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Sunday, 08 March 2009 06:09 |
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TODAY, March 8, the anniversary of the elections that changed the Malaysian political landscape forever, is marked generally with a feeling of helplessness over the political deadlock. There has been no let-up on both sides to the wrangling for power; a process that has turned more and more into a no-holds-barred, zero-sum game. We provide here a cross-section of insights from various sources. Read here for a piece in theSun. Read here and here from The Malaysian Insider and here from Malaysiakini. [Update] Read here for article by The Star, here from New Straits Times, here for opinion piece by The Straits Times and here for related articles.
In Penang, at a media conference to mark the anniversary, CM Lim Guan Eng vowed to better his government’s performance (read here). Except for a ceramah at the Esplanade (read blog report here and here), there was no substantive event to mark the passing of this day in the state.
Something out of the norm happened today though. The Star front-paged a story “Time for truce” on Penang-born Anas Zubedy’s appeal via a full-page letter in the newspaper on Feb 26. Anas had said: “We Malaysians need the economy to be strong. We need you, our leaders, to work hard and to work together to make our economy viable.” Read here and here. It prompted a lot of response from Malaysians. Read here and here, for a few samples.
A few other notable events, more by coincidence than design, occurred during the build-up to this anniversary: - NGOs hands Penang CM a memorandum: A coalition of NGOs called the Penang Forum handed the Chief Minister a 67-page memorandum pertaining to 11 issues (read here and here and click through to view some of them at the Penang Forum website): (1) culture, arts and heritage (2) disabled people's rights, (3) environmental issues (3) goodwill (4) labour issues (5) local government and people’s participation (6) poverty and security (7) labour issues (8) traffic and urban issues (9) women’s issues (10) youth and students.
- Penang asking for a bigger stimulus package: CM Lim Guan Eng feels Penang deserves a chunk of the federal government stimulus package proportionate to its contribution to exports. Read here.
- Penangites launch book March 8 eclipsing May 13: Three Penangites, Ooi Kee Beng, Johan Saravanamuttu and Lee Hock Guan, launched a book that analyses the impact of the March 8 elections. Read here.
District officers dropped from local councils: The state government, in an unprecedented move, decided to drop several district officers from sitting in its two local councils (read here and here) and explained that the new councilors “better represented the folk” (read here). This move was also in line with a new format change in local council meetings, which was in order to create a more "transparent government". Read here. Government forms economic council: The state government has formed a council to help steer the state economy through the current economic crisis. Read here. - Promotion of Penang as a halal hub to intensify: The halal industry is to be promoted further in Penang. The announcement was made by CM Lim Guan Eng at a meeting attended also by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. Read here, here and here.
Meanwhile, the following debates around some other issues continued: HERITAGE, CULTURE & TOURISM- June decision on heritage status: June has been set for a time when UNESCO decides on George Town’s heritage status in view of the four hotels that supposedly breached guidelines. Read here. The state government says it is all four or nothing. Read here.
- Danny Law defends himself: State Tourism Development, Culture, Arts and Heritage Committee chairman Danny Law has defended himself saying his English is good enough (read here). This follows an email alleging that he was not competent. Read here.
OTHER NEWS
- Bridging an issue: The Second Bridge has become a subject of debate, with a BN MP asking for it to be scrapped. Read here and here. Its cost is to remain the same at RM4.3 billion despite the fall in oil prices. Read here.
- Poverty remains a thorny problem: The problem of eradicating hardcore poverty in Penang remains in the news with the state government producing evidence that some MCA people interfered in the programme. Read here and here.
- Two more conditions for developers: Developers applying for project approval must now meet the conditions of (1) "sustainable development" and (2) "social harmony". Read here.
- How the Batu Ferringhi announcement started: The announcement to demolish structures owned by some 80 operators in Batu Ferringhi apparently started with a complaint by Tourism Minister Azalina Othman. Read here.
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