Penang Boleh...syabas..We are proud of you Tuan Lim Guan Eng!

GEORGE TOWN, Jan 11 — Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng touted today his administration as proof that Pakatan Rakyat’s (PR) 100-day promises would not bankrupt government coffers.

He said that since PR took over Penang in 2008, it had executed various welfare programmes but still achieved record budget surpluses.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had scoffed at PR’s 100-day reform programme, saying it was “too good to be true.”

But Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim defended the plan today, stating that it would only cost RM19 billion that would come from cutting out corruption.

Lim echoed this by claiming that Penang had hit a record RM88 million surplus in 2008 and RM77 million in 2009 through “the dividends of anti-corruption” measures.

At a press conference this morning, he pointed out that the state’s administration had been praised by both Transparency International and the Auditor-General who had also rated Penang as the best managed state.

The DAP secretary-general also said that it was Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Idris Jala who had first pointed out that Malaysia would go bankrupt in 2019 under current economic practices.

Lim also listed a number of programmes under his administration which he said was paid for through the budget surplus:

• RM11.3 million in allocations in 2010 for religious, Chinese and Tamil schools;

• RM100 water rebate per family costing RM17 million in 2008 and 2009;

• Elimination of hardcore poverty by ensuring each household had an income of at least RM500 a month;

• RM100 per year in special payments to senior citizens above the age of 60 costing RM20 million a year;

• Funeral allowance of RM1,000 for Penang residents.

The chief minister claimed that these programmes “were never executed under BN’s 51-year rule but was done in the three years that PR has governed.”

He said that no PR-governed state had gone bankrupt.

PR has promised that if it takes over federal government, it would implement a number of reforms and initiatives within the first 100 days of taking power.

These include an RM500 per month incentive for teachers, maintaining fuel subsidies and eliminating toll for highways.

This is a short sentence. We are proud of you Mr.Lim.

We promised, we will deliver the votes to you, for the good things you've done for Penangite. You've made Penang so much systematic, cleaner and proud among the Malaysian.

Good-bye and rest in pieces to those Kaki Bodeks.

Penang Boleh...I'm proud of Penang and all Penangite that made the changes. Keep the right person in office and good riddance to the Patung-Patung.

Why are Ah Longs still able to function

I read in today's Star Online that "Ah Long transactions in Penang rake in RM15m" (http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/10/2/nation/4830277&sec=nation)

As reported, "The amount was derived after a series of police raids at strategic outlets where RM15mil worth of transactions were traced."

It also mentioned that "About 1,700 debtors are involved and most of them are either factory or low-salaried employees.

“These people probably could not obtain loans from the bank with their low salaries and decided to seek help from loan sharks. We have yet to paralyse their activities; so we will continue with the fight,” he told a press conference."

In that one statement, it shows that:

1. enforcement or police action alone will not stop the Ah Longs
2. people in general mismanage their funds so that they live beyond their means
3. most people who live beyond their means prefer to borrow money rather than work harder to find other means of increasing their income
4. that banks are also a cause for directing business to the Ah Longs by not providing loans to low income earners

So the simple approach to most problems like this where the supply of undesirable products and services has become a social ill is to reduce or eliminate the demand. Simple economics, yes? Therefore, the steps that can be taken are:

1. continued police action
2. proper financial management education so that people will be able to manage their money better, take fewer or lower (or better still none at all) loans for houses and cars and definitely NOT for consumer items
3. provide opportunities for people to earn extra income (this of course is if the persons concerned are not too lazy to do so) and of course legally too
4. that banks provide micro personal loans like those that the Ah Longs provide for amounts like RM 500 and 1000.

Of course, many also argue that banks are also Ah Longs but with a banking license, nicer office clothes and nicer buildings.

More ideas welcomed.

Toppled crane on Penang Bridge causes ugly snarl

A crane used for the Penang Bridge widening project toppled over near the mid-span of the bridge this morning causing a massive traffic jam which infuriated thousands of motorists. The traffic chaos along the Jelutong Expressway on the island and Bayan Lepas coastal Road, which started from the morning rush hour, only cleared about noon.

A Penang Bridge spokesman said the 30-tonne hydraulic crane, which was being used on the third lane of the bridge, toppled over at KM3.6 of the mainland bound lane about 3.15am.

The accident is said to have happened after a cable connected to the crane became entangled with a bridge pile structure as it was being used to lift a demolished parapet.

Northeast district police chief Assistant Commissioner Azam Abdul Hamid said traffic police tried to disperse traffic on the bridge by diverting mainland bound motorists to the opposite lane. The contra flow was activated at 9.35am to ease congestion.

The partial closure of the bridge caused a traffic jam over a radius of 10 kilometres causing motorists to jam up the ferry terminals to cross the channel.
Road users were caught in a bumper-to-bumper situation on various parts of the island, and also on the mainland, particularly along Jalan Chain Ferry and Jalan Bagan Luar.

Nur Astikah Ismail, a civil servant was late for work from Butterworth to Komtar due to the massive traffic gridlock. "I was stuck in the jam at the ferry terminal from 7am and only reached office at 11am," she said.

The mainland bound traffic on the bridge was later closed temporarily to facilitate the removal of the crane.

Traffic flow returned to normal after the crane was removed around noon.

In a statement, Penang Bridge Sdn Bhd (PBSB) said main contractor UEM Construction Sdn Bhd (UEMC) had required two units of cranes to lift the toppled crane, but one of the cranes broke down before it reached the scene, resulting in the delay while they waited for the backup crane to arrive.

It also said all necessary action was taken to manage the traffic congestion, including continuous traffic updates via the main radio stations, while Variable Message Signs (VMS) and the Online Traffic Information Management (OTIM) alert were posted to users to notify them of the traffic updates.

Meanwhile, the state government expressed its outrage over the inefficiency of the Malaysian Highway Authority (LLM), PBSB and UEMC to clear the toppled crane in the shortest possible time.

State Public Works, Utilities and Transportation Committee chairman Lim Hock Seng said many factory employees and businessmen were caught in the massive jam. He was also one of those affected.

"We are very dissatisfied and angry over the attitude of those concerned who did not do the necessary clean-up work in the shortest possible time.

"They had about three-and-a-half hours before the peak hour started, and yet they could not clear the mess in time," Lim said, adding that they took eight hours to clear it.

"There could have been a lack of coordination among the three, resulting in the delay. What the state government can do now is basically state our stand to the Works Ministry, and ask them to take the necessary steps to prevent this from happening again," he said.

To a suggestion that more ferries be added to the current six in full operation, Lim said this was not possible as, in order to get the seventh ferry up and running, about 100 crew members would have to be recruited.

"These range from captains to the traffic controllers right down to the engine runner. The ferry operators cannot do this as they are running up tens of millions of ringgit in losses every year," he said.

Penang engages 10 lawyers to defend suit over road signs

The Penang government and Penang Island Municipal Council (MPPP) have engaged 10 lawyers to defend the suit brought by Pahang accountant Nik Rizman Sapian over multilingual road signs.

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said the counsel would be spearheaded by Karpal Singh. The rest are Yeoh Yang Poh, Azahar Harun, Malek Imtiaz, Harris Ibrahim, Mureli Navaratnam, Cecil Rajendra, Barnard Kok Yin Fook, Jagdeep Singh Deo and Gobind Singh.

“The team of lawyers was formed to defend the right of the state government on why it was wrong to put up the multilingual signboards in heritage sites in Georgetown,” he told reporters after a gathering made up of state executive councillors and civil servants at The Dome in Komtar here today.

“The team of lawyers will handle the case for the state government and MPPP for free and the case will be mentioned tomorrow at Georgetown High Court,” he said.

On Nov 4 last year, Nik Rizman filed an injunction at the High Court here to stop the state government and MPPP from putting up multilingual road signs. He claimed the move to put up multilingual road signs would jeopardise the position of Bahasa Malaysia as the country’s national language.

Stick to Bahasa, Penang told

This is purely a very lame excuse given by a person so called a “minister” and it sounds like he is doing it for the sake of his political mileage. Guan Eng shall proceed with his idea as he is the head of the state and the minister shall stop giving stupid remarks such as this one “Road signs in various lan­guages have no benefit, so stick to Bahasa Malaysia only, said the Unity, Culture, Arts and Heritage Ministry” .