Malay Translation of The Road to Serfdom is Available - Jalan Perhambaan

F.A. Hayek's  The Road to Serfdom had been translated by Fahda Nur Ahmad Kamar into the Malay language. A copy is available at the link below.

Although 70-years old, this book is as relevant today as it was just after WWII, or 35 years ago when it backed up Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher against naive socialists who did not realize their good intentions paved the way for horrors.

Today, this book may become a tool against Islamic authoritarians.

This Malay translation is based on the Reader's Digest version.

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Perterjemahan buku Friederich A. Hayek Jalan Perhambaan boleh didapati dari sini: http://readish.com/course/959

Versi ini telah diterjemahkan oleh Fahda Nur Ahmad Kamar.

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More Web lists on Austrian economics are available here: http://readish.com/courses/tag:austrian_economic
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The Problems with Obama - Part 2

Part 1 of this article discussed two problems with the Obama presidency: The vague slogan of change and world pundits' rejection of Republican policies based on hatred of George W Bush. This part continues with three more problems and starts by asking: What's wrong with love? Ideological war of love vs trade Medical care and welfare are the other favourites of the Democratic Party. Were it so easy to give, the Republicans and politicians the world over seeking the same votes would have promised the same, at least for their own self interest. Why not? The differences between the Republican and Democratic Party's tax, medical care and welfare policies respectively simply boil down to this: Republicans demand 'tough love' and Democrats promise 'easy love'. One views welfare as a privilege; the other as a right. This is an ideological battle as old as civilization itself, not just in America. There are only three ways to get what we want outside of Robinson Crusoe's island. They are violence, love, or trade. Most of us can rule out violence as a preference, even though we cannot seem to avoid it when love and trade fail. The second option is Love. The giving of love necessitates the loss of the essence of liberty, fairness, individual responsibility, and even productivity. And only family, charity and religions should practise love on the helpless. The government should not deliver love - not because it does not have the power but precisely because it has too much power to do so. Asking the government to distribute loving care will only require new laws that will make the government more powerful, centralised and overbearing. Government intervention necessitates the implicit threat of violence – to collect tax to finance love. It is amazing how many smart minds adore Henry Thoreau's passive resistance to taxation on Walden Pond, yet find all kinds of pretenses to raise taxes to be 'progressive'. The third option to get what we want is by trade. Trade is the only fair and responsible means to get what we want - without resorting to private or government coercion and without having to beg others to sacrifice themselves. Today's younger and non-business-owning voters might have preferred 'government love' - hence many Democratic Party policies – because being used to familial and collegial environment, they misjudge the risk of inviting government violence. It's also not surprising that authoritarian governments reject free trade because trade transfers decision power to the people, away from the government. It is no coincidence that terrorists repeatedly bombed the towers named World Trade Centre, until they succeeded. The different levels of trust for 'government love' is also one reason why the Republicans and Democratics tend to react differently to foreign military interventions, making Republicans look 'hawkish' and Democratics permissive. As for the world's intellectuals and journalists, almost all of us were born into leftist, activist, or loving families. We can go through half a lifetime before running into Ayn Rand's pristine logic that defends money and trade in 'The Money Speech' in her novel 'Atlas Shrugged'. It is a real shame Rand is not made required reading in high schools all over the world. Campaign debt to the left The fourth problem with Obama is the campaign debt he owes to the left and labour unions who contributed money and grassroot election efforts. Lobbyists and labour unions can be as oppressive and corrupted as the big businesses when they gain political clout. For example, the main thing the labour unions want is to get rid of secret ballot in union election. That will hand union bosses potentially oppressive organisational power. One of the labour union's prime targets, Wal Mart, grew to be so big because it provides consumers with the largest volume of products at prices consistently favoured by and favouring the consumers. The low prices ensure that consumers - including union workers themselves - can maximise the enjoyment of their income or the fruits of their own labour. Minimum wage is another union favourite. The times when minimum wages were high were also the times when more inner-city unskilled teens could not find jobs. Why hire young punks when you have to pay a high 'minimum' wage not matching their skills? Remember wages make up a huge percentage of the cost for service businesses which tend to be prime employers of low skilled workers. Unions, when made too powerful by the law, can hold a society at ransom with strikes. It will discriminate against legal immigrants that help to regenerate a society and this tends to lead to racism. Excessively powerful labour unions ignore the economic principle that the employer absorbs a whole range of risks of pre-paying for business idea, capital, material and salary. The American economic resilience is substantially based on its labour flexibility. While the world outside counts its recessions in years (and Japan seemingly in decades), the US usually counts its recession in quarters. Any loss of labour flexibility in the US will crank down the speed of adjustment in the US - which is everyone's export destiny. This should send a shiver around the world - as it has if you have noticed today's endless market crashes. Loss of checks and balances The fifth problem about Obama is a substantial loss of checks and balances in the four pillars of power in the US political system - the administration, legislature, possibly the judiciary and the media. Furthermore, over the next four years, Obama will likely have opportunities to replace retiring supreme court judges. He will be in a position to tilt the US Supreme Court towards the left. Fair-minded as he may want to be, Obama will be greatly pressured by a powerful Democrat-led legislature and his election debt to labour unions and left-leaning lobbies. When and if that happens, all three branches of the government of the world's only remaining super power will fall under the influence of the Democratic Party policy of government love, intervention and protectionism. How about the Fourth Estate - the Press? Unabashedly left-leaning and generally pro-Democratic. Why is it different this time? When the Republicans were in power, there was always the Press acting as the opposing thumb. When Bill Clinton was president, there was the Republican Congress to check on him and the gridlock ensured budget balance and medical care restraint. When Democrats took the Lower House in 2006 and gradually the Upper House in 2007, there were enough Republican filibusters. But post-November 2008, these restraints are essentially gone. However, between the next four to eight years we can expect political abuses and scandals, which can come in the form of pushing through badly-thought-out, self-dealing and bloated legislation and spending on tax, energy, medical care, union regulation and mortgage financing, not excluding corrupted and over-zealous aides as the other possibilities. In developing countries, for example, emboldened family members are the mainstay of political scandals. Over-popularity tends to lead to too much power and corruption which eventually drown previously-inspiring icons of democracy, such as in Taiwan (Chen Shui Bian and family), South Africa (Mandela and Winnie) and South Korea (Kim Dae Jung's son). Market is forward looking This is not a criticism of Obama the man. In fact I am excited and proud about the Obama presidency because he spent two years at my alma mater. And to be fair, it will not all be Obama's doing. The problems include the Democratic Party policies, the loss of checks and balances, the hatred for Bush that has poisoned rationality and our intellectuals' despise for money and trade. Republicans have messed it up too, failing to hold fast to their libertarian tradition and getting themselves mired in sexual and corruption scandals when they had too much power. That contributed to their down fall by the 2006 mid-term election. McCain's campaign was unconvincing. Although it is difficult to decipher the markets, the trick is to remember that markets are forward-looking. Equity values (in stocks, properties, and business ventures which are really job creators) are highly leveraged on very long time horizons and therefore their prices are subject to wild swings triggered by minor departures in today's key political-economic decisions, such as whether or not the best ideas will continue to have the freedom to compete in the domestic and international markets. The series of market crashes in the past year likely reflect an increasing realisation that Obama's policies are coming for real. Every election campaign round, speech, poll and debate increased the certainty and panic that culminated with the November 2008 election results and continues with the cabinet selection and policy preparation. The failing World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations and the dimming prospect of Russia being drawn into WTO only anchor a horribly pessimistic world scenario. If we value our assets and jobs, our best hope is for WTO to be revived by a miracle and more checks and balances to be installed in the US mid-term election within two years. Save our consumers But there are a couple of things the world outside the US can do, specifically world opinion makers, intellectuals and the media can do a better job. First, push Brazil and India to revive WTO negotiations and watch the market shoot up overnight. Second, push our governments to liberate our own consumers by liberating imports, domestic services and cross-border investments. The moment we liberate domestic services such as banks, communication, transport, education, media and medicine is also the moment we expose our legislative weaknesses and endemic bureaucratic corruption. Consumers must be freed. Why complain condescendingly about over-borrowing U.S. consumers, when hardworking Asians are forced by unfair domestic rules to distrust their own future, such that they hoard savings and forgo enjoying the fruits of their own labour? Meanwhile, the American consumers can reap more than what they sow simply because they have a constitution and legal system in which they can trust their future with (mainly through an artificially depressed borrowing rate financed by Asians). Asia mercantilist policies to leech wealth from the US consumers through exports are actually schemes to mask misgovernance at home. We end up leeching and oppressing our own consumers, that is, our very own selves for far too long. CHEAH KAH SENG considers himself a student of the Austrian School of libertarian economics. An investment analyst who has watched financial bubbles build and burst since 1987, he feels contrarian opinions can be upsetting but still valuable. This article was originally published on 2009 Feb 17, at MalaysiaKini.com at http://malaysiakini.com/opinions/98467

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The Problems With Obama - Part 1

Barack Obama is now the US president. You can almost hear pundits and journalists all over the world popping the proverbial bottle of champagne. Too much consensus. Too little skepticism. I am not so sure Obama's platform is good for the world. But it's too late to warn this: Be careful what you wish for. Every opinion maker in the world seems to have rooted for Obama, for his triumph over racial divide and slogan of "change." But even as the candidate magnanimously suppressed the race issue, Obama's grassroots campaigners and guilt-hawking media appeared happy to exploit it. Asian pundits thrill ourselves on the race story with increasing abandon, revealing just how much more racist we actually are compared to the American voters. The conservatives in Japan must be in shock, considering it is Japan's xenophobic rejection of immigration of labour that has forced its perennial exodus of capital in search of foreign labour. This wandering Yen has sloshed around and destabilized world finance for decades, most recently via the subprime mortgage bubble. Yes, humanity and liberty issues do affect our pocket books in roundabout and mysterious ways. Two months after election, still very few pundits are looking at President Obama and the Democratic Party's protectionist policies, the campaign debt he owes to the left and labor unions, and the substantial loss of political checks and balances in the superpower we call the US. Even fewer see the linkage between Obama's protectionist bend and the endless financial tsunami sweeping the world. Is it coincidental that the tsunami started upon Obama's ascent in late 2007, and accelerated just as World Trade Organisation negotiation failed in July 2008? This is going to be a very unpopular view that may cost me a few friends. But please do consider the other side of the story, as I list five problems about the Obama presidency. Much of the problem, however, lies with our left-leaning intellectuals, snug in the free world but incapable of appreciating its foundation in the free market. Change does not equal reform The first problem with Obama is that change is not the same as reform. Obama's promises of change are vague, unlike the ‘reformasi’ demands in Indonesia and Malaysia to abolish specific oppressive laws, or the EU merger to liberate people by harmonising commerce. Obama hasn't defined what "change" is, beyond personifying the concept and rehashing favorite Democratic policies. His Democratic Party does not want reform. For all its complexity, our financial tsunami got out of hand when substandard housing loans ballooned since 2004. Why? Because Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae overreached. How? The Democratic Party took over the US Congress in 2006 and egged on these semi-government mortgage agencies to lend more - to those who could NOT afford the loans. Why else is it called "substandard" or "subprime?" No pundits see the irony that Democratic Party stalwarts would rather send poor families - who couldn't yet afford regular housing loans - into fueling a late-stage, high-price, property bubble. The Democrats do this in the name of spreading wealth. Republicans share the blame for not reforming these semi-governed agencies earlier. The pundits have it upside down: It is precisely government butting into private finances (by over-sizing Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae) that causes our financial troubles today. Liberal capitalism did not cause the problem. If Obama's "change" means more government interference and protectionism, then today's collapsed financial foam will likely coagulate into solid depression at the real economy level, a la 1930's. The market has been prescient as usual. Despite a political mania for Obama and even some prominent financier fans for Obama, market participants in aggregate have betrayed their true fears. Since late 2007, markets went through year-long crashes that accelerated in opposite direction to Obama's rise in the Democratic primaries, poll, debates, and election outlook. Hatred vs Popularity The second problem about Obama is really with the opinion makers: World pundits seem to be motivated more by a hatred for former President Bush and the Iraq War - and by association Republican candidate McCain - than by a close examination of Obama's package. Hatred is not a good basis for judgment. In the 20-20 vision of hindsight, the Iraq War looks like a mistake, triggered by faulty intelligence about weapons of mass destruction (WMD). But the mostly left-leaning media who have forged a culture of hatred for the Bush administration consistently underplayed other valid premises to the war. These premises are worth reviewing to show the willful and selective forgetfulness of our opinion makers: There were Saddam's proven history of using chemical weapons against Iranians and Kurds, and his cat-and-mouse game to fake and hype his WMD readiness. There were his willingness to kill hundreds of thousands at home and action to invade a country. There had been 19 UN resolutions on Iraq since 1980s, during Saddam's reign, mostly against Iraq's aggression and use of chemical weapons. These included four resolutions since the end of the first Gulf War, leading up to the unanimously-approved Resolution 1441 warning of the "final opportunity to comply with its disarmament obligations" in 2002. (The US-led coalition, however, failed to get a "final, final" authorisation due to the opposition of France and Russia who were cozy to Saddam and arms trades.) The military force sent into Iraq in March 2003 was multilateral. US voters deemed it rational to re-elect Bush with a greater margin in late 2004. Any disgust with President Bush needs to be balanced with these premises. To hate him so much as to uncritically transfer that hatred to McCain raises questions about the integrity or rationality of the world's pundits, intellectuals, and media led by their favorite source of quotations - the New York Times. Opinion makers outside the US seem to have a great inclination for double standards, selective perception, hypocrisy, and self-contradictions. For example, we all want the US military security umbrella, just not to contribute money and soldiers. We wanted communism to stop at Vietnam and have counted ourselves lucky not to become Cambodia, just not to have to feel grateful for the peace and prosperity fought with young American lives. We take the soul searching in American war movies as admission of guilt and definitive proof that the Vietnam war was a wrongful war. Many world racists detest Jewish influence, yet ignore the fact that Obama relies closely on Jewish strategists (which is nothing wrong and his right to do so), apparently because the world racists hate Bush more. Honest recent elections in Iraq don't count against Saddam's winning sham elections by 100% of votes. Shoe throwing is a black mark on Bush image, but not on journalist bias and activism. To these opinion makers, it's fine to remain silent on terrorism, when any US military transgression becomes justification to incite hatred against the "hegemony." That is fair game even if the American scandals are exposed, investigated, adjudicated, and remedied. These are, of course, civilized procedures not trusted, and not encouraged to be trusted by governments, in Asia. The US courts hold its own country to a higher standard, but the court of world opinions seems to absolve all standards for the ladies with the hidden bomb (and their handlers). An Asia led by intellectuals exhibiting such double standards, self-contradiction, hypocrisy, and selective perception would seem a long way from autonomous growth and sustainable peace. Conversely, wild popularity is not proof nor requirement for statesmanship or good economic helmsmanship. Truman was a highly unpopular war-time US president; Reagan was constantly reviled. Yet today they rank as some of the greatest US Presidents. Kennedy, Reagan, Clinton, Obama all spoke at Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. Guess who was booed and protested? Reagan, who stood up to the USSR and saw to the fall of Berlin Wall. It should have been worrying that Obama is too popular outside of the US. It reminds me of bubbles – of the political kind. Isn't it strange that nearly half of American voters (46%) voted for McCain, while it appears 100% of the world's pundits are rooting for Obama? What do Americans know that we don't? They have to live and die right where they vote. We foreign pundits are probably a bit naive in seeing Obama as the heroic icon of the era. Wealth: spread it or grow it? The third problem about Obama is his Democratic Party's policies. Obama and his party's policies are counter productive to growth. His tax "breaks," if implemented as promised during the campaign, would legislate a spreading of wealth, rather than encourage the creation of wealth. We know well what has happened to all socialist policies (including Malaysia's New Economic Policy) that tried to spread rather than grow wealth. Not only did they bring economic failures, they necessitated state intervention and oppressive laws, led to government cruelty, and in the end, fascism. Obama's protectionist campaign stance against free trade, Nafta, and China should scare the world. It probably has - as world financial markets seeming cannot find bottoms. While mighty governments announced grandiose bail-outs of mortgage agencies, insurers, banks, home owners, and stimulus plans, the markets plunge without end. Obama's supporters and high-profile financiers console themselves that Obama's protectionist stance is all just campaign posturing, and that he would move to the center as the president. I sincerely hope they are right. But his campaign debt to the left has piled too high, and his fundamental lack of commitment to free trade is too deeply rooted. World trade failure is about the only development powerful enough to turn today's financial tsunami into a real, prolonged, depression. Trade failure is also the most powerful fuel for world wars. The US Smoot-Hawley tariff converted the 1930's financial crisis into full-blown, cross-Atlantic, protectionism and depression, which gave birth to fascism in Germany, Japan, and Italy, and World War II. The pro-trade observation that "when goods don't cross borders, armies will" by 19th-century French economist Frederic Bastiat should have become the adage of our time. Instead, our intellectuals and left-leaning media who grew up in the comfort and low-cost life style of free trade advocate restricting trade freedom for the next generations. Conversely, free trade is the most ingenious invention since "roti canai." Free trade will deliver the kind of peace that starry-eyed New Year Eve revelers and beauty pageant contestants can only wish for so romantically. In fact, free trade has delivered. For the past 60 years, free trade has turned deadly foes (US, Germany, Japan, China) into allies, felling USSR without the launch of a nuclear missile, and raising billions of lives from abject poverty to historically unseen prosperity in Asia, South America, and Eastern Europe. What else can deliver that? Our best hope is for President Obama to surprise us all on trade policies, and for India and Brazil to be scared by Obama and the financial tsunami into compromising on WTO negotiation. But how can it be wrong to try to spread wealth? See Part 2 of this article, which will be published tomorrow, about the ideological war between love and trade. CHEAH KAH SENG considers himself a student of the Austrian School of libertarian economics. An investment analyst who has watched financial bubbles build and burst since 1987, he feels contrarian opinions can be upsetting but still valuable. This article was originally published on 2009 Feb 16, at MalaysiaKini.com at http://malaysiakini.com/opinions/98364

