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Rumours prove unfounded as day passes peacefully in Penang

Anil Netto

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20 Mar 2008

9

Start of the Maulud Nabi procession outside Kapitan Keling Mosque

Women and children in colourful attire participated

Police didn’t expect any trouble but kept a watchful eye

I thought I would head to George Town to see what was going on during the Maulud Nabi celebration today. Arrived near the Kapitan Keling mosque and saw a small crowd there.

The usual colourful procession started at around 5.00pm. Delegations from various parts of Penang participated, each led by a standard bearer carrying a banner indicating the name of the group and its location. The rhythmic, thumping beat of a kompang group livened up the proceedings.

Police had taken up positions. I saw four police jeeps with Light Strike Force personnel in addition to a couple of civil defence vans plus the usual traffic police. Plainclothes police were also around. They appeared relaxed, as if they were not expecting any problems – just keeping a close eye.

I chatted with a friendly police officer and he told me the earlier rumours were unfounded, but the police were there to keep the peace “just in case”. He said there had been no real incident after the election; the real test was during polling night but that passed without anything untoward happening.

As for the demonstration last Friday, he reckoned there were about 400 in the actual demonstration; the rest were largely curious onlookers.

Most people, he felt, had accepted the election results, and he didn’t expect any major problems.

What now after NEP?

Anil Netto

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19 Mar 2008

11

If the NEP goes, what will replace it? The Malaysian Economic Agenda? Unlike the NEP, the MEA calls for providing assistance to all those who need it, irrespective of ethnicity.

Fine, but PKR, DAP and Pas leaders must realise that the people voted for more subsidies and greater government social spending. This is what they were promised. They did not vote for “free market”, “business friendly” policies. Neither did they opt for neoliberal policies (privatisation, corporatisation and policies favouring the corporate elite), which have actually widened the gap between the rich and the poor.

Voting for greater democracy does not mean support for “free-market” policies. Actually, what we often have in Malaysia is a situation, as economist Charles Santiago puts it, “where you had subsidies for the rich and a free market economy for the poor. While you subsidise the rich on one side, the debt of the country is being borne by the middle-classes and the poor”.

So true – just think of the billions of ringgit in gas subsidies dished out to the lucrative Independent Power Producers, who are raking in the profits.

Remember, ordinary Malaysians voted in droves for people-centred development (projects that really benefit the ordinary people) rather than corporate-driven development (mega projects that primarily benefit the corporate elite while ruining the environment).

Power shift to the provinces

by Anil Netto

PENANG, Mar 18 (IPS) – Malaysia’s race-based affirmative action policies have come under the spotlight in the aftermath of a pivotal general election which saw opposition parties making sweeping gains.

Opposition parties captured the ‘rice-bowl’ state of Kedah and the industrialised states of Penang, Perak and Selangor in addition to retaining power in the Muslim heartland state of Kelantan on the east coast in the Mar. 8 general election.

The three industrial states will be ruled by coalition governments made up of the multi-ethnic — but largely ethnic Chinese — Democratic Action Party (DAP), the multi-ethnic People’s Justice Party (PKR) and the Islamic party PAS. The opposition parties won 82 of 222 parliamentary seats while the ruling federal coalition Barisan Nasional (BN), or National Front, clinched 51.5 percent of the popular vote.

The new state governments now have their work cut out for them to make good on their opposition campaign promises of ending the New Economic Policy in favour of their ‘Malaysian Economic Agenda’. The NEP was introduced in 1971 to uplift the economic position of the majority ethnic Malays and remove the stereotyping of race with specific occupations. Full article

The woman who masterminded Samy’s defeat

Anil Netto

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19 Mar 2008

42

Kumar and Rani in Penang fresh after their triumph in Sg Siput

While everyone knows Dr Jeyakumar Devaraj as the guy who finally toppled Samy Vellu in his Sg Siput bastion, few are aware that his victory owes a lot to his wife and campaign manager, Rani Rasiah, a PSM central committee member, who played an instrumental role in the campaign. Of course, they couldn’t have done it without the help of a multi-ethnic team of dedicated volunteers from all around the country. A tale of sheer grit and perseverance.

It was an amazing campaign. Rani revealed that none of the volunteers who helped out in their campaign – many of them from grassroots communities – was paid a sen. It was entirely a people’s effort. In fact, their regular ceramah in Sg Siput did not feature any big names. Rather, it was the ordinary people – farmers, urban pioneers, estate workers – who took to the stage to share their experience and urge the crowds to vote for change!

The campaign was also boosted by a strong DAP candidate standing in one of the state seats and by Pas workers who did their bit by putting up posters and flags in kampongs.

Kumar told me he discovered that his new position as MP for Sungai Siput carries with it certain powers and influence over local authorities, which he hopes to use to uplift some of the diverse communities in the area.

Zaid Ibrahim, Shahrir IN; Rafidah, Tengku Adnan OUT

Anil Netto

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18 Mar 2008

21

PM Abdullah Badawi has just announced his new cabinet which includes critic Zaid Ibrahim as Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department serving as de facto law minister. Zaid is likely to be made a senator first before he can take up his new appointment.

The independent-minded Shahrir Samad makes a surprise entry as Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister.

The “world’s longest-serving trade minister”, Rafidah, has been dropped in a major shock. The “AP Queen” is replaced by Muhyiddin.

Other big names dropped are Radzi Sheikh Ahmad, Jamaluddin Jarjis, Tengku Adnan and Azmi Khalid.

It is likely that the major setbacks suffered by the BN in the 8 March general election played a key role in their being dropped. But the new appointments are unlikely to placate Malaysians demanding real and far-reaching change.

With Zam, Rafidah and Samy Vellu all out, we are now left with Nazri to “entertain” us. I wonder what Ahmad Shabery Cheek will be like as Information Minister. Zam will surely be a hard act to follow. 🙂

Ultra nationalists Najib and Hishamuddin retain Defence and Education respectively.

No place for Khairy, though, who probably remains in “the fourth floor”. The suave and adaptable Rais takes over Wisma Putra from Hamid Albar, who moves to Internal Security. Imagine, Muhammad Taib makes a comeback in Rural Development while there’s even a place for Taib Mahmud’s son as Deputy Tourism Minister.

Umno ministers take over from MIC and Gerakan at the Works Ministry and the Energy, Water and Communications Ministry, both of which are responsible for overseeing the award of huge $$$$ infrastructure contracts. Abdullah, meanwhile, clings on to the coveted Finance portfolio.

Correction: Earlier title should not have read “Nazri out”…. Misread Radzi as Nazri. (Silly me – just wishful thinking on my part, perhaps!) Apologies for the slip-up.

So, what do you think of this Cabinet ?

This from Bernama:

PUTRAJAYA, March 18 (Bernama) — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi remains as Minister of Finance while Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop will continue to be Second Finance Minister.

Tan Sri Hj Muhyiddin Yassin has been appointed Minister Of International Trade And Industry replacing Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz, who has been dropped from the Cabinet.

Rafidah is believed to be the world’s longest-serving trade minister, who has been dropped from the Cabinet.

The deputy finance ministers are Datuk Husni Hanadzlah and Datuk Kong Cho Ha.

As for MITI, the deputy ministers are Liew Vui Keong and Jacob Dungau Sagan.

Maybank chief executive officer and President Datuk Amirsham A. Aziz will be appointed senator.

— BERNAMA

The full list:

Prime Minister
Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi

Deputy Prime Minister
Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak

Ministers in the Prime Minister’s Department
Tan Sri Bernard Dompok
Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz
Datuk Ahmad Zahid Hamidi
Datuk Mohd Zaid Ibrahim
Datuk Amirsham Abdul Aziz

Deputy Ministers in the Prime Minister’s Department
Datuk Johari Baharom
Datuk Dr Mashitah Ibrahim
Datuk K. Devamany
Datuk Hassan Malik
Finance
Minister – Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
Second Finance Minister – Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop
Deputies – Datuk Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah, Datuk Kong Cho Ha

Defence
Minister – Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak
Deputy – Datuk Wira Abu Seman Yusop

Internal Security and Home Affairs
Minister – Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar
Deputies – Datuk Chor Chee Heong, Senator Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh

Housing and Local Government
Minister -Datuk Ong Ka Chuan
Deputies – Datuk Robert Lau , Datuk Hamzah Zainuddin

Works Minister
Minister – Datuk Mohd Zin Mohamad
Deputy- Datuk Yong Khoon Seng

Energy, Water and Communications
Minister – Datuk Shaziman Abu Mansor
Deputy- Datuk Joseph Salang Gandum

Agriculture and Agro-based Industry
Minister – Datuk Mustapa Mohamed
Deputy – Datin Paduka Rohani Abdul Karim

International Trade and Industry
Minister -Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin
Deputies- Loh Wei Keong, Datuk Jacob Dungau Sagan

Foreign Affairs
Minister -Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim
Deputy- Tunku Azlan Abu Bakar

Education
Minister -Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein
Deputies -Datuk Wee Ka Siong, Datuk Razali Ismail

Higher Education
Minister – Datuk Khaled Nordin
Deputies – Khoo Kok Choong, Datuk Idris Harun

Transport
Datuk Ong Tee Keat
Deputy – Anifah Aman

Human Resources
Datuk S. Subramaniam
Deputy- Datuk Noraini Ahmad

Women, Family and Community Development
Minister-Datuk Dr Ng Yen Yen
Deputy- Noriah Kasnon

National Unity, Culture, Arts and Heritage
Minister- Datuk Shafie Apdal
Deputy-Datuk Teng Boon Soon

Science, Technology and Innovation
Minister- Datuk Dr Maximus Ongkili
Deputy- Fadilah Yusof

Entrepreneurial and Cooperative Development
Minister – Datuk Noh Omar
Deputy- Datuk Saiffuddin Abdullah

Natural Resources and Environment
Minister – Datuk Douglas Uggah Embas
Deputy – Datuk Abu Ghapur Salleh

Rural and Regional Development
Minister – Tan Sri Muhammad Muhd Taib
Deputy- Tan Sri Joseph Kurup

Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs
Minister – Datuk Shahrir Samad
Deputy – Jelaing Mersat

Plantation Industries and Commodities
Minister – Datuk Peter Chin Fah Kui
Deputy- Senator A. Kohilan

Youth and Sports
Minister – Datuk Ismail Sabri Yaacob
Deputy – Wee Jack Seng

Health
Minister – Datuk Liow Tiong Lai
Deputy- Datuk Dr Abdul Latiff Ahmad

Information
Minister – Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek
Deputy- Datuk Tan Lian Hoe

Tourism
Minister – Datuk Azalina Othman
Deputy – Datuk Sulaiman Abdul Rahman Abu Taib

FT
Minister – Datuk Zulhasnan Rafique
Deputy- M. Saravanan

New Perak MB impresses Chinese crowd

Anil Netto

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17 Mar 2008

17

Looks like the new Pas MB in Perak has an impressive command of languages. This should stand him in good stead.

This report from Sin Chew (click on link to see pictures):

Perak MB-designate wows Chinese crowd

IPOH, MALAYSIA: Perak Menteri Besar-designate Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin of PAS turned up at the ”What’s Coming Next” political forum held in Ipoh Sunday (16 Mar) and immediately stunned the Chinese crowd by speaking in Mandarin, Hokkien, Cantonese, Tamil, then in English and Malay.

The audience was speechless then gave the PAS leader a rousing applause. The forum was organized by Guang Ming Daily, Sin Chew Daily, Eye Asia and Sin Chew-i an dheld at Dewan Dou Mu in Ipoh at 2pm and attracted 3000 people. Speakers included PKR national vice-president Dr Lee Boon Chye, Perak DAP chief Ngeh Koo Ham, Wangsa Maju Member of Parliament Wee Choo Keong and Sin Chew’s Deputy Chief Editor Tay Tian Yan.

Mohammad Nizar, an accomplished enginneer, was not a speaker but was invited to the forum by Ngeh. (Sin Chew Daily)

Meanwhile, over in Selangor, a couple of populist measures from the new MB, as the NST reports:

In his first Press conference as Selangor Mentri Besar today, Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim made two key announcements: the first 20 cubic metres of water is free to all Selangor households from April, and the eve of polling day water treatment plant deal between Puncak Niaga Holdings Bhd and Selangor Government is lopsided to the concessionaire’s advantage.

It should not stop there. All contracts not in the public interest must be reviewed for possible corruption or bad faith dealings.

Talking about bad faith dealings, it appears that the previous Kedah administration has gone paper-less! I don’t think this was what they had in mind when they were talking about e-government…

The Star has this report:

Kedah official papers missing

By SIRA HABIBU

sira@thestar.com.my

ALOR STAR: All documents from the offices of the Mentri Besar and executive councillors in Kedah have gone missing.

The PAS-led government which took office after 12th general election on March 8 will lodge a police report based on the findings of an internal investigation.

Mentri Besar Azizan Abdul Razak has appointed state executive councillor Phahrolrazi Zawawi to investigate the case of the missing documents.

It all sounds very fishy to me – and no doubt to you as well.

Up north in Perlis, Dr Md Isa Sabu was sworn in before the Raja of Perlis this evening as the new Perlis mentri besar. The NST reports there was relief all round as the ceremony proceeded without incident. Shahidan did not show up but 14 other assembly members, including the five aligned to him, attended.

Mainstream media trying to stir discord among opposition parties

Anil Netto

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17 Mar 2008

16

They are at it again, playing the same old game. This time they are trying to fracture the opposition parties’ unity of purpose and the stability of the new state governments they control.

The NST, for instance, carried this report on the frontpage of its website:

Pas’ proposal for Islamic govt irks DAP veteran

17 March, 2008
GEORGE TOWN: The DAP has expressed shock and anger over Pas’ proposal to form an Islamic federal government. DAP life adviser Dr Chen Man Hin said the party would not agree or co-operate with Pas should they insist on forming an Islamic government at the federal level.

“This is not part of our understanding. It will be no-go for the DAP if they do that. We will surely not accept it.

“Their proposal has left a big question mark over our future co-operation,” a visibly upset Dr Chen said while angrily pushing aside a newspaper article on the Pas proposal.

Dr Chen, who was at the day-long DAP national leadership convention, said the party decided to co-operate with Pas because of its intention to convert Malaysia into a welfare state.

“But look at what they are saying now,” he said when asked to comment on Pas vice-president Datuk Husam Musa’s statement that Pas was confident it could soon set up an Islamic form of government at the federal level.

Husam had said there was growing support among the Chinese and Indians for the party’s political struggle.

But The Star Online carried the following report, presumably as correction of an earlier report on Sunday, which began by saying that “PAS is now confident that it can soon set up an Islamic form of government at the federal level, which it claims is gaining more acceptance, especially with non-Muslims, following the good showing of the Opposition coalition in last weekend’s elections.” But then it had to backtrack:

Sunday March 16, 2008
MYT 8:50:23 PM

Husam clarifies ‘take-over’ statement

By IAN McINTYRE

KOTA BARU: PAS vice-president Datuk Husam Musa has clarified that his statement on the party taking over the Government at the federal level was taken out of context.

“I mentioned that we are hopeful of taking 30 more parliamentary seats to win power and not about forming an Islamic Government,” he said.

Husam urged the mass media to be careful in its reporting to avoid antagonising anyone unnecessarily.

We have already seen how Bernama had to apologise to Guan Eng for distorting his remarks on the NEP. Expect more mischief from the mainstream media in coming weeks.

In sharp contrast, Harakah Daily has actually carried a glowing report on the DAP leadership as part of its Berita Utama. The report describes how Guan Eng is reluctant to spend RM100,000 on repairs and renovations to the Penang chief minister’s residence and has instead opted to live in a house belonging to his father. The report even compares Guan Eng’s decision as being in the same vein as the example set by Nik Aziz and Hadi, who both opted for simpler life-styles. Not surprisingly, this has not appeared in the mainstream media.

Isnin 17 Mac 2008 | 9 Rabi’ul Awal 1429 Hijrah
Guan Eng enggan keluar RM100 ribu
Abdul Halim Mohd Rashid
Mon | Mar 17, 08 | 5:59:13 am MYT

KUALA LUMPUR, 17 Mac (Hrkh) – Kerana enggan membelanjakan RM100 ribu, Ketua Menteri Pulau Pinang, Lim Guan Eng lebih rela tinggal di sebuah rumah berusia milik bapanya.

Naib Presiden PAS, Haji Mohamad Sabu menceritakan perkara itu selepas bertemu dengan Setiausaha Agung DAP itu di Pulau Pinang baru-baru ini.

Beliau ke pulau itu baru-baru ini kerana hendak bertemu Lim untuk berbincang beberapa perkara mengenai kepentingan bersama kedua-dua pihak.

“Oleh kerana beliau sibuk, beliau meminta saya menemuinya kira-kira pukul 10.00 malam hari itu.

“Tahu di mana Guan Eng nak jumpa saya? Di restoran McDonald,” kata Mohamad Sabu yang mula mengenali Lim dengan lebih dekat ketika sama-sama di tahan dalam Operasi Lallang 1987 lalu.

Naib Presiden PAS itu juga lebih selesa bertemu di tempat terbuka kerana “tidak ada apa yang hendak dirahsiakan”.

Bagaimanapun, katanya, Ketua Menteri Pulau Pinang itu kemudiannya memberitahu pertemuan itu tidak dapat diadakan di tempat terbuka itu atas nasihat pihak keselamatan.

Memahami perkara tersebut, beliau terus menuju ke rumah di mana Lim tinggal.

“Di rumah, dia biasa sahaja dengan “seluaq katok” (seluar pendek). Bila saya tengok keadaan rumah yang berusia tempat dia tinggal, saya tanya dia, kenapa tak pindah ke rumah rasmi Ketua Menteri?

“Dia (Lim) jawab: ‘Susahlah, kalau nak pindah kena perbaiki. Terpaksa belanja sampai RM100 ribu. Takkan saya nak belanja duit rakyat sampai RM100 ribu untuk kepentingan saya’

“Saya rasa sangat terharu mempunyai kawan seperti itu,” kata Mohamad Sabu.

Walaupun perkara itu bukanlah perkara baru baginya, memandangkan Mursyidul Am, Tuan Guru Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat yang menjadi Menteri Besar Kelantan sejak 1990 memilih kehidupan yang sederhana, begitu juga Presiden PAS Tuan Guru Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang ketika menjadi Menteri Besar Terengganu dahulu, Naib Presiden PAS itu tetap merasa bangga dengan sikap sederhana dan rendah diri Lim itu.

“Saya bangga kerana dia takut nak belanja wang rakyat RM100 ribu sedangkan Perdana Menteri gasak sehingga RM15.81 juta untuk ubahsuai kediaman rasminya Seri Perdana di Putrajaya.

“Saya yakin, Menteri-Menteri Besar kita yang lain (dari PAS dan KeADILan) juag akan memilih jalan kehidupan yang sederhana yang sama seperti dua Tok Guru kita, jauh lagilah menyalahgunakan harta kerajaan,” katanya.

Opposition politicians should therefore be wary of media attempts to create suspicion and disunity.

Malaysiakini surges past The Star Online

Media

Anil Netto

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16 Mar 2008

10

Well, at least according to this Internet traffic ranking comparison chart from Alexa.

Obviously, compared to the last time I checked, The Star has either slipped up or Malaysiakini has caught up, thanks perhaps to its decision to provide its service free in the run-up and immediate aftermath of the general election. There have also been calls to boycott The Star and other mainstream media – although it is difficult to gauge what impact this might have had.

Utusan is not far behind while Malaysia Today is neck and neck with Harakah Daily.

That said, Alexa provides just an indication; it is not a conclusive ranking.

New Perlis MB chosen: It’s the Sultan’s choice

Anil Netto

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16 Mar 2008

3

The NST reports that Shahidan Kassim has failed in his last-ditch attempt today to secure the Perlis Mentri Besar post.

It is learnt that Abdullah had already met the Raja of Perlis Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Putra Jamalullail where they reached a consensus that Datuk Dr Md Isa Sabu, who is the Ruler’s choice, would be maintained as Mentri Besar. Dr Isa is expected to be sworn in as the new Mentri Besar of Perlis tomorrow.

What does this say about the PM’s position?

Let’s see what happens in Terengganu now.

There’s a new opposition newspaper in town

Anil Netto

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15 Mar 2008

17

Soon after it became clear that opposition parties had swept to power in five states, a senior staff member of The Star told me, with a laugh, “Do you know, I am now working for an opposition newspaper – in five states.” Which is true, because The Star is owned by the MCA, now in the Opposition in these states.

Hmm, I wonder if The Star will now be subject to the same restrictions as other opposition papers such as The Rocket and Harakah (actually, these two are now, in a sense, state government newspapers!)… These “opposition” newpapers are only allowed to be published once a fortnight and they can only be sold to party members.

No, I am not advocating that The Star should be subjected to the same restrictions. Just pointing out how ridiculous and discriminatory our media laws are. It’s time to remove the restrictions on The Rocket and Harakah.

Newspapers like The Star will have to get used to this new situation – and already there are signs that they are going to be critical of the new state governments.

The mainstream media clearly performed horribly and dismally during the general election campaign. They actually may have contributed to the BN’s huge electoral setback by painting too rosy a picture of the situation on the ground. This may have lulled the BN politicians into a false sense of security and prevented them from taking remedial action to tackle the deep-seated grievances of the people.

The propaganda onslaught, especially during the last week of the campaign, when the media vilified the opposition parties and targeted Anwar for special bashing – without giving them the right of reply – backfired spectacularly. In fact, I doubt many Malays and other Malaysians who have some sense of fairplay were impressed. The overkill in the vilification could have had the opposite effect of swaying fence-sitters into voting for the Opposition this time.

Now red-faced editors in the various mainstream newspapers seem to be trying to “reinvent” themselves and provide more coverage of the other sides’ views. They realise that many Malaysians simply ignored or boycotted their coverage and turned to alternative sources of information. They now appear to be trying to revamp their journalistic orientation.

Still, we would do well to remind ourselves that their main source of revenue is from corporate advertisers. Thus, even if they now provide more coverage of PKR, DAP and Pas, their overall content is still likely to be dominated by corporate propaganda – not the views of marginalised communities and long-suffering workers struggling to make ends meet. Such propaganda will very likely continue to promote consumerism, materialism and unsustainable corporate-driven development.

Already, there are calls to boycott the mainstream newpapers flying around. These calls are disseminated via emails, text messages and blogs.

This is a piece I wrote for Catholic Asian News magazine before the election.

The Propaganda Machine

There is no level playing field in elections media coverage, writes Anil Netto

FLIP through the newspapers and you will see page after page of propaganda in support of the ruling coalition thinly disguised as “news”. “News” reports of handouts, development grants, opening ceremonies of clinics and promises and pledges. Turn on the television and it’s the same – more election propaganda! Full article

1,000 join pro-NEP protest in Penang

Anil Netto

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14 Mar 2008

69

A friend of mine provides an eye-witness account and pictures of the pro-NEP demonstration around Komtar, Penang, this afternoon. (The Komtar tower houses the offices of the Penang state government offices and the Chief Minister.) The crowd, which included several Umno leaders and reps in the state, were protesting against Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng’s declaration that the new DAP-led state government would discontinue New Economic Policy (NEP) policies.

Here is the eye-witness account:

At about 2.55pm, I was walking through Komtar and out from the third floor at the Maybank entrance. At first, I saw people lining the balcony railing looking down to three FRU trucks being loaded up with personnel. There was a strong police presence (though not intimidating), vehicles and personnel and a curious but not ruffled crowd.

When I asked, I was told the new chief minister was coming. A bit of a heavy welcome, I thought. So I followed the crowd and walked to Jalan Ria where I could both see and hear a large banner-waving crowd.

As I could not hear what they were chanting and could not decipher their banners, I can only describe what I saw and felt. Firstly, there was, at that time, no sense of tension either from the crowd or the marchers. The marchers at the front were young mainly male and evidently Muslim. Further back, the marchers were a mix of ages and sexes as well as ethnicities, though I would say they were probably all Muslim – Indian and Malay.

All seemed to be peaceful when I left the scene. Although there was a helicopter overhead, there didn’t seem to be any tear gas or water cannon truck lurking in the background, just FRU directing the march and guiding the traffic.

One thing though – there was a slight awkwardness in the marchers… and unfamiliarity… as if they were not from Penang, at least not from the island. They looked a little out of their familiar territory – just an observation.

———-

Well, thankfully everything ended peacefully. Indeed, the FRU should be commended for acting with restraint in sharp contrast to the way their counterparts in KL handled the Hindraf protests.

Earlier, theSun quoted Chief Minister Guan Eng as saying:

“We believe in the freedom of speech and assembly as long as it is peaceful. Anybody who wants to protest, we have no qualms about it but please do it based on facts and not based on certain interests or to try and test the state government,” he said.

Speaking in a press conference after a meeting with 21 Muslim non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in his office in Komtar, Lim said the state government is a united front that should not be tested on their commitment to represent all Penangites.

“Don’t test us on our commitment towards establishing integrity and accountability and don’t test us on our commitment to listen to all the voices of Penangites,” he said.

“If they want to come and give their views, we are willing to listen but if they want to demonstrate, that is their right. I hope they won’t provoke sentiments that are not true,” he added.

He was commenting on a plan by certain groups to stage a protest in Komtar against the state government’s stand in not using the New Economic Policy (NEP) but an open tender system instead.

“We will not back down on the open tender system because the NEP is associated with corruption, cronyism and inefficiency,” Lim reiterated.

“We want an open tender system but they raised so much hue and cry. If they want to test us, they can go ahead and test us. We have the full exco support on this and we won’t back down on that,” he said.

Earlier, on his meeting with the 21 Muslim organisations, Lim again reiterated that the state government has no intention of sidelining any group or races.

“We are a state government for all and we listen to the voices of the people and we want to represent everyone in Penang,” he said.

He reassured Muslims that the state government emphasised on integrity and the status of Islam in the state will never be disputed.

“Please do not listen to any rumours about the state government wanting to tone down Azan (the call for prayers) or anything like that. In fact, this is the first time I’ve heard about such things,” he said.

Meanwhile, Malaysiakini quotes Zaid Ibrahim, the former Umno MP for Kota Bharu as saying that Guan Eng should not have been too hasty:

“I find it very shocking to see today that DAP is being very arrogant too. First day in office – Lim Guan Eng (Penang chief minister) made this statement about NEP,” he said.

“This is not the time to stir everyone’s feelings. Our race relations are still fragile and those elected should just stop talking and get on with the job.”…

“A good leader should be able to say the good part of NEP, which is to help the marginalised group, should be continued. The NEP which helps selected individuals to enrich themselves will be stopped. That’s all he should have said, not provocative statements,” said Zaid.

“This is something which Guan Eng should be mindful of. TV3, the newspapers and the radio stations must also stop pitting the Malays against the non-Malays. It is so dangerous.

Interestingly enough, Penang Umno leaders have proposed to the federal government to withdraw funding for all mega-projects in Penang. Guan Eng has described the call as akin to cutting their nose to spite their face – and an act of revenge.

Actually, Umno’s call to end the Penang mega projects such as the Penang Outer Ring Road could be a blessing in disguise. Everyone knows that Penang is already terribly congested. A delay in the mega projects would give civil society groups and the new state government in Penang more time to look into more sustainable alternatives to improve public transport, preserve the environment, reduce traffic and create more green spaces and parks. Guan Eng should explore these alternatives rather than rely on mega projects that earn huge profits for a few privileged corporations.The state government must also implement development projects that truly empower and uplift the lives of marginalised communities – in other words, people-centred, holistic development – rather than put much hope on mega projects.

Here is an article I wrote for Aliran Monthly:

Is the BN’s economic model sustainable?

Is our current model of economic development sustainable in the long-run, wonders Anil Netto. What will happen when our oil wells dry up? What has been the environmental cost? These are issues that our political parties – both the BN and the Opposition – must address. Full article