Another PKR elected rep has ‘seen the light’ and quit the party, citing disillusionment with the party leadership.
Tan Wei Shu, the Kedah state assembly member for Bakar Arang, had been replaced in the Kedah state government exco line-up by the PKR’s Tan Show Kang on 10 March.
What do you think of Najib’s New Economic Model? It has taken such a long time for the administration to realise that the present low-wage export-oriented model is not working.
The need for a new economic model was pointed out in this blog back in October 2008:
One of the larger issues that arises in the face of the global economic slowdown and recession is that the foreign investor-driven, export-oriented economic growth model is clearly not working, especially in times like this when global demand has shrunk. With global stagflation or recession staring at us, capacity is rising and the trickle of foreign investors is drying up.
We should be focusing more on building up a strong, resilient, sustainable domestic economy by providing basic services (housing, health care, food security, public transport, education) rather than relying on foreign investors and now, foreign retirees.
Is Najib’s new model the solution? There are some encouraging bits in it such as the focus on the bottom 40 per cent of the population and the need to improve skills in the workforce.
So Zaid Ibrahim is the PKR candidate for Hulu Selangor.
Over the last few years, he has been articulating a more inclusive Malaysian vision for the nation – unlike those Perkasa folks. He has also taken commendable positions on oppressive laws such as the ISA.
In that respect, the man appears to have evolved. The Zaid version 2010 seems quite different from the Zaid version 1980s of the Muslim Lawyers Association during the height of the judicial crisis. But he redeemed himself when, soon after his appointment to the Cabinet, he said the government had to openly apologise for its handling of the 1988 Judicial Crisis, which culminated in the unceremonious dismissal of the then Lord President of the Supreme Court, Tun Salleh Abas.
The Sabah state government has decided to ban swiftlet farming in all urban areas in the state.
The ban was imposed as it was felt that the breeding activities in town areas were a health and environmental hazard and a public nuisance.
Where does this leave the Penang Island Municipal Council (MPPP)? George Town has been rapidly going to the birds. The ball is now in the MPPP’s court.
This is the Bernama report:
Sabah To Prepare Guidelines On Proper Swiftlet Farming
KOTA KINABALU, April 9 (Bernama) — The Sabah Local Government and Housing Ministry will prepare guidelines for proper swiftlet farming in all of the 24 districts in the state.
Minister Datuk Hajiji Noor said today this was because the state cabinet had decided to ban swiftlet farming in the city and town areas.
The Seberang Perai Municipal Council (MPSP) has turned around after eight years of deficits. It posted a surplus of RM14.6 million in 2009, after a marginal surplus in 2008 and deficits from 2000 to 2007 under BN rule.
Its actual income rose by 7.6 per cent to RM157.4 million in 2009 while its expenditure inched down by 0.3 per cent to RM142.8 million, giving a surplus of RM14.6 million (against a projected deficit of RM15.5 million). With this surplus, the Council’s reserves rose from RM29.1 million to RM43.7 million.
MPSP Surplus/(Deficit)
(RM million)
2000 – (5.1)
2001 – (31.2)
2002 – (36.7)
2003 – (39.0)
2004 – (48.9)
2005 – (57.1)
2006 – (5.4)
2007 – (5.1)
2008 – 3.0
2009 – 14.6
The Penang Turf Club is baulking at the idea of paying quit rent at commercial rates after its Batu Gantung land was controversially rezoned from ‘recreational’ land to ‘mixed development’ in June 2007.
The Director of Land and Mines has issued a bill for quit rent for 2008-2010 totalling RM6.1 million (less amounts already paid), which works out to about RM2.4 million a year (or RM2.58/sq metre). The Turf Club had previously been paying RM0.5 million a year in quit rent (or RM0.54/sq metre).
The Turf Club wants the old rate to be used, arguing that the land is still being used for horse racing.
The Penang Forum, a coalition of public interest groups and individuals, notes with dismay that Boustead is claiming compensation from the MPPP for consequential losses in having to reduce its hotel from 12 to five storeys.
Before the matter develops further, perhaps Boustead would wish to reconsider its position carefully taking the long-term big-picture view and the following.
Boustead should not have been given approval for 12 storeys in a heritage area in the first place by the previous administration. It was the Federal Government that chose to apply for and accept having George Town and Melaka jointly inscribed by Unesco as a World Heritage Site, which brought with it several obligations, one of which was to restrict the height of new buildings in the core zone. The Penang Government was merely its fulfilling international obligation. Not to have done so was unthinkable; losing the listing so soon after getting it would have been extremely damaging for our international reputation.
Another by-election could be held soon following the passing of Robert Lau, the Sibu MP from SUPP/BN.
Lau, the deputy minister of transport, died of cancer at the Selayang Hospital this morning.
The DAP now has a good chance of capturing the seat as a result of some ethnic Chinese dissatisfaction with the SUPP, according to a Sarawak-based political analyst. Chinese Malaysians make up 60 per cent of the voters here.
The Penang Development Corporation (PDC) – and even municipal councils – once used to play an admirable role in providing Penangites with affordable housing.
Goh Ban Lee recalls in this piece for Seri’s Penang Eonomic Monthly (August 2009) that:
The issue of shortage of housing for the poor in Penang is puzzling. As early as in 1950s, even before the country achieved independence from Britain, there were efforts by the government to help the lower income groups to have adequate shelter.
More specifically, George Town’s Municipal Council which eventually evolved into the Penang Island Municipal Council of today began building quarters for its lower paid workers as early as 1946. Two years later, it also built low-cost houses for sale to the public at $2,775 each (Penang – Past and Present, 1966:86). It then went on to build many housing units to be rented to the poor, such as those in Trengganu Road and Cintra Street. After almost half a century, these are still among the most sought-after housing units for the lower income groups.
The Seberang Perai Municipal Council (MPSP) and its predecessor also built low-cost housing units to be sold to the poor. For instance, in 1959 the Butterworth Town Council built low-cost houses in Jalan Mohd Saad costing between $5,000 and $12,000 each.
The Penang State Government has also been building low-cost houses for the poor. They include those in Kampung Melayu, Nordin Street Ghaut, Riffle Range, Kedah Road and recently, in cooperation with the federal government and MPPP, in the Lines Road area.
Just when you thought the proposed RM50 million Penang International Convention Centre was bad enough for Penang rate-payers, now Boustead Holdings Bhd has reportedly submitted a RM60 million claim to the Penang Island Municipal Council (MPPP) for scaling down its project in the world heritage zone.
The state government had earlier directed the developer to scale down its 12-storey hotel project to meet Unesco’s 18-metre or five-storey height ruling in the core heritage zone of Weld Quay.
Strangely though, instead of the Penang NGOs being lauded for protecting Penang’s World Heritage status, they have been criticised because Boustead has made a staggering claim.