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Electricity bill: You may be subsidising others

I refer to the Malaysiakini reports Electricity tariffs to rise by up to 20% and TNB: Power rates to be linked to fuel prices. In the first report, the PM said electricity tariff would rise by up to 20 percent. That is not true. Household electricity bills can actually rise by up to 40 percent. Any household which previously used RM174 worth of electricity (650 kWh, kilo Watt hour, or ‘unit’ of electricity), will now face a 20 percent higher electricity bill of RM209. Those previously using RM275 of electricity (1,000 kWh) will now be paying 30 percent more, or RM359. The percentage of increase approaches 35 percent for 1,300 kWh, and 40 percent for 2,000 kWh. Most consumers would have received a half-and-half, old-mixed-with-new-tariff, electricity bill last month. They are only now beginning to receive a bill that is fully based on the much higher new tariff that took effect on July 1. In your second report, TNB's CEO inadvertently revealed that those who use more than RM112 of electricity (400 kWh, new tariff) are subsidising those who use less than RM112. "Consumers using 400 units and above are not entitled to any subsidy at all," he stated. In other words, the average price at 400kWh is where TNB breaks even, hence requiring no subsidy. If he didn't ‘mis-speak’, consumers using less than 400 kWh are paying TNB below cost, those using 400kWh are paying TNB at cost, while those using more than 400 kWh are giving TNB an increasingly fat margin, of up to a 63 percent, ‘gross’ margin. If TNB breaks even at the tariff price at 400 kWh, then why keep raising the tariff beyond 400kWh? Using 400kWh means a bill of RM101 under the old tariff, and now RM112 under the new tariff. That means TNB's average cost is around 28.15 sen per unit (RM112/400 unit). Yet TNB keeps raising the unit price from 30 sen per kWh at 500kWh to 46 sen per kWh beyond 900 kWh. A tariff of 46 sen is 63 percent more than the presumable breakeven average price of 28.15 sen per unit! Why make households which use more than RM112 (new tariff) of electricity subsidise those who use less? Why portray the subsidies that are actually paid by other consumers as subsidies from TNB or the government? Why aren't consumers who spend more than RM112 made aware that they are subsidising other families? How many ‘high-usage’ families are subsidising how many low-usage families? It appears that families whose bill is RM150 (new tariff, 500kWh) are subsidising low-usage families by RM10 a month. Those whose bill is RM190 (600kWh) are subsidising others by RM20, and those whose bill is RM229 (700kWh) are overpaying and subsidising others by RM32. For example, 700kWh multiplied by an unsubsidised cost of 28.15 sen is RM197 or RM32 below the over-charged bill of RM230. If a key purpose of over-charging the ‘high’-usage families is to promote energy efficiency, then what education programmes have TNB carried out to educate the low-usage as well as high-usage families to save on energy? If conservation is the issue, why not make the tariff structure more transparent? Why not provide a tool for consumers to calculate and compare their usage and charges before and after the tariff changes? How can consumers kept in the dark about the true extent of the tariff impact become aware of the need to conserve energy? Had TNB been more transparent about the true extent of tariff rises (up to 40 percent) and the cross-subsidy among consumers (those using more than RM112 subsidising those using less than RM112 under the new tariff), there might have been more debate about the lack of conservation, and other distortions. Distortions abound whenever there are cross subsidies. For example, the over-priced tariff for large users will discourage large families, extended family houses and the caring of the old. Combined with the leeching of family finance by over-priced cars, tolled roads, overpriced Streamyx, Astro and mobile services, our apartment sizes will likely shrink and squeeze out the older folks. We are not aware of any potential long-term social and economic impacts because there is no transparency and debate. Other than splitting families into smaller units, the penalty for high- usage electricity users may discourage cottage industries and computer literacy. I have created an Excel spreadsheet to help others calculate domestic electricity charges before and after the July 1, 2008 tariff increase. The second sheet includes a comparison table and a chart. Your readers are welcome to distribute the spreadsheet. The overview article is available here. The Energy Commission has also published a consumer-awareness pamphlet about energy efficiency here but beware that the electricity prices cited are outdated. This article was originally published on Aug 12, 2008, in MalaysiaKini.com as a letter to the editor.

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Private lobby group better than race council

I refer to the Malaysiakini report Ramasamy: ‘Penang Indians sidelined' claims untrue. Hindraf and Indian-based NGOs should not demand government-financed, race-based, ‘empowering’ bodies, because that will go back to the old racial politics, and may promote the ‘I scratch your back, you scratch my back’ political culture. This will deteriorate into unethical, racist, politics. What if the Orang Asli and Chinese Hakka clan start to demand the same? Race-based councils are also unreliable because council members can change stripes, and have split loyalty between the community and the political masters who appoint them. What could be reasonable is to demand for temporary government committees on specific issues, such as education choices for Indian youths, survey of housing, survey of health needs, etc. But don't rely on them on a permanent basis. Relying too much on the government or a political party will drag down even good people and their political party to become another MIC and MCA. That will be a sin against liberty and good governance. How about Hindraf starting a privately-driven, action-oriented think tank? It would be many times better if the activists can create their own privately-funded consolidated NGO, think tank, or lobby group to influence government policies, borrowing a page from the strategy of Chinese educators' group Dong Jiao Zhong (a consolidated NGO for Chinese school board of directors, principals and teachers). The time may be right with the trust and grassroots momentum that Hindraf and related groups have gathered up so far. Lobby groups are a fundamental part of democracy, freedom of association, and free speech, even though they seem to only make the news when bad governance and briberies have been attempted by unethical consultants. To ensure long-term success, such a think tank should have an independent board of directors (even independent from Hindraf), find its own focus, build grassroots and professional support, have private funding, a secretariat, a research and publication department, campaign and promotion capacities and regular meeting functions or conventions. For staying power, any such group with a social-political mission should stay above partisan politics. Its officials should strictly avoid party and government positions, whether elected or appointed (except when elected as independent candidates). It should not restrict its membership by race or religion. Maintaining a cultural bias on Indian issues will naturally attract ethnic Indian supporters, who may include activists, academia, and spouses from other races. We need such a group to last beyond governments and coalitions. This article was originally published on Aug 6, 2008, in MalaysiaKini.com as a letter to the editor.

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ACA only one left for task of housecleaning

I refer to the Malaysiakini article An epic battle of three men. The epic is not really about the three men. This is a brilliant analysis that peels off the facade of a strong Umno, to reveal possible rogues within the home affairs ministry and the public prosecutor's office. It homes in on a group that deflects blames and damages to Umno but tries hard to stay below the radar screen of public opinion. Too many commentators are still focusing their wrath on hapless Umno politicians for recent ministerial and law enforcement mistakes. But there are so many self-defeating bungles by Umno personalities that their antics have become anomalies. Umno politicians keep shooting their own feet! Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar was made to look like a fool on his ‘intelligence’ about non-existent protest and opposition meetings. He also appeared clueless about the Hindraf chairperson's passport status for a while, and only recently and sneakily admitted that his ministry did give an order but did not carry through (or did a reverse?) the oder to revoke the Hindraf chairperson's passport. The bitter ISA treatment of Hindraf leaders remains overwhelmingly counterproductive to BN's reputation. We have the incredible deja vu of a sodomy accusation against Anwar, the provocative arrest, and redundant demands for a DNA sample - all of which only stir up bad press around the world for the Umno-led government. The PM and home minister were misled by subordinates to constantly make prejudicial comments on Anwar and a biased defence of flawed law enforcement procedures - shredding their own credibility. A private investigator's relieved-turned-fearful statutory declarations managed to maximise public suspicion of high government officials, the attorney-general and the police - but eventually the blame sticks only on Umno politicians. Too many anomalies; something else must be going on. Surely our PM, the home minister and Umno MPs cannot be that dumb. To me, Umno increasingly looks like a fellow victim of conspiracy and sabotage, accompanying brother Anwar. Still the people blame Umno because they assume Umno is the only center of power. But Umno has been severely weakened by its untenable racist and protectionist policies, ideological implosion, internal squabbles, the March 8 election, and probably many skeletons in many individual closets. So where could be the alternative power base? Just think who would need to weaken Umno's credibility and legitimacy to fight for their own political and career survival, avoid jail time, and perhaps become king-maker? Let's not forget that the PM is a weak gentleman who cannot clamp down on big-fish corruption. Let's not forget that the bumbling Syed Hamid is new as the head of his ministry. They may not be in control of some security apparatus. Let's not forget the home affairs ministry is the most powerful ministry in the country, overseeing the corrupted Immigration Department, the useful Prisons Department, the police, the Special Branch, Rela, the National Registration Department (whose control over ICs means control over voter registration and immigrant naturalisation including in Sabah) the Registrar of Societies - every institution you need to worry about. Are we even sure such a powerful ministry should exist as a single ministry in the future? I'm not saying everyone in that ministry is corrupted. But the recent arrests of immigration top officials may only be the tip of the ice berg. Lest anyone has any doubt about the extreme evil that some rogue elements in our law enforcement branch would go to in order to nail Anwar, we should revisit the chilling statutory declaration by Dr. Munawar Anees, scholar and one-time Anwar speech writer. But be forewarned that the 10-year-old statutory declaration is verbally explicit, shocking, and still very upsetting. None of those perpetrators have been punished. Had the PM forced through the implementation of IPCMC (Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission) undiluted, this investigation into Anwar will be infinitely more credible to the public. Somehow he was not able to. The new Anwar case reminds us we need to implement the IPCMC now. Better late than never. There's no expiry date on the royal commission's recommendations. Umno MPs can help to push through the IPCMC. Umno MPs and supporters who care about the party's survival should take note and support the PM's attempt to peel away at the corrupted layers within the home ministry and other public offices. The PM has started with the immigration office. Will he get support from Umno to go far enough? Or will Umno MPs and grassroot freeze and watch Umno being destroyed? Just giving ACA prosecuting power is not enough, and can be easily reversed. In a counter- intuitive move, Umno leaders and grassroots should support placing the ACA under the parliament as a way to save Umno. With the law enforcement branch, the attorney-general's office and judiciary under a cloud of suspicion of being ethically compromised, the ACA is the last institution that can be quickly strengthened to take on the crucial task of housecleaning. Do this before it is too late. Although individual Umno MPs may have his or her own skeleton in the closet to worry about reprisal, together they may be able to overcome any hijacker and saboteur who are pulling Umno down the drain. The dangers to Umno are leadership and reform paralysis, the utter loss of legitimacy, the destruction of the party, and the loss of the wealth that Umno has helped to create in the past. The danger to the rest of Malaysia is the same. In this matter, our interests are aligned with Umno's. This article was originally published on Jul 28, 2008, in MalaysiaKini.com as a letter to the editor. Dr. Munawar Anees' 1998 statutory declaration is also available here.

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Seeds of Fascism Germinate

Fascism in Malaysia is indeed a realistic scenario - albeit a low-probability and long-term scenario - but one that we cannot ignore. The 2008 election earthquake has toppled some decayed trees, and today we bask in the sun in this small jungle clearing. But the jungle can fight back; federal powers can strangle any seedlings of change. Federal budgetary grants to the states, federal development departments (to disburse oil income), the police, little napoleon bureaucrats, and federal control over local infrastructure, are instruments that the BN has used to obstruct and usurp the power of the Pakatan Rakyat state governments. While we hope a new Pakatan federal government will plant the tree of liberty, it is not a certainty that it will have the will,ability, and duration to do so. Our corrupted culture may not support Pakatan. External economic accidents can overwhelm it. Pakatan is also vulnerable in its reliance on the force of personality of a single person to hold it together, as argued in Who will succeed Anwar Ibrahim? So despite our post-election euphoria, we must not dismiss these seven seeds of fascism that lie in wait: First there is a litany of bad laws that may take decades to repeal and reform: ISA, OSA, Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA), University and University College Act (UUCA), Sedition Act, Society Act, Police Act, Import Publication Act, election laws, and communication/broadcast related laws, etc. Pakatan may not last long enough to complete the task, or would need to gain BN-like hegemonic (and oppressive) power to ramp through changes quickly. Second is NEP, a racist-socialist policy. NEP has become a ‘zombie’ policy that transcends laws and even its own expiry. Most intellectuals view NEP as a problem only because it is badly implemented. No. I have argued but twice that as a socialist policy, NEP will inevitably degenerate into fascism. NEP is intrinsically evil because it starts with unjust laws, requires a strongman to implement, requires centralised ‘planning’ power, and will eventually implode into authoritarianism - oppressing precisely the group that NEP is supposed to protect. Respects power over law Even in retirement, former PM Mahathir is painting the current PM Abdullah as ‘weak’ and undeserving, attempting to resurrect the dangerous idea that only a strongman can implement NEP optimally. This is the Malaysian version of The Road to serfdom. Third is our political culture that respects power more than law, and ends more than means. At the top of the government, we have a prime minister and his deputy who have hung on to both the powerful security portfolios – home ministry (the police guarding internal security) and defence ministry (the military guarding external security). While the PM has officially given up the home ministry portfolio, his replacement has a weak political base and leans on the PM for political support. Further, the ministry seems to have grown a mind of its own - quite apart from the home minister himself -judging from police brutality, police rejection of the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) , the stubborn and inhumane detention of Hindraf leaders that seems to run counter to the PM's wishes, recent attempts to reassert control over the media (punishing Makkal Osai and Raja Petra), unequal investigation of Opposition MPs, chief ministers and NGO protestors, and the minister being clueless regarding Hindraf chairman's flip-flop passport status. Who is really in charge at the Home Ministry? We have a developing mystery, who is really in charge of the home affairs ministry these days? Who are the real masterminds? How will this ‘free will’ at the ministry develop? At the mid-level of our political culture, aspiring-ministers and retired premier continue to expound racist and seditious rhetoric, to hope to win influence. At the ground level, the ruling party is infatuated with Mat Rempits, who are prepared to do the dirty deeds during election campaigns and toll road protests. Fourth is the deterioration of the rule of law. Within the government, the de-facto law minister Zaid Ibrahim who proposed judiciary reform is also the one most attacked by his cabinet and party colleagues, and is substantially cowed by now. All kinds of theatricals from our former premier are allowed to obscure the need for follow-up investigation into the royal commission's report on the Lingam tape affair. Fifth, there is a subtle blurring of the border between the police and the military. The police are a civilian security force, but use military-like IC numbers to identify themselves and to vote. Recently, the police plans to recruit retired soldiers. Although retired soldiers are valuable assets, such a targeted recruiting plan must have assumed that military training is somehow valuable for injection into the police force, a dangerous contention. Disparage detractors As government budget is squandered such that we underpay the police, the government turns to a less disciplined Rela to do the job. But Rela has an incredibly wide range of roles. From policing, crime-fighting (rarely done), immigration raids (their chief's pet project), crowd control, traffic control for political parties and corporations, to disaster relief. Blurring the distinction between ‘voluntary’ police and military.. These roles can easily expand to raiding civilian homes on the excuses of ‘national security’ or ‘patriotism’, the latter already used by the Rela chief to disparage detractors Rela should be disbanded. Yet the government plans to give Rela enforcement power that will only deeply threaten civil rights. In contrast, the government undermines the enforcement powers of important civilian institutions: Suhakam, the Election Commission, ACA, and Securities Commission. If Rela is meant to be as professional as the police, why not just merge it into the police? Otherwise, why give it more power? The only reason to elevate Rela would seem to be to create a paramilitary group, with its own budget, weaponry, and command structure, unbridled by professionalism and scrutiny that civil society and police/military conventions demand. Sixth, we have a conformist culture and education system which is an ideal fascist breeding ground. UUCA and our school system prepare students for obedience, nationalism, and endeavour to cut down dissent. Our schools are churning out unemployable youths, a hotbed for extremist ideas if coupled with sustained economic downturns . It will require Pakatan to have the right mindset and time to reverse these trends. We have an increasing number of youths being militarised by the National Service program. And why does a ‘pro-unity’ educational programme fall under the Ministry of Defense? Then the nation's heir-apparent to the PM position is a multi-term Minister of Defense. The World in 1920s would not have been able to imagine that down-to-earth and sensible Germans could have turned into the fascist Nazi conformers of the 1930s. Free trade gets no respect Seventh, we may face a looming economic and employment downturn - both self-made and international in origins. Yet, BN's past corruption has mistakenly turned off Malaysians from the economic alternatives that will save us: privatisation, free trade, and liberalisation. We have an increasingly inflexible government finance that relies on high oil and commodity prices, debts, and excise taxes. The year 2008 will be the 11th year of consecutive federal budget deficits - of about RM20 billion each year - through mostly good years. Federal debt has tripled from RM90 billion in 1997 to RM280+ billion estimated for 2008. While free trade has helped us beat communism by 1970s, given us growth since 1980s, and saved us from our self-inflicted crisis of 1998, free trade gets no respect from our Malaysian institutional intellectuals. We allow our government to damage Afta with Proton and rice protections. With vested interests, we stall the Malaysia-US FTA negotiation, inadvertently helping our government to protect its cronies via government procurement. WTO negotiation is stalling and these intellectuals are happy. Further, ‘privatisation’ has become a dirty word. Our former PM Mahathir has made sure of that, with shameful examples like Renong, UEM, MAS, Proton, toll roads and bridges, rescued mass transit systems, bad buses, and dozens more. He completely discredited privatisation as a tool for economic growth through these pseudo-privatisation and de-facto feudalism that ‘privatises profits and nationalises losses.’ We will now have great difficulty revisiting privatisation. Ironically, if we face any economic crisis, we will need properly-implemented privatisation to save us, to (1) strengthen government finance, (2) release the pent-up creativity trapped around our GLCs, (3) rapidly create employments by revitalizing our domestic service industries, and (4) hold down domestic prices. Our neighbours are teetering too, no thanks to our Afta sins and their own mistake of emulating the Mahathiran model. The Thai pendulum keeps swinging between corrupted strongmen and the threat of military coups. Indonesia and the Philippines are not out of the woods with their own economic and social reforms. Too few of our intellectuals give credit to free trade for delivering 60 years of world peace. Our intellectuals who have not absorbed the lessons from the abject poverty and oppression of communist China, USSR, central Europe of the 1970s are so much more tolerant and romantic about protectionism than today's officials from mainland China and Central Europe. The current South Korean political storm protesting US beef import only emphasises how misled and emotional the mob can become, biting the hand of free trade that feeds them. In all likelihood, only two key factors will determine the world economic future for the next decade (we will feel that in the stock market, interest rates, inflation, our property prices, and employment outlook): We'll have no place to hide, no place to stash our savings, no place to find employment for our children, if (1) WTO negotiation collapses completely, and (2) the US turns inward and protectionist, manifested in their choice of the next US president. Help Umno change With the above seven elements, we can chart a path to a low-probability but severe scenario of fascism in Malaysia within a generation. We may even have under-estimated this probability because of the optimism surrounding the outcome of the 12th General Election. Like a strangling fig, fascism can't take root overnight. It will take a generation's worth of economic problems, world trade protectionism, and increasing youth unemployment, for these seeds of fascism to germinate, grow, and strangle a country. But a generation's time passes in a flash. While we hope GE 2008 will change everything, such an accidental political landslide is not stable ground. We need to do more foundation work. We need to strengthen our systemic foundation and pillars: parliamentary and legislative reforms, judicial reform (including repealing Emergency Ordinance and ISA that interfere with the judiciary), law enforcement reform (putting ACA under the parliament, implementing IPCMC), financial reform (free up ringgit, liberalise ownership, reform EPF), electoral reforms (including direct local election), and information reform (repeal of PPPA at the same time enacting Freedom of Information Act and reform of OSA). All these are ground-shifting rules, where a few rule changes can change the whole ecosystem. The benefits are more extensive and far reaching than even we the supporters can realise. As for the power of free trade, well, that is another set of arguments for another day. Yet Umno, MCA, and Gerakan, are wallowing in the mud, too preoccupied with self-pity to carry out any of these reforms. Perhaps Ezam has made the right move. We should help BN and Umno out of the funk. After all, democracy is about helping the weak and the down-trodden -I mean also the down- trodden political party - to ensure enough competition among political parties, so that the minority people will have their rights protected. Perhaps BN should even lose federal power for a while. The Taiwan story in which the corrupted and oppressive Kuomingtang (Nationalist Party) lost presidential power for 8 years, split internally, and completely reformed itself into fresh-breathe, cheerful-faced, young party, and won over the electorate again, is a worthwhile inspiration. CHEAH KAH SENG, trained in investment and portfolio analysis, considers himself a student of the Austrian School of liberal economics. He is currently interested in how Web databases reflect individual freedom of choice and the aggregate learning process. This article was originally published on Jun 24, 2008, in MalaysiaKini.com as an opinion piece.

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Protect our freedom by protecting refugees

I refer to the Malaysiakini report Don't forget Burmese refugees here too, PM told. We also need to recall and learn from the Asean governments' maltreatment of Vietnamese boat people of late 1970's. True, we were poorer at that time, threats of communist violence and subversion were fresh in our psyche, and Vietnam was not part of Asean then. But hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese sold their belongings for gold bars, and took to the sea on unseaworthy vessels. They drowned at sea, were raided and raped by pirates, and suffered inhumane treatment in camps in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and to a lesser extent, Hong Kong. We could have done the right thing if we had expanded the refugee camps, treated them more humanely, and even eventually accepted a large, although limited, number of Vietnamese as immigrants. There should only be two conditions for immigration: a promise to abide by the Malaysian laws and second to learn Bahasa Malaysia. We could eat less to support a certain number of refugees, and we could seek international funding and disburse them fully. To the ‘economically minded’ who fear sacrificing our economic resources, I say it is ultimately self-rewarding to do the right thing. It would infuse into our society, and in our children, a self- confidence and moral strength that no money can buy. More practically, yesterday's immigrants are today's entrepreneurs and job creators. We would have built closer cultural and business ties between Malaysia and Vietnam by today. Malaysian children - whether Indian, Chinese, or Malay - will one day need that human connection to prosper and add to their employment choices and living standard. Same today with the Burmese. The Burmese military junta obviously could not respond rationally to foreign offers of help for this cyclone disaster because they have too much evils to hide. As long as the military junta does not collapse (due to China's support) there will be pressure for the people to take their fate into their own hands, ie, to take flight, and escape to neighboring countries in a multi-year exodus over land to Thailand, Bangladesh, China, and by sea to India and Malaysia. What are we to do? The refugee flow may not be as dramatic as the Vietnamese boat people. But what are we going to do with more refugees? We cannot even treat today's Burmese refugees humanely. That the Burmese refugees - who are normally docile and low-profile - have been pushed to rioting inside Malaysian refugee camps is an indication of extreme official mishandling and cruelty. It is issues such as these that make me wish for a faster change in the federal government. I would have normally preferred a ‘steady-as-she-goes’ approach. But these issues of urgent inhumanity and the inexplicable vengeance against the Hindraf 5 only pile on other longer-term reform considerations - such as the inability and unwillingness of the current government to place the ACA under the parliament, to abolish ISA/PPPA, to create a royal commission on electoral reform, to reform the police to incorporate the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC), and its dangerous determination to further empower Rela - that together contribute to my willingness to give up on the current federal government. (Not that we should believe any new government will carry out these reforms without civil pressure.) Rela, the voluntary corps which is involved in abusing Burmese refugees, in particular, is an instrument of oppression that happens to be aimed at immigrants for now. It's only a matter of time before this para-military group is empowered by new laws to refocus on domestic oppression. We must demand that Rela be disbanded, that any good people within Rela be trained and absorbed into the police, and that additional resources be channeled to improve the salary, welfare, training, equipments, and professionalism of the police instead. What else can we do about Burmese refugees? We can encourage the media to report more on refugee camps and developments. State governments, probably not empowered to manage refugee camps, can nevertheless offer land to expand refugee camps. The state governments can also use whatever power they have to monitor the performance of the police and camp officers, and to help the media do its job. I have personally known the kindness and protection of a Burmese family who escaped Burma on foot 40 years ago. The parents brought the eldest son and trekked across malaria-infested swamps and tropical jungle, and had to initially leave behind two infant children in Rangoon. They shined shoes in Hong Kong to make ends meet, then settled and rose to commercial prominence in Bangkok over 20 years, building factories and trading houses that have employed thousands of Thai people. Burmese people look, eat, live, and dress in a style very much like an undeveloped Malaysia did, more so than Thais do. Perhaps some of the street names in Penang will remind us of our historical ties, as well as the economic glory that Burma once enjoyed and could have enjoyed. In the Pulau Tikus area of Penang, for example, there are Burmese temples and at least eight sets of street names that commemorate Burmese cities and rivers, such as: Burmah Road, Moulmein Road, Thaton Lane, Tavoy Road, Rangoon Road, Salween Road, Irawadi Road and Mandalay Road. You can find the origins of all these names on the Net. . These almost-forgotten street names also remind us of the consequences of giving up our liberty bit by bit to a central government that is built on socialist policies (not unlike our NEP), that will have to depend on strong men, that will inevitably turn authoritarian and fascist. Myanmar and Malaysia were both well endowed with similarly-rich natural resources and broadly similar governing structure half-a-century ago. But we took the path that gave us more liberty to conduct our own lives, to trade, and to be more open to the world. That made the whole difference. We must not give up our liberty now, even if bit by bit. The best way to protect our liberty is to protect the basic rights of refugees, who are on the fringe of our society. The moment we give up protecting the refugees is the moment we give up protecting the outer fringe of our rights. Then the erosion begins. This article was originally published on May 23, 2008, in MalaysiaKini.com as a letter to the editor.

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Inflation figures: what's behind them?

I refer to the letter Economic downturn: pray for soft landing. I would like to raise a question for the experts: Has Malaysian GDP growth been over-estimated because of an under-estimation of inflation over a long period of time? I am posing this as a question because I really don't have the answer, and don't expect this question to be settled for years. Although I have some economic training, I am no specialist in measuring inflation, and have no access to a price level database. Real-price GDP (gross domestic product) growth is the 4% to 6% figure s(in recent years) and this is widely discussed with government budget forecasts and economic growth reports. My understanding is that real-price GDP is calculated after taking out the GDP Deflator - a measure of inflation that is a cousin of our familiar CPI (Consumer Price Index). The GDP Deflator is more comprehensive and updated than the CPI, so it is supposed to accurately measure the general inflation of the whole economy (an ambitious task!). Still, the GDP Deflator must be subject to some subjective judgment. And if the CPI can apparently be under-estimated by a lot, perhaps our GDP Deflator is also under-estimated, though to a lesser extent. And if the GDP Deflator is under-estimated, say by 1% per year, then our real GDP (which is calculated by division by the GDP Deflator) is regularly biased on the optimistic side. That would explain why we seem to feel a long-term loss of competitiveness (unregistered inflation of living costs) and sluggish economy, even as official figures look so rosy. That would also explain why over three decades, our cousin currency Singapore dollars, which split from the ringgit, has more than doubled its value relative to the ringgit, even though Malaysia has large oil export revenues. However, there are opposite views, as in the US and the UK: that inflation figures tend to be over-estimated, because the figures do not account for the improved quality of goods and services, such as better quality rice, cleaner meat, sweeter fruits, softer toilet paper, better cars, nicer haircuts, etc. Of course, the US officials insist that they have fully adjusted for such qualitative issues, and that their inflation figures are not biased one way or another. Then there are confirming views in developing, highly-politicised, and high-inflation economies, such as in Sri Langka, that inflation is under-estimated to give the economy a better shine. This question has bugged me for a while. But there are few forums where this question can be raised, because there is a social and political pressure to conformist thinking. Economic officials may howl at this suggestion that GDP estimation is biased on the upside. But I think we should take a skeptical view regarding any official statistics. As much as we talk about media openness and judiciary reform, Malaysia also needs to take an open, methodical, and principled attitude toward the distribution of government and economic information, and the underlying details. Eventually, the federal government must also let go of its ownership, tight licensing control, indirect control over top appointments in financial institutions and influence over financial business contracts that it currently exercises through the GLCs, EPF, other funds, and the banks. This in order to foster a free and critical environment to discuss economic matters and to help improve Malaysia's competitiveness for the long term. This article was originally published on May 14, 2008, in MalaysiaKini.com as a letter to the editor.

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222 QUESTIONS FOR THE NEW PENANG GOVERNMENT

2008 May 2 Version

(Initiated by PenangMedia.com, with input from PenangWatch.net, Tanjong Bunga Residents Association and other individuals, drafted by Cheah Kah Seng)
The new Penang government will hold its state assembly meeting in July 2008. This is a list of questions to be presented in Bahasa Malaysia to our state legislative council members (ADUN) in early May 2008, so that they can be selected and presented to the state executive council (EXCO) during the June/July state assembly meeting. The state civil servants under the EXCO are then obliged to give written, researched answers and figures to the selected questions.

The purposes of this exercise are many-fold. First, we will get the info on issues we are concerned with if the questions are submitted. Second, the answers can stimulate other NGOs, media, and individuals to dig further. Third, they may trigger new ideas, policies, and actions even if they are only discussed. We should submit in both hard and soft copies to allow the ADUNs to modify and consolidate questions. Clever questions can elicit good figures and answers.

Here are 222 questions below, under 7 categories:

(A) State Governance (37)
(B) State Revenues, Expenses and State Land (20)
(C) Development Projects and Housing (28)
(D) Transport Systems (54)
(E) Economy and Business (19)
(F) Tourism and Culture (32)
(G) Environment (32)
(A) State Governance

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(A) State Governance

(1) Electoral reform: Will the State government prepare a petition, and join other State governments, to present to the Rulers' Conference to petition for the establishment of a Royal Commission on Electoral Reform to examine, recommend, and oversee the reform of Malaysia's electoral system, including the reform of the Election Commission, at the Federal, State, and Local level?

(2) Electoral reform: Will the Penang government conduct an open consultation on how best to organize and proceed with direct local election?

(3) Electoral reform: In working toward direct local election, will the State government time the local election as the "mid-term" election between General Election? Although there is a counter argument based on extra costs, "mid-term" local election will also help reduce the emotionality of combining three levels of election together, create more checks-and-balance in government, and provide the State government with a mid-term feedback mechanism.

(4) Opinion poll: Is there any plan for the State government to conduct opinion poll to check on its progress and performance in the view of the voters? Will the results of such opinion polls be publicly released to the media?

(5) Local election: Please list all conflicting state and federal laws that allow or disallow local election of city councils. What are the key conflicts in the laws and regulations that will require legislative amendments or court decision to resolve?

(6) Local election: To prepare for eventual direct local election, (a) will the State government first challenge the Federal laws that prohibit local election and then conduct local election, (b) will it go ahead and apply to SPR to conduct local election as a challenge to the Federal laws to stimulate a legal response from the Federal government, or (c) will it initially seek to circumvent the Federal law by holding a sort of opinion-poll-and-appointment scheme before sorting out the legal conflicts?

(7) Local election: What is the legal opinion given to the State government if the state government sets up opinion polling centers around the state for a period of 2 weeks, and invite all MyKad holders with Penang addresses to physically present their ICs to vote for their favorite city council candidates in this "opinion poll?"

(8) Public Offices: If the term of the recently appointed City Councils is for only 8 months, how will the next City Councils be appointed? Will their term be automatically extended? If the mechanism for direct local election will not be ready by early 2009, will the State government draw up a proposal to conduct a transparent and open process to appoint the new Councils in MPPP and MPSP? Will it propose a board of interviewers that include NGOs and academics to select MPPP/MPSP councilors and village heads?

(9) Public Offices: In the next appointments, will Opposition ADUNs be appointed to be the deputy speakers? Will Opposition ADUNs be appointed to public accounting or auditing committees? Will Opposition figures be appointed to City Councils and as village heads based on the portion of votes received by the Opposition?

(10) Governance: Will the new government change the rules to reduce the threshold of votes required for Opposition ADUNs to move a motion in LEGCO meetings?

(11) Governance: Will the Penang State government adopt, within the context of the State, the 12 points of demand to improve the parliament set out by leading parliamentarian Lim Kit Siang? (Some of the points have been mentioned elsewhere among these questions, and adapted again here for LEGCO).

(a) Live telecast of LEGCO proceedings,
(b) Daily two-hour question time
(c) Opposition ADUN heading the Public Accounts Committee (to ensure government's money is well-spent)
(d) Establish specialist select committees, one for every State department
(e) Establish 5-10 general parliamentary select committees to produce annual reports on progress, trends and recommendations on issues that concern Penang residents, such as governance, transport, media, tourism and heritage, investments, IT, women's agenda, sustainable development and environment, corruption, security, etc.
(f) Allocation of certain days a week specifically to deal with opposition business.
(g) Research and constituency staffing for ADUNs.
(h) CM's question time twice a week.
(i) An opposition deputy speaker.
(j) Modernisation and democratisation of standing orders.
(k) Code of ethics for all ADUNs.
(l) EXCO members' LEGCO code of conduct

See "Kit Siang to push again for parliamentary reforms" http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/80160

(12) Governance: Has the State government planned any training functions for the 12 months from April 2008 to March 2009 to continuously familiarize the EXCO and LEGCO members with (a) their own duties, requirements, power, and the limit of their power, (b) with the state personnel, bureaucrats, technocrats, as well as (c) with state and local rules, regulation, and procedure? Please list any events, education and motivation seminars, training camps, brain storm sessions, and others that can help the ADUNs, EXCO members, and department officers to work smoothly with one another, and to familiarize the new members to the laws, rules and regulation of the State. It will show an understanding and commitment towards improving good and effective governance.

(13) Governance: How will the State recognize and reward outstanding performance by LEGCO, EXCO, Council, bureaucrat members, and civil activists? Will the new State government implement and issue Certificate of Recognition, public recognition or praise, medals, or other rewards on a yearly basis to those who perform well in their thankless job of serving the people, where good performance may be easily overlooked by a federally-controlled media?

(14) Governance: How will you measure such performance? By initiative, by preset objectives, media coverage, civil feedback, by popular vote, opinion poll, or a panel of judges?

(15) Internet presence: How many Web sites are currently owned, financed, or managed by State government and departments? What are the total historical development and operating costs up to today? What are the on-going operating costs per year?

(16) Internet presence: How many contracts are outstanding with regards to Websites financed by the State government? Who are the contractors? What are the key terms, time periods, conditions, and costs for these Web sites?

(17) Internet presence: How many users have been recorded in the past year for these Websites financed or controlled by the State government?

(18) Internet presence: What are the steps that will be taken to ensure the presence of computer literacy competence among school children (other than the efforts by the Ministry of Education of Malaysia), youth, and senior citizens in Penang? If so, when were the steps taken and what were the results? If not yet, please give views about steps that will be taken by Penang to produce multi-literacy residents.

(19) Internet presence: What is the mechanism and how many personnel are available to update and manage feedback for these State-funded Websites? How frequently are these Websites updated? How many of these Websites are regularly updated in the past year?

(20) IT in Government: Is there any plan to review and revamp IT contracts signed with the State government, regarding IT service, maintenance, virus protection, software update, and training, so that State civil servants' PCs will work at high operating rates?

(21) IT in Government: Is there any plan to shift from the use of Microsoft Windows-based Office application suite to the Open Office suite of free application software, that include word processor (Write), spreadsheet (Calc), presentation (Impress), database (Base), and graphic (Draw) programs? The Open Office suite ( http://www.openoffice.org/ or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Office) have now matured enough that they are included in primary school computer text books (starting primary year 4). If the State has not started to adopt Open Office to save on software costs, will it plan to shift to Open Office in phases, starting by installing Open Office to run in parallel with Microsoft Office, and set the time line for full conversion within 4 years?

(22) Feedback mechanism: What are the current channels for Penang residents to provide feedback on State and city issues, including government, transport, police, environment, and other issues?

(23) Feedback mechanism: How much money has been spent in the past 4 years to promote and inform Penang residents about these feedback channels, either in advertisement, brochure, the Internet, or other media? Will the Penang State government buy air time on Radio and space on online or physical newspapers to advertise its services and feedback channels? Can the State get bulk discount for such public-service announcements?

(24) Feedback mechanism: Many seaside village residents around Jelutong have been relocated to temporary housing in Lorong Bakau, Sungai Pinang, result of government construction of modern housing earlier. How can they give feedback regarding their relocation and difficulties they have been facing? Who will handle their social, compensation, and economic proble
ms?

(25) Think Tank: What is the function of SERI? What is the historical governing and funding relationships between the State government and Socio-Economic & Environmental Research Institute (SERI http://www.seri.com.my/)? Who else are financing SERI? What are the measurable achievement by SERI since it was established?

(26) Think Tank: Is SERI still relevant today, and will it's structure become more independent of political influence? Will the State government require more direct policy recommendations from SERI? Will the State government provide more or less finance for these purposes?
See:
http://www.seri.com.my/oldsite/listing%20by%20article.htm
http://www.seri.com.my/ap/publication.html
http://www.seri.com.my/oldsite/publications.htm

(27) Law Enforcement: While the police are a Federal resource, to what extent can the State government demand additional police presence on the streets for foot and car patrol? What are the limits of authorities between the Federal and State governments over the management of police force in Penang?

(28) Law Enforcement: To what extent can the State government help increase police professionalism in handling citizens' complaints and reports? Is there any plan for the EXCO, ADUN, and Penang's MPs to jointly draft proposal or meet the Ministry of Home Affair to argue for a case for increased cars, support, equipment, training, and personnel for the police in Penang? To what extent can the State government determine the appointments of Police chiefs and officers within the State?

(29) Law enforcement and governance: Will the State government create a WhistleBlowers website, by taking advantage of Web-based technology and services, such as WikiLeaks.org (http://wikileaks.org/wiki/Wikileaks) to combat corruption and to monitor governance and performance of the State, Police, Council etc? Here the public can anonymously post pictures, videos, documents of corruption, bribery and ineptitude if no action is seen to be taken by the Officials. Will the State government join in any petition to implement fully the Royal Commission's recommendation on the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC)?

(30) State press and media: What are the licenses, permits, and rights to publish that the Penang State government currently possesses, whether by design or by default, whether used or unused? What is the legal opinion given to the Penang state government regarding PPPA's Section 25(1) which states: "Nothing in this Act shall extend to the publication or making of any documents or periodical by or for the Federal or any State Government or any statutory body?" Doesn't that mean that any publication authorized by the State fall outside of the control of the PPPA, allowing the Penang state government to authorize several independently financed, independently operated printed media with independent boards of editors?

(31) State press and media: What physical publications or periodicals have the State government physically funded in the past four years, whether in the areas of tourism, news, education, or others? What is the total and individual financial funding per year for each major publication? Has there been any review of the quality, value, and popularity of these publications and what are the results?

(32) Transparent Government: Will the State government, CM, LEGCO members, EXCO members, MPPP and MPSP councilors hold regular press conference to update Penang residents, or hold town hall meetings to exchange views with Penang residents?

(33) Transparent Government: Will future LEGCO meetings be broadcast as video or audio on the Web, or by AM/FM radio? If the State is not allowed its own radio stations, will it be feasible to purchase radio air time for AM broadcast from southern Thailand or Northern Sumatra?

(34) Transparent Government and Freedom of Information Act: Will the State government lead the Federal government by drafting, debating, and enacting a Freedom of Information Act (FIA or FOI)? To begin with, what are the meeting minutes and regular government document and publications that will be published online starting the next 12 month? Will the State government systematically go through all documents, current and historical, to examine whether they should be published online, to increase government transparency? Will the State government set up a special department to consult and train other departments on the complex issue of publishing various types of documents online, from letters, minutes, maps, Structure Plan, Local Plan, the old Halcrow Report on transport, etc?

(35) Civil society: What are the current guidelines on the use of public schools, fields, playgrounds, "balai rakyat," Pusat Penyanyang, and other public spaces for political and NGO events? How will the new Government simplify the rules and approval process, and make the spaces more easily available for public uses? More specifically, will the school and public fields be available for political gatherings over the next five years? Will any refusal to approve the use be made with transparent reasons?

(36) Civil society: Will the State government draw up guidelines to permit peaceful public demonstration within the State of Penang? Will the State government or the police publish a guideline for demonstration stating its requirements for notification of organizer details, objectives, time, location, and organizers' measures to maintain crowd and traffic control? Will the State government provide physical space for public demonstration?

(37) Civil society: What are the limits for the State government to allow peaceful demonstration and political gathering under existing Federal laws? Will there be a situation where the State government allows a peaceful gathering, while the police under Federal Ministry of Interior overrides the decision and ban the gathering? How will the differences be resolved?

(B) State Revenues, Expenses and State Land
-------------------------------------------

(1) State Revenues: What are the top five revenue sources for the State government, MPPP, and SPPP respectively? Please list the individual amounts and the average growth in the past four years respectively.

(2) State Revenues: How much Federal grants has the State government budget received in each of the past 10 years?

(3) Outdoor Ads Signboard Revenues: How much revenue has the State government, MPPP, or MPSP received from the contracts to lease out outdoor advertising signboard locations along the streets of Penang to contractors of leaseholders?

(4) Outdoor Signboard Revenues: Given Penang's high rate of urbanization, commercialization, dense traffic that are favorable to the value of outdoor advertising, what is the estimated total FINAL rental value of all the sign boards locations owned by Penang State government (meaning the final value paid by advertisers)? An estimated range of values will suffice.

(5) Outdoor Signboard Revenues: What is the difference between the above two values - the estimated final value paid by advertisers and the lease value that the State government received from the leaseholders who contracted all the outdoor signboard locations owned by the State government?

(6) Outdoor Signboard Revenues: What are the contract details for renting out outdoor advertising signboard spaces in the whole Penang state? How many contracts are outstanding, who are the contractors and their major shareholders, what are the terms, length of period, value, and other relevant details? When are these contracts due to be renegotiated? Can the State renegotiate for better deals with the contractors?

(7) State Contracts: What are the contract details for traffic light maintenance and repair in Penang? Who are the contractors, what are the terms and values, maintenance agreements, and assurance of service quality?

(8) State Land: How many pieces of State-owned land have been leased out to private sectors in the past 4 years? What are their sizes? What are the lease terms and values?

(9) State Land: How many pieces of State land have been converted from leasehold into freehold to benefit private developers in the past 4 years? What are the revenues generated from each of this land conversion? For example, was there such a lease-to-freehold conversion in Kampong Kastam in Bukit Gelugor?

(10) State Land: How many pieces of state land and properties are currently under negotiation to be leased, and how many pieces are currently leased land that is under negotiation and approval process to be converted into freehold land?

(11) Reclamation and State Land: What is the state government's ownership in any of the reclaimed land in (1) Tanjong Tokong (TT), (2) along Jelutong Expressway (JE) north of Penang bridge, (3) PDC reclamation south of Penang Bridge (PDC), and (4) the future PORR reclamation along Gurney Drive if the latest proposal were to go ahead without changes? Please list any sub-plots from the reclaimed areas that the developers have to transfer to the State government by agreement, their size, their value, the expected time of transfer, and the agreed reasons for the transfers.

(12) Reclamation and State Land: Regarding each of the above four reclamation areas, what are the major outstanding applications for additional permits, access, infrastructure, and development revision that will require Penang State government's favor and approvals?

(13) Reclamation and State Land: For the above four reclamations, is there any proposal by the Penang state government to secure any portions of the reclamation lands in exchange for giving out any remaining or additional permits and approvals? Have these reclamation projects developers requested additional zoning, access, and other state permissions that will allow the Penang State government to acquire a portion of the reclaimed land in exchange of such approvals?

(14) State Land and Revenues: Will the Penang State government continue the previous practice of allowing private developers to privately approach the State government with proposal to develop certain pieces of State-owned land, and to pay for the land in a non-transparent, closed-bidding, procedure?

(15) State Land and Revenues: Will the Penang State government establish a long-term program to publicly auction off individual pieces of State-owned land, at a pre-planned schedule adjusted for market conditions, whether existing or reclaimed, in order to generate regular revenues for the State government? What department will likely be authorized to execute such a land auction program?

(16) State Land and Revenues: Has the State government drawn up a policy and procedure to maximize the value of pieces of State land before they are sold or auctioned off, by planning and providing them with access roads, infrastructure, favorable zoning status, and other commercially-valuable features, and then time the auction sale to maximize the State revenues they can generate from the auction?

(17) State Land and Revenues: Has the State government completed the transfer of state land to the PORR concessionaire? What is the status of each piece of real estate involved? Has the State government arrange to obtain or retain more valuable pieces of land, along PORR's route or on reclaimed land, in exchange for these State lands?

(18) State Land and Revenues: When is the North Coast Highway (Jalan Pantai Utara, from Fettes Park to Teluk Bahang) expected to begin construction and to be completed? Counting 100 meters on each side of the future road, how much of the land along the North Coast Highway is owned by the Penang state government? Considering that the Sungai Dua Road increased the hillside land value substantially, how does the State government plan to gradually divide, lease or sell the land to maximize the value returned to the State, and ensure a steady stream of government income in the future decades from this development? What steps are taken to monitor any transfers so that the land in this area is not transferred to private owners or converted into from private agricultural land to private residential/commercial land at excessively low cost or conversion premium?

(19) State Expenses: What are the top five expenses for the State government, MPPP, and SPPP respectively? Please list the individual amounts and the average growth in the past four years respectively.

(20) State expenses: What was the electricity cost for street decorative lights in Penang in each of the past four year?

(C) Development Projects and Housing

(1) PGCC: Although the new Penang government stated that no approval has been given to PGCC, what other pre-approval documents have been issued or signed, such as memorandum of understanding, letters of intent, and other preliminary permits? Are they issued by the State government or the Federal Government?

(2) PGCC: Although not yet approved, what application documents have been received by the Penang State government or the Federal Government?

See:
http://penangwatch.net/index.php?q=pgcc
http://www.pht.org.my/press_releases_20070915_pgcc.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penang_Global_City_Centre
http://www.pht.org.my/pgcc.htm

(3) North coast and Tanjong Bungah: How many development projects have been approved by the State in the past four years, and how many are currently being considered for approval, in the Tanjong Bungah, Batu Feringgi, and Teluk Bahang areas, in which the projects involve High rises over 30 storeys, or where the projects require substantial hill cutting?

(4) North coast and Tanjong Bungah: What measures are being taken by the State government and MPPP to consult with local residents' association, such as Tanjong Bunga Residents Association, before formulating the LOCAL PLAN for Tanjong Bunga area?

(5) North coast and Tanjong Bungah: Please clarify whether the Tanjong Bunga�Teluk Bahang corridor of low-density-per-acre development identified in the State Structure Plan includes the gazetted boundaries of Tanjong Bunga, which starts from Hotel Tanjong Bungah at the eastern border? What are the reasons given by developers to propose shifting the low-density boundary westward to the edge of Batu Ferringgi (making it the new eastern border), to allow the Tanjong Bungah town to be developed with higher-than-gazetted density?

(6) North coast and Tanjong Bungah: Although the State cannot halt currently APPROVED constructions, will there be a moratorium on the FURTHER APPROVAL of high-rise apartments especially on hill slopes, beach-front sites and in established housing areas, considering the rapid hill cutting in the north coast of Penang until the Local Plan is approved and better procedures are in place to monitor hill cutting?

(7) North coast and Tanjong Bungah: Will the State take action against any land reclamation off Tanjong Bunga � Teluk Bahang Corridor that has not carried out proper Environmental Impact Assessments?

(8) North coast and Tanjong Bungah: A reclamation projects, locally-called "The Sore Thumb" connecting to the Tanjong Club, has been carried out on a State-owned plot with an expired lease to operate a marina and to reclaim a small area for breakwater. However, the actual reclamation is roughly doubled the size and height on the approved but expired marina project. Further more, the developer has applied to build a twin tower of 40-storey apartments on the Tanjong Club ground (Lot 47) and include Lot 48 (public land under expired TOL) as part of the access road. Is there an application by the developer to the State government to convert this expired leasehold land and illegally-expanded reclamation into freehold land? Has this conversion approval been rejected or does the State government consider it to be reasonable enough to continue to go through the approval process?

(9) North coast and Tanjong Bungah: Will the Penang government take action against the "Sore Thumb" developer described above, and decisively disapprove the twin-tower high-rise residential project, and remove the illegal reclamation at the cost of the developer? Has the State government given any deadline to the developer to remove the illegally expanded reclamation on an expired marina lease? (Because MPPP has no jurisdiction over reclaimed sea area, the State government is responsible to take this decision and action.)

(10) North coast and Tanjong Bungah: With the rapidly increased population density in Tanjong Bunga and Batu Ferringgi, what green-area and open-space projects will the State government undertake now to improve the quality of life in these residential areas, and to continue to attracts tourism and Malaysia Second Home residents?

(11) North coast and Tanjong Bungah: There is an application in Tanjong Bungah by the BSG on Lot 4202 off Jalan Cheah Seng Khim, to convert a 25-storey condo project into a 41-storey project. This application for conversion has been rejected so far, but an appeal is pending. Will currently-approved medium-height (25-30 storeys) apartments receive approval (upfront or through appeal) to be converted to become super-height (40+ storeys) apartments or condos? What are the criteria for approving super condo with over 35 storeys in heights anywhere in Penang?

(12) North coast and Tanjong Bungah: There are several housing projects in Batu Feringgi on steep slope, with large surface clearing, such as Moonlight Bay by Ivory Meadows (Lot 35, 89, 197, and part of Lot 36, 196 and 293, Sek. 2 Bandar Batu Feringgi), Hill Top by Asia Green (Lot 343, 397, Sek 2, Bandar Batu Ferringgi), and Shamrock Beach by Tetuan OJY Sdn Bhd (Lot 371-372 Sek 2 Bandar Batu Feringgi). What are the dates on which their environmental impact reports were completed? On what dates were the environmental impact reports approved by State authority, for each of these projects? What are any special conditions attached by the government before approving these projects on steep slopes? How many times have the relevant State department personnel visited each site to monitor the hill-cutting, soil erosion, mud and water run-off problems into the sea? What reports have been filed in the past 2 years on these three sites and other sites?

(13) High Rise Development: Why are high rise developments exempted from providing 10% public open space that are required of low-rise housing projects? With this exemption, would it not mean that there will be more dense population with relatively less public open space?

(14) Local Plan: When will the latest Local Plan become available to the public for review and feed back? Will the State government undertake to advertise the feedback period more broadly, and extend the feedback period to at least 3 months?

(15) Heritage Area Development: Has there been any State approval for a 10-storey hotel by a "Asian Global Business Sdn Bhd" near the clock tower? Will Penang government strictly adhere to the 5-storey limit of development within heritage area in Georgetown? Will any high-rise development proposal near the old clock tower near Fort Cornwallis be rejected or the approval investigated and reversed?

(16) KOMTAR Development: Now that the old market in Prangin area has been demolished, what is the status and progress of further development of the KOMTAR project? What is the schedule for new components and their expected completion dates? Who are the owners, developers, and contractors, of the new phases of KOMTAR development?

(17) KOMTAR Development: How do the new phases of KOMTAR developments integrate into the existing KOMTAR and the surrounding area, transport, and businesses? How are the new phases different from the existing KOMTAR, in order to avoid simply cannibalizing on the businesses of the existing KOMTAR?

(18) KOMTAR Development: Who are the new anchor tenants that the State government plans to attract to fill in the first phase of KOMTAR? Is Penang government actively inviting private colleges to consolidate their campuses into KOMTAR? Is KOMTAR management looking creatively for new tenants such as a wide range of clinics, high tech offices, fitness center, large book stores, factory outlets, and providing the necessary infrastructure to attract them?

(19) KOMTAR Development: What is the organization structure of KOMTAR management? Who owns the management company and what are the contract terms of the management of KOMTAR? What are the curriculum vitae of the management, marketing, and financial teams?

(20) Low-Income Housing: How many units of low-income housing have been completed (occupancy certificates issued), whether by the government or private developers, in each of the past four years? Where are most of these units located within Penang?

(21) Low-Income Housing: How many more units of low-income housings are estimated to be completed in the next four years (OC obtained), whether by the government or private developers? Where are most of these units located within Penang?

(22) Low-Income Housing: What is the estimated low-cost housing unit demand estimated for the next four years, divided into geographical regions? What is the difference between this estimated demand and the above estimated completed units for the next four years?

(23) Low-Income Housing: At what price range are most of these units purchased by the owners in the past 4 years? How many of these units are discounted to compensate for residents having to move out of other locations?

(24) Low-Income Housing: How many units of low-income housing under construction are currently postponed and abandoned due to developer financial difficulties? What are the locations, who are the developers, and what has the State government done about each abandoned project?

(25) Low-Income Housing: Has there been a failed construction plan for a flat around Lebuh Aceh, Masjid Melayu, on wakaf land? What's the current plan for the land, the expected residents of the flat, and how are these residents housed temporarily today?

(26) Kampung Buah Pala: Who or what trust was the historical owner of the land containing Kg Buah Pala? Who or what cooperative have allegedly become the new owner of the land? Who and when did the transfer application submitted, and approved by whom? Are the transfer valid from the point of the State government?

(27) Tsunami Temporary Housing: 40 months after the Dec 2004 tsunami, how many families are still living in temporary tsunami evacuee housing in the State? How many families are located in each temporary housing site? Have they been assigned future low-cost housing units? When are the units expected to be completed.

(28) Tsunami Temporary Housing: What are the reasons for the delay in moving into these housing units? How many have not been promised permanent low-cost housing units and where will they be living? When will all temporary tsunami housing and plots revert to their rightful owners?

(D) Transport System

(1) Transport improvement plan: Does the State government plan to draft some sort of a Transport Master Plan? If so, what will be the objective, main sections, time line, and who will be involved in drafting such a plan? Does the State government intend to open up such a process to public participation, hearing, and comments?

(2) Transport improvement plan: If the State government does not plan to draft a substantial transport improvement plan, or some Transport Master Plan, why not? It is the poor and disadvantaged residents of Penang who will suffer the most from a lack of efficient public transport compared to the well-to-do. The lack of low-cost transport will reduce the ability to find jobs and attend adult training for the single mothers, youth, low-skill workers, physically disabled, and elderly residents of Penang. In addition, the cost of paying for car loan, maintenance, and petrol will eat up a larger portion the low-income family earnings. Businesses also suffer from higher costs because employees need to be compensated to offset the transport costs. What is the alternative to drafting a substantial transport improvement plan in order to increase living standard, and reduce living and business costs in Penang?

(3) Transport regulation: Currently the Federal government controls the regulation, licensing, and ownership on most transport issues and businesses, including bus regulation (Commercial Vehicle Licensing Board), bus operation (RapidPenang), general transport issues (JPJ), taxi license, current and future bridge concessions, ferry operation (Penang Port Sdn Bhd), plan for monorail, plan for PORR, and a history of major road building being controlled and awarded by the federal government (BORR, JE). How does the state government plan to claim back substantial legal and administrative powers -- on transport regulation, permits, and decision making -- that are currently held by the Federal government?

(4) Transport regulation: How does the State government plan to implement some sort of Transport Master Plan, or to improve Penang's transport in any substantial way, if the State government do not take control of the above regulation, permit, and decision making processes, especially since the State also depends on the Federal government for routine and major funding (budget and grants), as well as additionally depends on the Federal government on transport law enforcement (police), and investigative powers (ACA)?

(5) Transport regulation: Without direct local election, the unelected city councilors may find that they lack the grassroots support and public opinion to back them up against feuding bus companies, protesting taxi and bus drivers, under-performing and corrupted transport operators, thuggish mini-buses, protesting residents who may need to be resettled to make way for transport hub/ferry pier/road construction, or lack direct public backing to demand the police to provide faster security for bus drivers, and enforce transport violations. Does the State government plan to hold direct local election before the implementation of any transport improvement plan in order to invest legitimacy and power onto the city councilors to resolve the myriads of transport-related problems?

(6) Transport regulation: Does the State government plan to establish a Public Transport Commission, headed by an State Commissioner or Ombudsman? What will be the duty and powers of any such PTC? Will the commission members be elected by direct election to ensure its legitimacy and authority in solving conflicting commercial and political interest?

(7) Does the State government plan to pursue its earlier plan for a Bus Negeri Pulau Pinang, as a second major bus company in Penang? If government funding is inadequate, will the State openly invite private companies to tender for the second or even third bus operation? Having a second operator is important not for direct competition, but to establish independent benchmarks to compare operating efficiency (measurements of efficiencies of fuel consumption, manpower, maintenance, performance, etc). Each bus company can cover a distinct territory, such as northeast, southwest, northern Prai, southern Prai. They should not compete directly because they need to absorb loss-making routes and time slots. See also "BUG: State Govt should take back control over bus operation (with proposal)"
http://penangwatch.net/node/2197

(8) Bus Transport: What is the status as reported by Rapid Penang regarding its passenger load and profitability?

(9) Bus Transport: What are the plans by Rapid Penang regarding additional routes, buses, and services, on the island and mainland?

(10) Bus Transport: What does the Penang State government plan to do to assist Rapid Penang during the initial years when Penang residents slowly gain confidence in a public bus transport system, and slowly shift from buying cars to using buses?

(11) Bus Transport: How much has the State and Federal government provided to Rapid Penang in terms of funding and bus station real estate in the past 2 years? What are the terms, conditions, and total value?

(12) Bus Transport: Who are the owners of Rapid Penang and what equity and debt capitals have been invested into the company? How often does State government meet with Rapid Penang directors and senior managers for reports and coordination?

(13) Bus Transport: What other variations of bus services are being planned for Penang? Will there be community mini buses that circulate within small community area? Will there be buses that cut perpendicularly across Rapid Penang routes and supplement Rapid Penang? Will there be more buses that run between the island and Seberang Prai? Will there be buses that shuttle or run in rings around tourist destinations?

(14) Taxi Transport: What has the State government concluded about the difficulty of establishing a widely-available metered taxi system? What has been the historical bottleneck or hindrance? Are the problems economic, legal, political, geographical, or cultural in nature that Penang cannot establish a fleet of convenient, reliable, and widely available, metered taxis?

(15) Taxi Transport: More specifically from State government research, do taxi operators suffer from the lack of Federal license, unreasonable costs of multiple layers of sub-licensing, inadequate economies of scale in Penang, excise tax which raised car price and rental price, or high cost of petrol?

(16) Taxi Transport: What percentage of all taxis in Penang is regulated by Federal licenses, vs. State licenses? What are the laws that prohibit the State government from issuing taxi licenses? Can the State government circumvent these Federal licensing requirements or sue the Federal government in order to improve the transport and economic efficiency of Penang?

(17) Taxi Transport: How feasible is it for the State government to help convert most taxis to operate on Liquid Petroleum Gas, to help control operating costs? See
http://www.shellgas.com.my/site.html?page=43

(18) Taxi Transport: How feasible is it for the State government to assist taxi companies to purchase taxis without paying federal excise tax? How feasible is it for Penang taxi fleet to circumvent import and excise tax by buying or leasing vehicles through Kedah's Langkawi?

(19) Tram Transport: Has the government conducted any feasibility study or considered private proposals for reviving Georgetown's electric tram service? Given the similar geographical structure of Penang and Hong Kong Island, which are hilly islands with thin strip of flat lands with narrow streets, what would be the reason that Hong Kong tram can provide affordable and efficient tram service for residents and tourists but Penang cannot? Are the hurdles mainly federal regulations, state regulation, finance, conflict with other transport systems, or a lack of determination? See also:

http://penangwatch.net/taxonomy/term/6
http://lucialai.org/2007/08/13/trams-in-penang-in-the-near-future/
http://www.rapidpg.com.my/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&I...
http://www.arecabooks.com/webpages/books08.html

(20) Sungai Nyior Toll: What is the status of the alternative surface roads being constructed to bypass the Sungai Nyior Toll?

(21) Sungai Nyior Toll: How many more alternative routes can the State government build to benefit the local residents, businesses, and factories, since the crooked shape of Sungai Prai has always limited development and commercial potential in the area?

(22) Sungai Nyior Toll: Can the State government build underground routes (in the soft delta soil in Prai) instead of bridges to connect more existing roads in the Prai delta area? Wouldn't more bypasses and alternative routes creates more commercial value for the neighborhood, at the same time make the Sungai Nyior Toll less valuable, so that Penang State government can induce the toll road operator to abolish the Sungai Nyior toll in exchange for other benefits? Who owns the blocks of land on both sides of the Sungai Nyior toll stations, as well as another block southeast of the toll and west of Sg Prai? The Butterworth-Kulim Highway concessionaire will not lose out in the end, because a more developed Kampong Sungai Nyior area will eventually increase overall traffic and toll income for the highway. (http://www.wikimapia.org/#lat=5.405348&lon=100.382016&z=16&l=0&m=a&v=2)

(23) Airline and Tourism: What direct flights are currently available between Penang and India, China, and ASEAN countries, and how frequently per week for each route? What future flights are being planned and what is the hurdle in getting these additional flights approved?

(24) Transport and Tourism: What entities are in charge of maintaining and operating the Penang Hill trams and stations? Who are the owner, shareholders, and the board of directors for this entity? What are the terms of the management contract in terms of time period, value, and assurance of high quality of service?

(25) Ferry transport: Who are the owner, shareholders, and board of directors for the current ferry operator? Does Penang Port Sdn Bhd (PPSB) fully owned the operation, and is PPSB fully owned by the Finance Ministry?

(26) Ferry transport: Does the State government have any plan to takeover, or invite private parties in an open tender to takeover, the Penang ferry operator, known as Penang Port Sdn Bhd (PPSB), a company that is licensed or controlled by the Finance Ministry? PPB is reported to be incurring RM12m of losses per year. Isn't this an opportunity to take the control away from the Federal government, and place the ferry company in the hands of private operators who are more likely to make it profitable and sustainable? See "Penang plans to scrap vehicular ferry service" http://penangwatch.net/node/2139 and "Improve ferry service to augment Penang Bridge" http://www.malaysiakini.com/letters/81450

(27) Ferry transport: How many cars, motorcycles, pedestrians were transported in the past 4 year? What were the revenues and profit or loss in the past 4 year? How does the operator determine the balance between car, motorcycle, and passenger capacity offered to the public?

(28) Ferry transport: Does the State government plan to induce the ferry operator to supplement the current ferry service with other types of ferries, such as speed boat or hydrofoil, provided they involve a reasonable cost to invest, maintain, and operate?

(29) Ferry transport: Will the State government allow the ferry company to carry out its current plan to stop full vehicular ferry service after the bridge expansion is completed next year? Will vehicular-cum-passenger ferry service be stopped soon after? Will the State government compel the ferry company to always provide vehicular ferry service to ensure Penang does not depend only on one link to the mainland for strategic reason?

(30) Ferry transport: Will the State government compel the ferry operator to provide 24 hour services to ensure passenger and businesses are supported between Butterworth and Georgetown?

(31) Ferry transport: Does the State government have any plan to offer ferry service between Georgetown and southern Prai, Northern Prai, Kuala Muda, Teluk Bahang, Batu Maung, and Batu Kawan?

(32) Ferry transport: Given bridge congestion, can the State government compel the ferry operator to reduce vehicular ticket charge and increase ferry frequency, to divert traffic from the bridge? The ferry company may not lose money from this change because it will be compensated with higher volumes of cars.

(32) Highway: What is the status of road improvement between Teluk Kumbar and Balik Pulau?

(33) Highway: What is the status of the planned northern coastal highway (Jalan Pantai Utara)? What is the main reason that it has been planned but not implemented? Is the main reason economic, political, environmental, legal, or timing?

(34) Penang Bridge: What are key terms currently governing the concessionaire of the Penang Bridge and its widening, in terms of time period, quality requirements? When is the bridge widening expected to be completed?

(35) Penang Bridge: What are the legal hurdles stopping Penang State government from publicly revealing the concessionary agreement terms for the Penang Bridge? Will the State government go to the court to get a court order to reveal the concessionary details, since this project does not concern foreign threat and national security?

(36) Penang Bridge: What are the options available for Penang residents to participate more closely in determining the future of Penang Bridge? Will the Penang government set up an oversight board comprising private residents and experts to oversee the safety, expansion, quality of service, and future fee increase?

(37) Penang Second Bridge: What is the status of the planning and construction of the Penang Second Bridge? When is the bridge expected to be completed given current progress? See also:
"Second bridge: 7 ideas for 7-member committee" http://www.malaysiakini.com/letters/82107
"Second bridge needs multi-dimensional solutions" http://www.malaysiakini.com/opinions/82183

(38) Penang Second Bridge: Who are the concessionaire and main contractor for the Penang Second Bridge? What are the main concessionary terms of the Second Bridge? Will the State government go to the court to get a court order to reveal the concessionary details, since this project does not concern foreign threat and national security?

(39) Penang Second Bridge: How much will the bridge cost? Will the Federal government or the State government consider issuing a bond to finance the Second Bridge, and paying back the bond with the expected bridge toll?

(40) Bridges and Ferries: How are the owners of the Ferry, The Penang Bridge, and the Second Bridge related? How are the operating contracts or concessions inter-related?

(41) Penang Monorail: What is the status of Penang Monorail project? Who are the owners, shareholders, and board of directors of the Monorail project? What is the expected time of completion?

(42) Penang Monorail: What are the key terms in the Monorail concession? Will the State government go to the court to get a court order to reveal the concessionary details, since this project does not concern foreign threat and national security?

(43) PORR: Is the Letter of Intent given to Peninsular Metroworks revoked, by either the Federal or State government, now that the time frame has been delayed for so long? If the LOI is not revoked, why not?

(44) PORR: Will the State government go to the court to get a court order to reveal the concessionary details, since this project does not concern foreign threat and national security?

(45) PORR: In consideration that the current "concessionaire" has financially troubled shareholders, has failed to carry out any meaningful progress, and lacks sound environmental studies, why do the Penang State and Federal government continue to regard Peninsular Metroworks as the legitimate "concessionaire?"

(46) PORR: What steps can be taken by the Penang state government in order to reopen the PORR contract to open bidding by a consortium that is financially and technically proven to be stronger than the current "concessionaire?"

(47) PORR: Can the Penang government issue bond to build the PORR, repay the bond with toll, and then eliminate the toll after the bond has been repaid?

(48) Pedestrian Walkways: How many kilometers of pedestrian sidewalks have been improved (widened, re-paved, railing added, or handicapped access added) in Georgetown in the past 4 years? How many more km are being planned and where are they located?

(49) Pedestrian Walkways: What are existing policies to ensure adequate shading from the sun for pedestrian walkways? What kind of covering or shading is in the planning?

(50) Pedestrian overpasses: How many pedestrian overpasses have been built in the past 4 years? How much do they cost? Where are they located? What kinds of design features are used to ensure they are pedestrian-, handicap-, and commerce-friendly and safe from crime?

(51) Pedestrian overpasses: How many pedestrian overpasses have been built in the NEXT 4 years? How much are they estimated to cost? Where will they be located? What kinds of design features are used to ensure they will be pedestrian-, handicap-, and commerce-friendly and safe from crime?

(52) Pedestrian underpasses: How many underground underpasses are planned in places where overpasses are not feasible, too hot, or too expensive? What are the features to make them crime-safe at all time?

(53) Pedestrian overpasses and underpasses: How and does the State government encourage commercial buildings and hotels to interconnect with overpasses and underpasses, to enhance pedestrian traffic and commercial value? Will the State finance the middle portions that are located on State land?

(54) Penang Hill Cable Car Proposal: What is the status of the proposal to connect Teluk Bahang and Penang Hill with a cable car system? Has a finalized project been proposed, environmental impact studies completed, and financial feasibility conducted? What company is the proposer, who are the shareholders, and what are the terms proposed? When will the State government open the project to public commentary, counter proposals, and open bidding to build and operate if such a system is approved?

(E) Economy and Business

(1) NEP/MEA: Since the State government is abandoning NEP, what measures will it take to buffer the transition so that genuine, middle-class, Malay entrepreneurs who had geared up financially and operationally under the existing system, will not be suddenly disrupted and cut off from revenues to sustain their businesses? Is the new State government aware and concerned that any sharp turn in economic policies may permanently damage the current crop of mid-tier Malay entrepreneurs?

(2) Multi-Ethnic Chamber of Commerce: To create private organization that will help replace the race-base NEP business model, will the Penang State government provide the initial funding for a Penang-based, multi-racial, multi-state, and multi-national, northern Malaysia chamber of commerce? Will the Penang State government support an objective such as the sharing of business connections, local insights, and exploring economy of scale across the northern states and regions of Penang, Kedah, Kelantan, Perak, Perlis, Southern Thailand, Sumatra, and later southern Myanmar?

(3)Equal Employment Opportunity Act at state level: Will the State government or legislators consider drafting an Equal Employment Opportunity Act (EEOA) for debate and a vote by the LEGCO for enactment at the State level? Such an EEOA will allow the State to lead the Federal government and experiment with a progressive law. The EEOA should require any contractors seeking state government projects to employ managers, engineers, planners, contractor, technical workers, all personnel, of all races, gender, age, physical capability, and backgrounds. It should be flexible enough that it does not become a rigid and counter-productive quota system, and should not be applied to non-government-contract contractors until the experiment is well tested and debated. The EEOA should legislate an independent arbitration panel for employment disputes. The emphasis should be on honest and vigorous efforts to create opportunities and a diverse working and recruiting environment. One of the initial goals is to increase the racial diversity of working environment, but the law should aim to make race a non-issue eventually in future work place. The State should place an automatic expiry date on this law after 10 years, but renewable upon an active legislative vote, since any discriminative law is likely to be abused and, even if well-intended, will in its own way distort social harmony.

(4) MSC Penang: Since MSC around Putrajaya has achieving very little after heavy investments and a long period of time, how will the extension of MSC to Penang make a difference in fostering the growth of IT industry in Penang? How will the Penang government handle the IT industry initiative differently from the Federal government to avoid falling into the same unproductive trap?

(5) Electronic FDI: What have been the top 10 complaints, demands, or worries from Foreign Direct Investors when approached for new investments and re-investments that the government can surmise after the many overseas trips and meetings between the State administration and FDI owners in the past 4 years?

(6) Electronic and High-Tech Industry: What measures will the new State government take to ensure the storage and transport security of manufacturing industries that require high-value raw materials? How will the State government manage the Federally-controlled police force to ensure substantial improvement in business and private security? What have been the historical bottlenecks to increasing security for Penang's industrial firms?

(7) Economic Strategy: How will the State government take advantage of past and future research by SERI into Penang's economic opportunities? Will the new State government stimulate public discussion based on SERI's research conclusions on Penang's electronic, aquaculture, tourism, transport, textile, medical, automation, and other industries which have been recorded in its publication since 2000?

See:
http://www.seri.com.my/oldsite/listing%20by%20article.htm
http://www.seri.com.my/ap/penang-economic-monthly-2003.html
http://www.seri.com.my/ap/penang-economic-monthly-2004.html
http://www.seri.com.my/ap/penang-economic-monthly-2005.html
http://www.seri.com.my/ap/penang-economic-monthly-2006.html
http://www.seri.com.my/ap/penang-economic-monthly-2007.html
http://www.seri.com.my/ap/penang-economic-monthly-2008.html

(8) Economic Think Tank and Transparency: What has been the reasons that SERI's research had been kept under low profile by the past State government? Was it a fear of criticism or transparency, or an unwillingness to challenge the patronage system of the NEP? How will the new Penang State government encourage more straight-talking recommendations from SERI, which appears to have been over-cautious historically?

(9) High-End Agriculture: Given Malaysia's high production cost yet persistent agricultural and aquacultural demands from China, India, and the rest of the world, has the Penang State government formulated concrete steps to liberalize and promote investments in high-end agriculture and aquaculture in Penang, such as the (a) breeding of fish seeds (juveniles) for up-market marine fish, crustaceans, molluscs, (b) cloning and culturing of rare tropical plants, cut flowers, (c) ornamental fish, (d) bacterial research for agricultural, aquaculture, nutritional, and sewerage treatment uses, and (e) swiftlet and birdnest production, (f) premium tropical fruits, to be exported to aqua farmers and consumers in ASEAN countries, India, China, and the Middle East?

(10) High-End Agriculture: What are the government's plans to promote and regulate the environmental impacts of the above high-value agricultural products in conjunction with the coastal regions of Kedah, Perak, Thailand, and Sumatra?

(11) High-End Agriculture and Transport: Does the State government have any integrated plan to support a high-end, regional, agricultural production system by making Penang an efficient regional transport hub for air cargo, ferries, rail links and highways to support both supply collection and timely export distribution?

(12) High-End Agriculture: How will the new State government work more closely with and encourage productivity of the marine and fishery research institutes available in Penang, such as the WorldFish Centre � formerly known as the International Center for Living Aquatic Resources Management (ICLARM), Fisheries Research Institute, Centre for Marine & Coastal Studies (CEMACS), and Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM)?

(13) Pasar Malam Entrepreneurs and Tourism: How will the State government further organize, expand, inter-connect, and promote the Pasar Malam network and other markets to encourage cottage industries and individual entrepreneurs?

(14) Pasar Malam Entrepreneurs and Tourism: Will the State government systematically expand the promotion of pasar malam into the cyberspace, to include the pasar malam culture as part of the tourism promotion drive?

(15) Fisherman Economy: What is the status of the newly established Teluk Bahang Fisherman Market? What is the size of the market, how many stores have been prepared, and how many are occupied on a regular basis? How many hours per day on average has it operated in the past 6 months, when more than 50% of the stores are open for business? How much has been invested in this market? How were the stores allocated to interested fisherman?

(16) Fisherman Economy: Will the State government encourage the investments of wet market stall owners to add capacity for selling life seafood, to upgrade the wet markets, create higher-margin outlets for fishermen and fishmongers, increase consumer choices, and encourage high-end aquaculture? Will the State aquaculture or fishery department guide and educate the fishmongers about the initial set up of low-cost filtration and aeration system to supply life seafood in the wet markets?

(17) Wet Market: Will the State government review the environmentally unsanitary practice of slaughtering chicken within semi-enclosed space in Penang's wet markets? Although Penang consumers demand freshly slaughtered chicken, the water pollution and localized air pollution, and possible negative impact on business in case of avian flu outbreak are undesirable effects. Chicken mongers will also justifiably fear a new monopoly slaughter house if slaughtering is moved away. But how will the State government balance these concerns against the long-term need to reform the sanitary conditions of the market?

(18) Wet Market: With the increase of foreign tourists touring the local wet markets (eg in Tanjong Bungah) in addition to pasar malams, what investment and improvements will the State government make to wet market hygiene and transport to benefit local consumers as well as tourism?

(19) New Wet Market and Hawker Buildings: How many new wet market buildings and hawker centers have been completed by the State government and the spaces tendered in the past 4 years? What are the operating rates? How many are substantially under-used because the stores were assigned in a non-transparent manner, without giving the opportunity to all local entrepreneurs? If the new markets and hawker centers are under-utilized because of inconvenient access, location, how will the State government rectify the situation?

(F) Tourism and Culture

(1) Tourism development and promotion: The Federal government is terminating the funding of Penang Tourism Action Council (PTAC). But there has been feedback from tourism operators that the PTAC is ineffective, redundant, and that Tourism Malaysia campaign is a much more important international promotion channel to attract overseas tourists. What will the State government do to coordinate with the Tourism Malaysia campaign to ensure the continual promotion of tourism in Penang internationally? Will there be regular meetings, exchange of ideas, and cooperative efforts and trips, and feedback mechanism between Tourism Malaysia and the Penang government? What department within the Penang State government will be responsible for this coordinating effort and budget?
See "Tourism action council redundant" http://penangwatch.net/node/2179

(2) Tourism Development Committee: Will the State government set up a tourism development committee and invite private sector representatives to sit on the committee? What is the time frame for setting up such a committee, what are the meeting schedule, duties, power, and management structure of such a tourism development committee?

(3) Is there any effort to further take advantage of the Internet to promote Penang tourism, especially to compensate for the loss of federal funding for PTAC? How many tourism Web sites are currently funded by the Penang government? How much has been spent on the initial development of these tourism Websites in the past 4 years, and how much is budgeted per year in the next year? How often are they updated, and who are responsible for update and feedback? Who are any outside contractor involved, and how is their performance measured?

(4) Tourism Publication: What are any existing print publications wholly or partially financed by the State government to promote tourism and Penang culture? Please list the publications, contractors, their shareholders, terms of editorial and publication contracts in time period, value per year, and other key conditions.

(5) Tourism Resources: What are the existing state-owned tourism resources that have been privatized by lease arrangements, such as Fort Cornwallis, the War Museum, KOMTAR top floor, Penang Hill top hotel, Penang Hill old teahouse, and others? Please list state-owned tourism resources, contractors or lease holders, their shareholders, and the terms of lease or contracts, including time period, value per year, key conditions, methods of evaluating their performance, and other relevant details.

(6) Tourism development: What is the business model that the Penang government will use to promote and protect new eco-tourism resources, such as the fire flies river of Nibong Tebal and wetland? For this example, what State department will be involved and what laws, regulation, rules, and guidelines will be invoke to respond in an integrated manner, such as to plant light-shielding nipa palms along the river, remove light-emitting structure too close to the river, monitor water quality, and ensure local entrepreneurs will get to participate fairly in the new eco-tourism ventures, but are also regulated so as to ensure tourist safety and minimize damages to the ecological system?

(7) Park and Hiking Trails: Will there be a coordinated campaign to mark the name, destinations, and distance of the trail junctions on the hills of Penang for the benefits of hikers and tourists? Will the trails be promoted as part of tourism resources for foreign, out-of-state, convention, medical, and dental tourists? How will the State government coordinate with or provide incentives to land owners when existing trails trespass on their land?

(8) Medical and Dental Tourism: What are the measures taken by the State government to support the private hospitals and dental clinics in promoting their medical and dental tourism programs such as freer access of transport vehicles to and from the airport and Web information services?

(9) Cultural and Botanical Tourism: What measures will the State government take to promote cultural and scientific tourism such as better use of the various museums, libraries, botanical garden, cultural performance, art exhibition, aquarium of the Fishery Research Institute in Batu Maung?

(10) Botanical Garden Expansion: What is the existing size of the Botanical Garden and Youth Park? What is the proposed increase in size to each of Botanical Garden and Youth Park? What is the status of the expansion plan? What are the legal, financial, and time requirements to complete the expansion project? How many more approvals are required from various authorities?

(11) Botanical Garden: In addition to expansion, what long-term measures will the State government undertake to revitalize the scientific, research, educational, and international conservation role of the Botanical Garden? The cultural, economic, and tourism values of tropical botanical gardens remain high and untapped, considering that (a) there are no other major botanical garden in Malaysia, (b) the Penang botanical garden has a shared history with Singapore and Indonesia's Bogor prestigious botanical gardens, and that (c) a single tropical U.S. state -- Hawaii -- alone houses over 30 tropical botanical gardens.

(12) Integration of tourist destinations: How will the State government link together Penang's various attractions, shopping areas, and food outlets to create an overall experience that are greater that the sum of individual attractions? Will the State government emphasize promotional brochures, travel documentary films, advertisement, Web sites, an integrated bus system, hotel packages, or local tour companies?

(13) Tourism Perspectives: Will the new State tourism authority reform its own thinking, and promote Penang from the subjective and romantic perspectives of foreign tourists, rather than remain preoccupied with our own nationalistic propaganda that turn off tourists? As a service industry, tourism must satisfy the tourists' fancies, not our own. Will Penang tourism policies aim (a) to fulfill the European tourists' romantic search for colonial history, (b) to attract intellectuals with botanic, anthropological, and architectural history, (c) to attract tourists from China and India with immigrant history, (d) to attract Middle East tourist as a family destination and with its Muslim trading outpost history, (e) to attract Australian tourists with RAAF nostalgia, and (f) to attract ASEAN tourists seeking out variations of home-like temples, cathedrals, mosques, architecture, and food?

(14) Tourism and Media: Will the State government tap into the rise of regional film talents, cable TV channels, and strong international demands for quality documentary films on travel, nature, culture, and food? Will the State government kick-start a merchant-sponsored contest for local producers to produce documentary films of international commercial value on culture, history, food, travel, natural history of northern Malaysia and Indonesia, and South Thailand?

(15) Tourism and Eateries: While food is a memorable and integral part of tourism, Penang hawkers, seafood and other restaurants, coffee shops, and pubs need to have some standardized accreditation or certification of quality in order to assure and attract tourists to achieve greater volume and margins. What type of certification or accreditation will Penang State government provide to the eateries to secure their place on the standard tour itinerary?

(16) Tourism and Eateries: Most local food are exotic to tourists and will need introductory notes. What will the new State government do to systematically promote and introduce standard local food that are available widely from many hawkers and restaurants? Will the State tourism board sponsor pictured signboards, pictured menus, or explanatory brochures in multiple languages, at least meaningful English?

(17) State Properties and Tourism resource: How many bungalows, properties, or plots of land does the State government own on Penang Hill? What are the plans to upgrade or renovate the bungalows and what will be the uses for these bungalows? Would any plan to lease out these properties be carried out through open bidding?

