| Portfolio & Financial Derivatives – Net | RM million | Q2/09 | -9,933 | -12,153 | |
| Other Investment – Net | RM million | Q2/09 | -6,163 | -20,799 |
Snuffing out the real Firefly
Another instance of corporate destruction of the environment: this time forest clearing by an oil palm plantation firm snuffs out the twinkling lights of the fireflies dancing above the banks of the Kuala Selangor River.
Sometimes, the residents win…
Residents of Taman Golf in Ipoh have successfully appealed for the removal of a sewage treatment plant facing their homes.
A rare victory – Photo courtesy of Ipoh Echo
A three-person panel of the Perak Appeals Board, led by N H Chan, allowed their appeal and ordered the Ipoh City Council to instruct the Royal Perak Golf Club to dismantle and demolish the sewage treatment plant within a month.
A rare victory – Photo courtesy of Ipoh Echo
A three-person panel of the Perak Appeals Board, led by N H Chan, allowed their appeal and ordered the Ipoh City Council to instruct the Royal Perak Golf Club to dismantle and demolish the sewage treatment plant within a month.
Remembering the horrors of war
Kseniya Simonova’s haunting sand animation evokes painful memories of the tremendous Ukrainian suffering and loss of life during World War II.
Ukraine is believed to have lost more people in World War II than any other European nation as a result of the brutal Nazi occupation, followed by the Soviet reoccupation.
Tg Bunga now high-density ‘primary corridor’?
Tanjong Bunga residents are alarmed by inconsistencies in the Penang Structure Plan for their area that could lead to more congestion and construction projects. They claim that, under the previous administration, the diagram in the Plan was unilaterally re-zoned as a high-density ‘Primary Corridor’; the Plan had earlier been displayed for public scrutiny with the diagram showing Tanjung Bunga as a ‘Secondary Corridor’.
This distinction is crucial as the permissible density for a Secondary Corridor zone is 6-15 (max) homes per acre whereas for a Primary Corridor, there is no limit, say the residents. They assert that this classification is a policy matter which the present state government could easily rectify.
The Tanjung Bunga Residents Association points out the following: