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Soi Lek, PPC and centralisation

Anil Netto
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I just wrote something for Aliran on Chua Soi Lek’s appointment as Penang Port Commission chairman. I used that as a peg to show just how centralised our federal government has become – and the process continues.

Already there has been much debate online about the appointment of Chua Soi Lek as the Penang Port Commission chairperson.

Penang Port Commission (PPC) was established on 1 January 1956 under the Penang Port Commission Act, 1955. PPC is a statutory body under the Transport Ministry tasked with providing, maintaining and upgrading port and ferry services in Penang Port.

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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-11-28

Anil Netto
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  • How's this for real gratitude? Trapped whale winks and nuzzles up to divers after they freed her. True story: h… http://y.ahoo.it/kTJvXfFN #

Shocking revelation in Sarawak

Anil Netto
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Sarawak Report has come up with a stunning revelation exposing who it claims owns Royal Mulu Resort.

See the report here.

Meanwhile Baru Bian, the State Liaison Chief for PKR Sarawak, has brought the revelation to the attention of MACC Sarawak.

Baru, Baru, don’t waste your time with the MACC.

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Sarawak: Poverty and opulence

Anil Netto
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7

There are two opposite extremes in Sarawak that are worlds apart.

First, an example of the harsh reality that faces the marginalised:

Hishamuddin’s aide falls into Sarawakian marsh
November 21, 2010

KUCHING, Nov 21 — Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein was today shocked to see his special officer Datuk Firdaus Ismail fall into a marsh when a wooden bridge leading to the dilapidated home of an elderly villager in Kampung Gersik, here, collapsed. (From a Bernama report in Malaysian Insider)

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Learning tree-planting from Singapore?

Anil Netto
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A delegation from Putrajaya is planning a two-day study trip to Singapore next month to learn more about tree-planting.

Huh? Read this Malaysian Insider report.

A blog reader visited Singapore earlier this month and snapped a few pictures.

Surprisingly, I noticed that trees and plants at public places, by the roadside, at HDB condos etc are in better shape than those at private premises/condos. Can’t even find old sick trees or a branch of brown foliage, serious no exaggeration!

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Missing fountain and Ipoh’s heritage

Anil Netto
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6

The Perak government is desperately trying to promote heritage tourism, but as one writer observes, there is no evidence that this “top down, bottom up” approach, requiring love and respect for our heritage, exists anywhere in Ipoh.

Saw this piece by Ian Anderson in the Ipoh Echo:

Once there was a beautiful Italian marble fountain on this site (in Little India). It was put there not by government, but by the businessmen of Ipoh in memory of the 8th British Adviser, E W Birch, who unlike his father had been good to Ipoh and Perak during his tenure. Indeed without his assistance, New Town would not have been built. However in the 1980s the memorial was removed by the City Council in the name of development.

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Chong Eu: A chequered legacy

Anil Netto
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78

The late Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu will be remembered as a leader who left his imprint on Penang during a time of turbulence and ferment in Malaysia’s post-independence years.

His experiment with multi-ethnic politics with Gerakan – in its initial years at least – fired the imagination of many Penangites and other Malaysians.

His economic policy of promoting export-oriented, foreign investor-driven development – the standard World Bank model in support of MNCs – gave birth to the electronics industry and the Free Trade Zone in Penang. It compensated somewhat for the loss of Penang’s duty-free status.

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Noynoy worth RM3.6m; our PM, CMs?

Anil Netto
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Philippine President Aquino has declared his assets showing that he is worth RM3.6 million (50 million pesos). Now when will we get to know how much the Malaysian Prime Minister, Cabinet Ministers and Chief Ministers are worth? Transparency anyone?

Aquino submitted his ‘Statement of Assets and Liabilities and Net Worth’ to the Ombudsman’s office soon after he assumed office. Notice, it is not a statement of income but of assets.

In contrast, his predecessor Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo started her term of office with a net worth of RM4.8 million. By the time she stepped down from office, her wealth had soared to RM10.2 million.

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NO to Penang Port privatisation

Anil Netto
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37

I don’t know about you, but I got that sinking feeling when I heard that Penang Port could be privatised.

At present, Penang Port comes under the federal Finance Ministry. The government reportedly has already spent RM1 billion over the last five years to upgrade Penang Port.

Now the news is that Malaysia’s seventh richest man, Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary, could take over the port, as reported in the Singapore Business Times. Just how many ports do they want him to take over? His MMC already controls Port of Tanjung Pelepas and the Johor Port in Pasir Gudang.

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Sarawak Hansard tampered with?

Anil Netto
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7

The opposition in Sarawak have accused the state government of tampering with the state assembly’s Hansard, the recording of the Dewan’s proceedings.

See Free Malaysia Report here.

An independent source told me the episode is accurate as he was unable to download the fourth day’s proceedings. “The fourth day proceedings were mainly opposition speeches. It has not been uploaded. If Parliament can upload opposition speeches in Hansard, why not Sarawak? Or is the Sarawak Chief Minister beyond reproach?”

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