Lim Chong Eu once tried to “develop” Penang Hill while later, Koh Tsu Koon tried to pave the way for the development of the Turf Club land for the PGCC project. In both cases, Penang civil society groups mobilised public opinion to “Save Penang Hill” and “Stop PGCC”. Both proved to be costly errors, driven by corporate greed and the interests of develors. The rest, as they say, is history.
Himanshu Bhatt writes about the Penang Forum’s submission of civil society proposals and recommendations to the Penang state government. Will the state government heed the views of the activists?
This article appeared in theSun:
Ignore NGOs at your peril
LAST Saturday, at a private meeting in the chief minister’s office, the Pakatan Rakyat government of Penang was handed a stack of working papers by a motley gathering of NGOs. The reports, drawn up by independent working groups, were made as part of a “People’s Forum”, a community-based initiative of as many interest groups as one could imagine popping up in Penang, a former “crown jewel” of Gerakan.
