The Penang state government today announced it is pushing ahead with damaging plans to dump tons of rocks and sand into fish-breeding waters to create a “Silicon Island”. Civil society groups like CAP, Sahabat Alam Malaysia and Aliran have responded. This is Aliran’s media statement:
Aliran is alarmed that the Penang state government is bulldozing through its mega-reclamation plan to create a so-called “Silicon Island” off the southern coast of Penang Island.
The Penang exco line-up has been unveiled.
PKR’s Batu Maung assembly member Mohamad Abdul Hamid, is deputy chief minister I. Jagdeep Singh of DAP is the new Penang deputy chief minister II.
Let’s just say that the Penang public and civil society will be watching their every move very carefully, especially in housing, sustainable mobility and the environment.
Quickly come up with a sustainable local plan. We have waited far too long for that one.
Scrap the ecologically damaging reclamation south of Penang Island.
Don’t succumb to corporate capture and developers’ greed. Build more genuinely affordable housing, ie not more than three times the annual disposal income of the bottom 40% and the middle class. Examine why there is a glut especially in higher end housing.
13 Aug 2023
Post-election statement from Aliran:
It’s time to acknowledge that the mainstream economic model has left many youths from low-income households feeling anxious, insecure and marginalised.
This Malaysiakini graphic above speaks for itself.
Penang
2018 – PH 67.2%
2022 – PH 60.0%
2023 – PH+BN 66.6%
Selangor
2018 – PH 63.4%
2022 – PH 52.8%
2023 – PH+BN 60.6%
Negeri Sembilan
2018 – PH 53.9%
2022 – PH 44.8%
2023 – PH+BN 60.8%
Kedah
2018 – PH 36.5%
2022 – PH 23.3%
2023 – PH+BN 30.1%
Terengganu
2018 – PH 7.3%
2022 – PH 5.5%
2023 – PH+BN 32.0%
Kelantan
2018 – PH 10.0%
2022 – PH 8.8%
2023 – PH+BN 30.5%
What are the reasons for this? Is there an economic angle to it – economic insecurity and alienation arising from our development model and the urban-rural disparities?
What can Anwar Ibrahim’s Madani government do about this?
Check out the BFM live coverage of results here
LIVE – Results for DAP candidates
LIVE – Malaysiakini score board
Bear in mind that the 2018 figures were before Undi18 and automatic voter registration in 2022. Many older voters who had not bothered to register as voters earlier were included in the 2022 rolls: many of them were unlikely to vote and this drove down the turnout figures for the 2022 general election. I expect the turnout this time to fall just short or close to the 2022 general election figure of 74%
In six separate posts, I will be asking two pundits about their personal predictions on the outcome of the 12 August elections in six states.
First let me introduce these two, one from Pakatan Harapan and the other from Perikatan Nasional. Emen Jamal is the Tasik Gelugor PKR information chief while Abdul Rahman Kasim is the Tasik Gelugor Pas information chief.
Today, we will look at the upcoming Selangor state election.
In the 2018 state election, Pakatan Harapan won 51 seats out of 56 (63.4% of the popular vote, including Bersatu’s 5.6%), Umno-Barisan Nasional picked up four (21.9%), and Pas just one (14.4%).
Tonight, we will look at the upcoming Kedah state election.
In the 2018 state election, Pakatan Harapan won 18 seats out of the 36 seats (36.5% of the popular vote, including Bersatu’s 12.2% or five seats), Barisan Nasional picked up three (29.6%), and Pas won 15 seats (33.7%).
Today, we will look at the upcoming Negri Sembilan state election.
In the 2018 state election, Pakatan Harapan won 20 seats out of 36 (53.9% of the popular vote, including Bersatu’s 5.4%), Barisan Nasional picked up 16 (37.8%), and Pas failed to win a single seat (7.5%).
Tonight, we will look at the upcoming Terengganu state election.
In the 2018 state election, Pas won 22 seats out of the 32 seats (50.5% of the popular vote), Barisan Nasional picked up 10 (42.2%), and Pakatan Harapan failed to win a single seat (7.3% including Bersatu’s 1.8%).
Tonight, we will look at the upcoming Kelantan state election.
In the 2018 state election, Pas won 37 seats out of the 45 seats (52.0% of the popular vote), Barisan Nasional picked up eight (37.6%), and Pakatan Harapan failed to win a single seat (10.0% including Bersatu’s 2.4%).
The Penang Fisherfolk’s Association (Pen Mutiara) was established under the Fishermen’s Association Act 1971, over fifty years ago.
It is an organisation that has the legal responsibility to represent and protect the rights and wellbeing of 6,000 fisherfolk in Penang.
Aliran has just released the following statement:
Aliran is overjoyed by the Selangor government’s decision to scrap the controversial Petaling Jaya Dispersal Link (PJD Link) highway project.
It is a victory for the PJ residents who have campaigned tirelessly against this 34km highway project.
Penang Forum has just released this statement in response to the proposal for a state-wide “LRT” system.
Penang Forum welcomes the federal government’s intervention in coming up with a more comprehensive public transport network for the entire state of Penang.
According to Transport Minister Anthony Loke, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has pointed out that mainland Penang should not be left out of transport infrastructure plans.
Are civil society’s concerns about Penang’s development trajectory being taken seriously? Are contentious projects an issue that will be on voters’ minds going into the Penang state election?
Stumbled across a couple of thought-provoking videos by a YouTube user named Poon, who explains why many in Penang shun the existing public transport system.
I wrote the article below together with Aliran’s Dr Mustafa K Anuar. Here’s where you add your comments on the upcoming state elections.
No sooner had the last of the six state assemblies been dissolved than Dr Mahathir Mohamad popped up to claim that the effort to promote a multi-ethnic country goes against the Federal Constitution!
The latest statement from the Penang-based Sahabat Alam Malaysia:
Sahabat Alam Malaysia was surprised to read a media report quoting Gamuda Bhd as saying that the “Penang South Reclamation” project will begin on 1 July. This is because the fishermen’s appeal has not yet been heard and decided.
The former assistant auditor general of Malaysia, Kanason Pothinker, passed away on 9 June, with hardly any public notice.
It was a strange feeling for me: I had got so used to hearing about his concerns that the final silence left a sense of unfinished business.
Lim Kean Chye has passed away in Penang at the age of 103.