First of all,  always welcome comments. Take it positively.

I think Lee Mentor is mentioning about Georgetown ... it is 20years without much changes… and I think it holds the biggest potential in Penang. 
Penang - a Marine gateway to the Far East for the western people since 15th century.

All the while,  Penang Leaders are focus on FTZ , Bayan Lepas .. expanding satelite cities .. But we leave the most valuable asset unattend - our richful heritage Georgetown.  We need an economy atom boom drop in the middle of georgetown to wakeup the sleeping Penang. To transform Penang into a real entertainment City of the South Asia. Bring in 5 star hotel likes Hilton , Sheraton or Apcot groups. Free Port again ... bla bla bla . Remark : Just imagine BMW , Merc are Taxi to transport visitors from Airport .. freeport car should be cheap !!

To restore its old glory, Penang need to venture in Service industries but not in Production anymore ...

It is a shame that our Chief Minister reacted so unreasonably negative on a passing comment (from what I read in the news paeper but not sure whether it was actually commented by Lee Kuan Yew) made by Lee Kuan Yew about Penang. While on top of Komtar , he looks down and saw the old , small road system of Goergetown and what would you expect him to say ?

Goergetown is a mature town and it is practically impossible to widen the roads as houses are built on both sides of the roads. So it is not right to compare with new areas in Ipoh & Seremban. By painting a negative picture of Penang , the Chief Minister has done a great diservice to the Penangites.

We expect our State Leaders to publicise the many virtues and excellent advantages of Penang , not the other round !

robert chai,

for your info, there is no comparison between DAP youth and gerakan youth. Gerakan youth is just useless under lim keng yaik’s son. It is a known fact that the media just don’t want to put up lky’s son news in the media because it is garbage news.
So, how do you expect gerakan youth to be media savvy if compared to DAP youth?

dear Penangites of 29 Jun 2009, 5:57 PM

You dun have to look too far to locate Ah 2 Ah 9 in Gerakan.

1. elected VP Huan Cheng Guan and his goons,
2. notably the national youth deputy president Oh Toh Keong ...

So in a sense ... the current penang state administration is still cleaning the shit that Gerakan lead administration left behind and just like an oil spill, it take time to clean up.

So the buck stops here.

Xiao Ah Mao, 30 Jun 2009, 9:36 PM

have you read this before you come here to meow like a mad cat ?

http://blog.limkitsiang.com/2009/06/30/penang-high-chaparral-issue-statement-by-penang-cm/#more-4892

go ask your party president how and why he sold the land at RM10 psf to Koperasi Pegawai Kerajaan Pulau Pinang during 2005 ?

and why then as a CM of Penang, did he fail to inform Kampung Buah Pala residents ?

the current state administration is unfortunately has their hand tied and yet have to clean up the mess left by Gerakan and UMNO.

LangchiaPek, 30 Jun 2009,

My definition of a “GENTLEMAN” is a person, no matter under what circumstances, will NOT let his emotions to speak and act.

The phrase “meow like a mad cat”, according to my standard of evaluation, can deserve only “0” mark.

The current DAP-led Penang Government has already been almost one and a half years old.  It’s high time, whenever facing any problem, should have the ability;capability and high mentality plus the highly publicized CAT Policy (NOT MAD-CAT definitely) to settle and overcome it, without having a finger pointing at the previous state government or demand any explanation or apology from Ex-CM Tan Sri Dr. Koh anymore.

Rakyat voted DAP-led Government in last G.E., because they have confidence; high hope and expectations for them to run the government effectively and serve the Rakyat better than the past state government, not otherwise.

If current CM of Penang senses something is fishy or misappropriation as regards the transaction of the land between Koop. Pegawai Kerajaa P.Pinang and Ex-state government, he should lodge reports to police and MACC for further actions and investigations.

If the above mentioned controversy is NOT resolved fairly &  to the benefit of Kg. Buah Pala residents after the grace period of one month, what do you think ? The residents will chase after the current CM or Ex-CM of Penang ?

