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ON April 3, the country ushered in its sixth Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, and with this transition, the idea of “One Malaysia, people first, performance now”. Read here. The new administration also promised to be an open government. Read here.
The reactions among Malaysians to these pronouncements, against the backdrop of a highly-charged political episode, has ranged from cautious optimism to scepticism. If there is a slogan that can unite the views of most Malaysians, it would be “and now let’s walk the talk”. In other words, translate all these into action. Read, for example, here and here.
Meanwhile, the opposition too had their say. Tunku Aziz, calling for a principled government, is giving the new PM 365 days. Read here. Karpal Singh wants all ISA prisoners freed. Read here. Lim Guan Eng hopes the new administration will inculcate positive values. Read here.
On the Penang front, CM Guan Eng has extended an invitation the new PM to visit the state to discuss developmental issues as the state contributes 30 per cent to the national income and cannot be neglected. Read here.
It was also reported that outgoing PM Abdullah Badawi had contributed substantially to the development of Penang and his hometown Kepala Batas, and Penangites hope he will continue to do so. Read here and here.
George Town World Heritage Status: From the Penang Heritage Trust point of view, three arguments are emerging: (1) The previous government with the Penang Municipal Council was aware of the UNESCO dossier (2) Losing the UNESCO status would probably affect all businesses in George Town including property values (3) the state should consider other options, even compensating the developers for the longer term good of Penang. Read here. For more on HERITAGE, read here. Other matters that stood out during the week in Penang were: - State government still looking into local elections: The state government will seek legal opinion on this and table a resolution in the State Assembly following findings by a working group. Read here.
- Call to revisit PDC’s assets: A call has been made to revisit some of the strategic development plans of Penang to extract their value instead of reinventing the wheel. Read here.
- CM gets special adviser: Julian Candiah, who has worked in London, Hong Kong and Singapore for institutions such as Credit Suisse Financial Products, Bear Stearns, JP Morgan, Merrill Lynch and BNP Paribas, has been appointed special adviser to the Chief Minister and deputy general manager I of the Penang Development Corporation (PDC). Read here.
- Penang World Music Festival scrapped: A federal government-funded project, this festival, which has been held for two years running at the Botanical Gardens, has been scrapped for lack of funds. Read here.
- Two weeks for quarry probe: The state government said it would take two weeks to investigate alleged misdeeds at quarries which have been asked to stop work. Read here. Gerakan has asked that the results be made public. Read here.
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