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‘Anak Bangsa Malaysia’ initiative launched

Anil Netto
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Rakyat@work reports on the launch of the Anak Bangsa Malaysia initiative in KL while over in Penang, a smaller group met up to express solidarity:

The launch in KL – Photos by Rakyat@work

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The Penang solidary gathering at a nasi kandar restaurant – Photo by Lucia Lai

Just last month, we celebrated Merdeka Day and yesterday we had Malaysia day. Really, it was by far the most subdued and lifeless ‘celebration’ I have ever experienced. Other than uncertainty in our economic challenges, we have also inherited a degenerative political disease which inflicts daily insults and threats to the rakyat. A sense of ‘hopelessness’ is slowly creeping inside our immune system. It is like getting worse day by day. Everything seems to be going backwards.

So, what’s new? Fortunately, a small flame was flickering in the darkness: the launch of a new Anak Bangsa Malaysia initiative.

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No approval for Buah Pala road closure: MPPP

Anil Netto
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The Penang Municipal Council has strongly denied that approval was given to Nusmetro to block access to Jalan Kaki Bukit, the road that passes through Kampung Buah Pala. The Council refuted the claim by the firm’s director, reported in The Star, that approval had been given.

Said the council in a statement today:

The road that was closed is a public thoroughfare and any application to close it has to be referred to the Public Works Department and the Land Office for approval.

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15 arrested in Kuching over large dams memo

Anil Netto
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1547: 15 activists and indigenous people were arrested in Kuching at 2.30pm as they tried to submit a memorandum to Sarawak state government leaders at Wisma Bapa Malaysia.

The group included Penan, Iban, Kenyah and Kayan representatives of indigenous communities that will be displaced by the Murum and Baram dam projects.

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Rebutting Jabu’s claims about the Penan

Anil Netto
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Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister Alfred Jabu made some claims about the Penan while lashing out at NGOs. He said the NGOs were taking advantage of the plight of the less than three per cent of the Penan population who were still nomadic. This excerpt from the Borneo Post:

“They (negative NGOs) are living off the misery of the few, and manufactured lies. This is what we must fight.

“I have known the Penan community for more than 40 years. They are striving for advancement. Only less than three per cent are still nomadic.

“And it is this three per cent that the negative NGOs speak up for. Is this a fair representation when we have another 97 per cent of Penans who have settled down?” he asked.

He said most of the Penans were successful people after they had followed government programmes to get them out of poverty.

He said the role model for the Penans was entrepreneur Datuk Hasan Sui while the role model for the Penan villages was the one at Suai in Ulu Niah where most of its residents were driving twin-cab 4WDs.

“As the Penans are members of the Dayak community, I do not want to see them being exploited,” he said.

And now the reality, which I learnt from a reliable source:

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“Penang” tak boleh!

Anil Netto
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Yesterday, I wrote “Penang boleh!”

I spoke too soon. It should be “Penang” tak boleh! Apparently, any group, publication or event that wants to use “Penang” in its name must now get approval from the state government?

What???

“People should know that ‘Penang’ is not a name that they can simply use,” the Chief Minister is reported as saying in theSun. “The Penang government is the sole authority to decide whether anyone can use the state brand.”

What nonsense is this? Who appointed it the sole authority? The name of a place belongs to its people, not to the state government. Just because of a few abuses, it wants to control the usage of the place-name and claim ownership over it.

And since when has Penang become a “brand”? (Want to copyright and patent it?) Such giveaway words reflect a corporate-business mentality, not a people-centred mind-set.

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Penang boleh! Public road dug up, blocked

Anil Netto
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The entrance to Jalan Kaki Bukit was today dug up, blocking access to Kampung Buah Pala from the Bukit Gelugor side and inconveniencing the public.

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Staking a claim: Breaking up a public road – Photo by Penang Media

Jalan Kaki Bukit links Bukit Gelugor to Jalan Yeap Chor Ee.

How is it possible that a public road could be blocked? Who is responsible for this? Is this another indication that anything goes in Penang?

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Tanjung Tokong villagers oppose project

Anil Netto
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Kampung Tanjung Tokong residents are opposing a RM1 billion “mixed development” project managed by Uda Holdings that could affect their 200-year-old settlement.

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Photo courtesy of Wartawan Rasmi Laman Reformasi

This project is clearly a legacy of BN rule, but how will the Pakatan administration handle it?

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S’wak Pakatan to ensure straight fights with BN

Anil Netto
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0

PKR, DAP, Snap and Pas are coming together to form the Sarawak Pakatan. The plan is to ensure straight fights with the BN in all 71 state seats when the Sarawak election is held either this year or next year.

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Buah Pala villagers grapple with harsh reality

Anil Netto
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It was never meant to be this way. Valli Perumal’s father bought a house in this village when he retired in 1965 after the previous owner returned to India.

“Have you heard anything about our houses?” asks a despairing Valli Perumal – Photo by Anil

Perumal had worked with the city council and thought that the tranquil village provided an idyllic setting for his family.

His daughter, Valli, was fifteen then, and she grew up in the village, where her family reared goats for a living.

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Kg Buah Pala villagers spend night in darkness

Anil Netto
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6

Kampung Buah Pala villagers have been thrown back into the Dark Ages after electricity was disconnected in most of the houses still standing, many of them partially damaged.

Photos by Anil

Small groups of dejected and subdued villagers and other visitors sat huddled in quiet conversation along the lane under the glare of street lights.

Several houses still standing used candles to illuminate their partly broken homes. A stray dog trotted aimlessly along the lane.

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