If the current state government is so efficient as it always claims, it should have swept all the “rubbish” left behind by Ex-government long ago, NOT dragging on till now !

Xiao Ah Mao 1 Jul 2009, 12:06 PM

The Kampung Buah Pala incident would not have been happen if not for Koh Tsu Koon lead administration.

With a strike of a pen, the then Gerakan/Barisan Nasional lead administration sold Kampung Buah Pala to an UMNO linked company at RM10 per square foot.

It is kinda fishy to me why the whole incident is kept such low profile and that the Kampung Buah Pala residents live happily back from 2005 till now all hell break loose ?

In your response you clearly stated :

If the above mentioned controversy is NOT resolved fairly &  to the benefit of Kg. Buah Pala residents after the grace period of one month, what do you think ? The residents will chase after the current CM or Ex-CM of Penang ?

I would suggest the Kampung Buah Pala residents to go and camp outside of 16 Jalan Marie Pitchay in Tanjung Bungah.

It was the owner of that residence who sold Kampung Buah Pala away

Kampung Buah Pala glaringly shows two facts:
1)Pakatan Rakyat made promises in the last general election which it can not or will not deliver now. They run the State Government and with all the power that they have in their control, they somehoow fail to honour their promises.
2)Their habit of putting blame on previous Government, for whatever things that they can’t do, seems laughable. If they continue to run Penang in such manner, I am very pessimistic about the future of our beloved home land. YAB Lim Guan Eng needs to do more than just blaming others in order to prevent Penang from slipping into recession…

Refering to the Kg Buah Pala issue.

Villagers has so far requested twice to meet CM YAB Tn. Lim G.E. in person, but both occasions, he sent only “agents” to meet them.

Why so difficult to meet a highly publicized people-orientated minister ? As if his status is on par with a king ? This angered the villagers tremendously.

Anyway, it is one of the incidents obviously DEFIANT what he has been strongly emphasizing all the while, that the current government is from the Rakyat, for the rakyat (Rakyat first). 

Penang people had already given him the MANDATE.  It’s his honourable duty and responsibility to run the state government effectively and handle any problem crop up as well as to sweep or to clean any “rubbish” or “shit” as so claimed, left behind by past state government on time, NOT dragging on like playing Tai Chi, without pointing a finger at the past state government or demand anything from Ex-CM of Penang endlessly, just for publicity and to evict his own responsibility.

If NOT so, it will only be revealing his own weaknesses, inefficiency, incapability as a CM of Penang.

pak pala,

good question, since this shit is start and generate by them(gerakan & UMNO) few years back, now we wait for their response to your question. (eating their own shit now)

I’m fully agreed with and appreciated New Ideas’s response to Pak Pala’s question.

Just not long after 308 last year, one famous Current-Affair Commentator had pointed out that, among all the 5 PR ruled states( Perak under PR at that time),Penang is the luckiest, because past state governments of the past few decades, had done quite a lot for the developments of Penang. Its “Fundamental Laid Outs” for all aspects of developments and progress had already been well-paved / laid / built .

It should be very light for the present Government, who took over, to maintain; further improve; with a capable captain, carry on sailing forward.  Of curse, if any obstacles on the way, should be able to handle and resolve without blaming anybody.

16 months had already gone, the DAP-led government still complaining smelly SHIT left behind ? If there is, as claimed, it’s their duty & responsibility to do the cleaning job, not pushing back to , or blaming the past government anymore.  If not so, it will only show that DAP-led government has not carried out its duties & responsibilities as required by its BOSS - Rakyat. 

Rakyat employed you, pay you quite a substantial sum of monthly salaries to do the jobs properly.

