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Sunday, 12 April 2009 10:39 |
WITH the installation of a new federal cabinet (view here) and the triple by-elections over (read here), many quarters are zooming in to the specifics of what they want to see from the new executive branch of government.
A New Straits Times editorial, for example, asks many of the tough questions the Malaysian public wants to know about the new cabinet: “Are they clean? Do they know their stuff? Are they in touch with the times? And are they determined to impress an increasingly cynical and disillusioned electorate that they have what it takes to run this country to a better future and not into the ground? Time will tell -- and there's not a lot of it left for this latest Barisan Nasional government to prove that it need not be last.” Read here.
In Penang, CM Lim Guan Eng congratulated former CM Tan Sri Koh Tsu Koon on his appointment as a minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (read here) and gave a few pointers to PM Datuk Seri Najib Razak on how to make "1 Malaysia, People First and Performance Now" work. Read here. Among the other views are the following:
- PHT president Choong Sim Poey hopes that “whichever ministry takes over the heritage portfolio now will play a more active role for heritage”. Read here.
- Penang Consumer Protection Association president K. Koris Atan hopes that the new Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister (Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob) will emphasise more on protecting local consumers during the economy meltdown. Read here.
- Association of Tourism Attractions Penang (ATAP) president Eddy Low says “with the Tourism Ministry under Datuk Dr Ng Yen Yen, we hope there will be bigger allocation given to tourism sector in Penang, as about 40% of the country’s tourism products and services come from Penang.” Read here.
- Aliran president P Ramakrishnan states that “it is left to be seen whether this new grouping will deliver on the Prime Minister’s promises”. Read here.
Other issues of note over the week are as follows: - New Appeals Board: The state government has appointed 10 new members, under Penang High Court judge Datuk Abd Rahim Uda, to the Penang Appeals Board, "an independant body formed to hear appeals from the public who are dissatisfied with any decisions made by the local councils with regards to planning permission or the conditions of the planning permission.” Read here and here.
- New deputy chief minister (DCM) to be named in a week: CM Lim Guan Eng is to name his new deputy in a week. Read here.
- The tiger park and MPPP: theSun columnist Goh Ban Lee has asked what the Penang Island Municipal Council has to say about the tiger park (read here) and the MPPP has reacted by saying it is only a proposal. Read here.
- Infrastructure deadlines: The Penang airport expansion is expected to be ready by end-2010 (read here) and Swettenham Pier by September this year. Read here.
- Query over hard-core poor allocation: Questions have been raised over the allocation of RM1.1 million for 22 hard-core poor families. Read here and here.
- Retrenchment rate “stable”: It has been reported by the state labour department that the retrenchment rate has been stable over the past few weeks. Read here.
- Former CM Koh Tsu Koon feels “humbled and honoured” by appointment. Read here.
- MACC sent probe papers on former DCM I Fairus to prosecutors: Read more about the Fairus case here.
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