如果国阵在308后成功继续执政，豆蔻村居民在去年即被逼迁。这是村民所必须接受的事实，州政府已做出许多努力.

no matter the things we argue here, who right who wrong, who win who lose, for sure, the loser is always the rakyat(kampuang buah pala resident) and suffer by them…

i see enough the politician true face & true color from previous administration till current. Those politician and their party just want to win only and no party will admit their fault or mistake, bcos, in order to survive in politic is to denial everything…

http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/107943

槟国阵低调回应豆蔻村烫手山芋
丁福南否认理亏不敢收拾烂摊子

涉及数十户村民居住权的豆蔻村课题闹得沸沸扬扬，正当村民与兴权会高调围剿槟州民联政府之际，前朝国阵政府在此延烧多时的风波上却显得异常低调。

槟州国阵至今最多只是促请槟首长林冠英停止怪罪前朝政府，并没有加入战围，或提出收拾“烂摊子”的具体方案。

虽然豆蔻村民把林冠英多番强调国阵才是逼迁祸首的言论，解读为推卸责任，但是沦为在野党的国阵槟州领袖却同样没有造访豆蔻村。理亏??

Interesting indeed.

Teng Hock Nan knows the inside out of the Kampung Buah Pala events in details, indirectly just admitted that it was Barisan Nasional that sold Kampung Buah Pala away ...

and then come the 2 mole clown, what is he now that he is no longer Gerakan VP ?

州政府公开国阵领导时期所有与豆蔻村事件相关的演进表文件，已经毫无疑问地证实，丹斯里许子根博士与他的巫统、马华、印度国大党及民政党，是在未咨询居民的情况下，夺走豆蔻村地皮的同谋。

“有关的演进表，已经毫无疑问地证实了许子根与他的巫统、马华、印度国大党及民政党，是在未咨询居民的情况，夺走豆蔻村地皮的同谋。豆蔻村的地皮，经二度被许子根所领导的槟州行政议会批准，以转给槟州公务员合作社，即以642万令吉或每平方公尺20令吉的价钱（过后以50%折扣价的每平方公尺10令吉或321万出售）。批准的日期分别是2004年8月18日及2005年6月8日。截至目前为止，许子根依然没有解释为何他在没有咨询居民的情况下，以超低价将豆蔻村出售给公务员合作社的事。 ”

州政府将再次尝试安排与豆蔻村居民在不受其他不相关人士干扰的情况下会面，以免受到一些不负责任、企图攻击州政府、借此转移他们夺走豆蔻村地皮事实的人士所操纵。

If Kg. Buah Pala issue is not handled with care by current state government, it may lead to unpredictable & disastrous consequences.

After reading news reports at the moment, I’m so aghast & sad, CM of Penang is still resorting to blame-game instead of working out good & acceptable solutions to the above problem.

Affected residents’recent protest against the DAP-led government for NOT materializing their electrol-promises to save their village, during the last G.E., is understandable & applaudable, because residents really have concrete proof(of what they had promised) recorded in Video.

According to one local news report as saying, “If the outcome of the matter is NOT positive, the DVD will be distributed nationwide and the video will be on YouTube as well”.

I still can remember vividly from what I had read in news reports that Tan Sri Dr. Koh, who stood for Batu Kawan parliamentary seat contest against Dr. Ramasamy, the voters were told by the then opposition NOT to vote for Dr. Koh, because if he lost, he could still be appointed as a senator, then minister.

In response to to reporter’s question, Dr. Koh stated that he prefered to go in via the MAIN DOOR rather than the BACK DOOR . (Not totally implying that he would not accept appointment).

Now, when he has been appointed as a minister by PM Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, people just want to defame, humiliate & ridicule him, distorting what he had exactly said ,  by blaming that he doesn’t stick to his own words!(or promise).

Dear Penang Lang and all,

I was at the dinner with LGE in Singapore. It was organized by the Singapore Chapter of Old Frees Association and well attended by the likes of old boys from SXI and Chung Ling. I gladly report that no fist fights broke out.

As for MM’s comment on Penang, how can you defend the fact that the infrastructure in Penang no longer supports itself? What has Dr Koh done during his term in office other than to change the roads to a single way traffic system. The crap design has caused much heartache as if one or two accidents block off the main roads, you will be faced with a horrific traffic jam. Since you claim to be a Penang Lang, won’t you agree with me?

It is claimed that the land assessment for the UMNO building in Penang was not collected by the state government for over 10 years during the reign of Gerakan. Why was this not done? For fear of your masters?

Penang used to have beautiful beaches when we were kids or at least 25 years ago. We used to dig for “lala” near CSC and it was plentiful. You could choose to swim from the beaches from Teluk Bahang to Tanjung Tokong and the beach would be free of mud and slime. Which CM approved the reclamation of Tanjung Bungah which subsequently destroyed our beaches because of the poor planning and technique used? Gurney Drive used to have a beach but it has since been destroyed by erosion after the reclamation.

The just completed Tanjung Tokong reclamation was also undertaken despite protest from the locals during 2006 and Dr Koh was privy to the meetings then too. However, the project went ahead..

I would debate negatively on the fact that FTZ is still thriving. If you have recently spoken to any one who works in that area (best person to speak to are the freight forwarders), you would know that a number of electronic companies have been moving out to more labour competitive countries. What has the previous government done to bring in other industries to create jobs? Penangites are highly skilled, we are not cheap labour. If the previous government had any forward thinking model, it would have tried to evolve from a labour intensive model to one that focuses on specialized trades or service intensive models. Brains, not brawns.

However, it is heartening to hear during the dinner that Honeywell Aerospace signed a contract to invest in a new plant in Penang. The Regional Manager from Honeywell that worked with the current government was there at the dinner and she is a Penangite as well, residing in Singapore.

Yes, Penang does have Medical Tourism and it is well known especially in Indonesia that Penang offers a cheaper alternative to Singapore for treatment or health checks. This we should continue. A job well done here.

Cost of living in Penang is no longer low, coffee is RM1.20 per cup at my market kopitiam. If you go to the coffeshop opposite OFA, the one facing the sea, it is RM1.50. Where got cheap?? The cost is nearly the same as KL. If I were to consider it dollar for dollar, the cost of living in Singapore is lower. S$0.80 per cup of coffee at my local kopitiam. The cost of basic necessities (sugar, rice, flour etc)is nearly the same all over the country (in Malaysia), so I cannot believe that cost of living is 30% lower in Penang. The cost of housing alone in Penang is on par as that of KL.

Gerakan has had 8 terms running Penang, and apart from the good years during Datuk Lim Chong Eu, we have seen Penang slumping to its current state.

It is sad to even see that Penang Free School is no longer the grand old dame it used to be and the pride of Penang. It is still the oldest school in South East Asia, and used to be on par with Raffles Institution or even better. Look at its poor state now, the previous government did not ensure proper governance of the state MOE, the HMs sent to the school had a “couldn’t care less” attitude. We had less than 30 Chinese boys enrolling into the school in one of the years, PFS has spiralled into a near free fall of decadence.

Gerakan has had its chance to run the state and unfortunately, it did not choose its leaders wisely. A mere word from UMNO and you cowered with fear. It is time for you to ride out into the sunset and be gone.

If the party chooses to fight on, it would be wise to start winning back the hearts and minds of the local Penangites. Many have voted against you and I doubt Penang will fall (to Gerakan or MCA) in the next election. If the party members are sincere, meaning you are not in it for the money, be prepared to work for the long haul.

new ideas,

Dont judge so early or so fast jump to conclusion. Gerakan hv ruled penang more than 30 years and PR/DAP just rule not even 2 years.

Is just like u start work a new job in new company and your boss expect u to deliver the same as your senior that hv been work for 30 years, how would u feel, is that fair to u??

Want to protect your own party, pls find a fair way and dont make yrself like idiot.

Lets all wait for the probation to lapse and rakyat all including u n me will evaluate and make judgement on the coming election.

I also very agree with desmond comments and u cant ignore the truth and the fact above.