(18) State Properties and Tourism resource: What is the status of Pulau Jerejak resort island? What entity currently holds the permits or leases to operate the jetty, ferry service, resort, and other facilities on the island? Is there a monopoly of operator, or will certain tourism resources be opened to bidding? Who are the operators, lease holders, their shareholders, and terms of leases? Why does the tourism venture appear to be a failure in its ability to attract local and foreign tourists? How much funding has the State or Federal government provided to this resort? When will the State government restructure the contract and reopen the contract for bidding?

(19) State Properties, Revenues and Tourism resource: Are there still any remaining leprosy victims living in or near Pulau Jerejak? When did the last resident who suffered from leprosy live on the island? Will the State government preserve the leprosy hospital, quarantine center, prison structure, and Russian cemetery on Pulau Jerejak as memorials to Penang's past, so that they will not be demolished like KL's Sungai Buloh leprosy settlement?

(20) What is the status of the historical building 65 Macalister road, established as reading club and meant to be preserved as Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Centre? Will it be converted into a museum? What department is responsible for developing, financing, managing this tourism resource? Will it be integrated into Penang's tourism resources?

(21) Libraries: How many libraries are there in the state currently, including mobile units? How many volumes of books, regular visitors, total visits, and total volumes borrowed have been reported at each of these libraries in the past 4 years? How many computers and WWW-connected PCs are there in each of these libraries? What percentage of the books are in these languages - Bahasa Malaysia, English, Chinese, Tamil, others? How much multi-media resources are available in each library?

(22) Libraries: What are the plans to further develop and connect the libraries, to increase visitors, connect to bus system, advertise their services, expand open hours, expand multi-language book and multi-media collections, and conduct minor educational events in the libraries? Under what department are the librarians, staff, and technical staff employed? Who are the board of directors of the governing entity?

(23) Tanjong Tokong Malay Enclave: The Tanjong Tokong Malay village which was partially damaged by a fire last year may be one of the oldest Malay enclaves in Penang, and may have been older than Kampung Baru in KL. Has the state government surveyed the village's cultural history before agreeing to its redevelopment along with the Tanjong Tokong reclamation area? A new mosque has been built to replace the old one, Kelab Melayu has been demolished, and the police station built in 1920s has been replaced with a modern one. Has the state government arranged a dialogue with the developer, and with Tanjong Tokong residents who want the State government to appoint a specialist panel to study, preserve, and gazette historical landmarks for tourism and cultural heritage in this Malay enclave?

(24) Tanjong Tokong Malay Enclave: Where will the residents be relocated from the area affected by the fire and development plan? Will their new location be close to a new market and school? With the road straightening, will the school be relocated closer to the new housing, and if so will the existing school location be partially converted into a public area or park accessible to the relocated residents?

(25) Fishing and trawler: How many permits have been given out to trawlers around Penang in the past 10 years? How many complaints or reports have been recorded about trawler damage to inshore fish stock around Penang in the past 4 years? How many of the complaints involve out of state trawlers from neighboring states?

(26) Swiftlet Housing in Residential Area: What are the federal and state laws and regulation governing the housing of swiftlets and bird nest production in general? More specifically within densely populated residential and commercial zones, what are the conflicting federal and state laws, regulations, rules governing the conversion of residential buildings into swiftlet housing? With regards to health regulations, what are the laws and rules governing swiftlet housing in residential zone? With regards to noise pollution from the broadcast of swiftlet calls to attract swiftlets, what is the restriction of the hours of broadcasting?

(27) Birdnest Economy vs Heritage Area: With regards to the application to UNESCO to list Georgetown as a World Heritage City, how may the federal and state laws and regulations conflict with UNESCO requirements regarding the conversion of heritage area buildings into swiftlet housing?

(28) World Heritage City Application: When does the Penang government expect to hear about UNESCO's decision to listing Georgetown as a World Heritage City, is it still July? Between now and decision time, what other efforts will the Penang government make to convince UNESCO to approve the WHC status?

(29) World Heritage City Application: If Georgetown's application for World Heritage City status succeeds, what will be Penang government's next step to sustain and develop on this achievement? What preparation has been put in place? Has there been any marketing or strategic plan in place? What kind of entity will be put in charge of the tasks in the long term? Who will be the owner, board of directors or trustees, and management of this entity? If the application fails, will there be another chance to apply for WHC, and what upgrades and regulatory changes will be needed to succeed in another application?

(30) World Heritage City Application: What regulation, rules, power and resources will be placed in trust of the WHC-oversight entity to ensure its success? What further regulations and laws will need to be gazetted by the State and Federal government to support, sustain, and develop the WHC status?

(31) World Heritage City Application: If Georgetown's application for World Heritage City status fails, will Penang join force with Melaka to re-apply as a "straits settlement twin heritage city"? Will the potential benefit be extended to Perak, Selangor, and Negeri Sembilan which are located between the two cities, encourage the Penang State government to work with Melaka and these other states to achieve this goal?

(32) Tourism and Clan Jetties: What are the current plans to preserve the clan jetties and upgrade them as cultural and tourism resources? Is there any variation in the development plans if the WHC application succeeds or fails? What are the plans for its infrastructure, sewerage treatment, and fire and other safety upgrade? What are the commercial plans or permits currently being proposed that are directly related to the clan jetties or residents?

(G) Environment

(1) North coast developments and environmental impacts: In addition to the 3 projects cited earlier (Moonlight Bay, Shamrock Beach, Hill Top Homes), several other projects in Batu Feringgi and Tanjong Bungah have shown yellow, muddy, run-off during heavy rain onto the road and into the sea. Were the Environmental Impact Assessment inadequate or the enforcement inadequate in controlling such environmental damages? If the Environmental Impact Assessment was sufficient, was there interim checks to make sure the Environmental Impact Assessment guidelines were followed and if there was a breach, any disciplinary action taken. How many warnings, fines, or stop-work orders have been issued with regard to inadequate control of soil run-off, or developers violating their development approval conditions for environmental impact, over the past 4 years?

(2) Hill cutting: How many times have State government surveyors or engineers visited and examined run-off condition during and outside of rainy season on hill-related developments in the past 4 years? These hill-related developments include housing developments on steep hill slope, hill cutting for agriculture, and earth removal for reclamation from steep slopes, in areas such as in Paya Terubong, Bukit Bendera, Tanjong Bungah, Balik Pulau, Juru, and other locations? What

(3) Hill cutting: What kind of statistics does the State government maintain about how many acres of hill slope (more than 30 degrees) have been denuded in the past 4 years, respectively in Penang's north coast, Air Itam, Paya Terubong, Relau, Balik Pulau, Juru and other areas of Prai, for each of these purposes -- housing projects, earth extraction for reclamation, agriculture, and others?

(4) Hill cutting: What are the regulations concerning removing earth from hill slopes for land reclamation elsewhere? What rehabilitation measures are required by law for hill land owners if they carry out earth removal for reclamation, since no building, commercial planting, and infrastructure will replace the removed earth?

(5) Water pollution: What is the status of projects to rectify the pollution of Sungai Pinang caused by residential housing and the livestock slaughter house? What is the funding proposed, approved, and paid out over the past 4 years? Who are the contractors to implement the various aspects of the cleaning up measures? Will their contracts be renewed in the next four years?

(6) Indah Water Operations: What is the percentage of residential and commercial properties that paying service charge to Indah Water in Penang state, broken down by regions? How many of these properties are actually connected to collective or individual-apartment sewerage treatment facilities operated by Indah Water?

(7) Indah Water Operations: How many older apartments in the State are not connected to Indah Water's collected treatment plants, and yet have not invested in their own sewerage treatment tank and machinery that are of a standard acceptable to be taken over by Indah Water? Because Indah Water has refused to take over the operation of such septic tanks, it is obvious that their facilities are substandard and will be discharging semi-treated or untreated effluent into the seas around Penang, especially the tourist areas of Tanjong Bungah and Batu Feringgi seas. What action will the Penang State government take to survey, monitor, motivate, or penalize these older apartments for their lack of fully-functioning sewerage treatment system?

(8) Sea Pollution and Jelly Fish: Has the State fishery or other authorities surveyed the appearance and disappearance of jelly fish in Penang waters in the past 4 years? What are the seasonal pattern, species, density, size variations of the jelly fish that appear near Penang?

(9) Sea Pollution and Jelly Fish: How many complaints have the State government received from tourists, fishermen, environmental groups, and emergency personnel about jelly fish appearance in the past 4 years? How many injuries have been reported from tourists, fisherman, and hospital or emergency services in each of the past four years?

(10) Sea Pollution and Jelly Fish: What is the current scientific understanding of the reasons for the swarming of jelly fish around Penang and nearby states? How are they related to incomplete treatment of residential or industrial sewerage, reclamation or hill cutting run-offs, the leaching of buried garbage, agricultural, industrial, and aquacultural liquid wastes, or other reasons?

(11) Sea Pollution and Jelly Fish: What kind of warning systems are in place or should be put in place around the State regarding both pollution level (such as bacteria count) and jelly fish appearance? Will the state government install emergency treatment centers around the beaches, clinics near the beaches, or special units within the hospitals? Will the state government supply or promote knowledge about basic jelly fish first aid kits at restaurants, clubs, and clinics near the beaches, such as the use of acetic acid (simple vinegar) to pre-treat jelly fish sting before seeking hospital treatment?

(12) Sea Pollution and Jelly Fish: What have been the proposals to eliminate jelly fish swarms once they have occurred around Penang? Are the local jelly fish species of any commercial value that can motivate commercial harvest, processing, and export, or for other uses? If so, how will the state government provide incentives, timely swarming information, and coordination efforts to promote the trawling, harvesting and elimination of jelly fish from Penang waters?

(13) Sea Pollution and fireworm: Is the State government or scientists aware of an apparent increase in the appearance of "bearded fireworm" (Class: Polychaeta; Family: Amphinomidae), which can inflict painful stings on swimmers, beach goers, and anglers? Has the State scientist surveyed their appearance and made any recommendations regarding the need to warn or educate the public and tourists about the hazard of fireworms? Fireworms are finger-length, flat, spiny relative of the bristleworms. But they are free-swimming at low tide in half-sandy, half-muddy beaches, and has appeared from Tanjong Bungah Hotel to Paradise Hotel, at least in March and April of 2008. Their stings can last for weeks, but generally are not fatal, and they should not be captured by hands.
See related species at:

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/polychaetes.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bearded_fireworm
http://marinebio.org/species.asp?id=292

(14) Mangrove and Prawn Farms: What statistics does the state government collect on the coverage area of mangrove that exist, and that was cut down for prawn and other aquacultural farms in the state in the past 30 years? How many permits have been issued for prawn farming, and what is the total area of prawn and other aquaculture farms operating under these permits? Which department issues the permits and enforces the terms of the permit?

(15) Mangrove and Prawn Farms:: Which specific locations are the most affected by mangrove cutting in the past 30 years, and for what reasons (development, reclamation, prawn farm, others)? Is there any plan to rebuild mangrove areas previously cleared by prawn farms that have now failed because of prawn diseases?

(16) Roof-top Telecom Transmission Tower: How many roof-top telecom transmission dish towers are there in the whole state of Penang currently, approved and unapproved? How long are the permits effective and who issues them? What are the laws, rules, regulations, safety standard, and procedure regarding these roof-top telecom towers, in terms of approval, power of transmission, safety review, objection handling, and removal? How are these laws and rules at the federal and state levels different from international safety standards regarding such roof-top telecom towers?

(17) Flood Controls: How many flood incidents have been reported in Georgetown, around P. Ramlee Road, Dhoby Ghaut, and Seberang Prai in the past 4 years? What are the flood control measures and their costs that have been implemented in the past 4 years in each place? What are the hurdles to eliminating floods in each of these areas? If river-side squatter houses are in the way of flood control installation, what are the regulations and incentives needed to relocate the squatters?

(18) Rat and Other Vermin Infestation: What is the latest state-wide health survey regarding rat infestation at hawker centers, markets, drainage system, garbage collection area, and other relevant locations? How many complaints have the State received in the past 4 years about rat infestation from tourists, hotels, schools, commercial operators, and others? What are the departments responsible for controlling rat and other infestation in the city and in the state? What are the measures used, poisons use, their effectiveness and side effects and, and has there been consideration to re-introduce biological control such as local species of owls and non-venomous small snakes that are accustomed to human settlements?

(19) Quarries, Air and Noise Pollution: Specifically how many quarry-related operations exist in Penang, including in Relau, Batu Maung, Bukit Bendera, Tanjong Bungah, Batu Ferriage-Teluk Bahang, Seberang Prai, and others? What are the specific operations carried out by each of these quarries, including rock quarrying, rock crushing and sorting, concrete mixing, tar making, and others?

(20) Quarries, Air and Noise Pollution: What types of permit have been issued for the above quarry locations, to what companies, for what time period, and with what key conditions? Are all these operations running with updated permits?

(21) Quarries, Air and Noise Pollution: Given the significantly increased risk of lung cancer from long-term inhalation of super-fine rock dust, has the State government conducted updated environmental and health studies and formulated any plans to stop renewing quarry permits at these locations? For example new apartments have been built near quarries in Relau, while in Tanjong Bungah, Hunza's Alila landed houses and apartments and TAR College are built downwind (afternoon) and within 1 km and 0.5 km, respectively, from a quarry where wafts of dust from its rock crushing operation are visibly blowing eastward during operation hours.

(22) Quarries: Given the adverse health impacts of quarry air pollution, but the need for quarries to be located close to development due to the high cost of transporting (lorries and diesel) rock and concrete, will Penang government slow down approvals of new housing developments near each quarry, in order to reduce the need for quarry production in these areas, and reduce the impact of quarry pollution on existing residences?

(23) Quarries, Air and Noise Pollution: Since it is likely not feasible to halt all developments, will the State government construct temporary piers at new reclamation areas (Tanjong Tokong, future Gurney Drive, JE reclamation, PDC reclamation), so that quarry products can be transported more cheaply by sea from quarries that are located farther, at less populated areas?

(24) Quarries, Air and Noise Pollution: To motivate the removal of quarry activities out of densely populated areas, what incentive will the State government provide to the quarry companies? Is the State government open to the conversion of existing quarry locations into more valuable zones for commercial or residential developments as an incentive to relocate the quarries?

(25) Rubber Plant Air Pollution: The Lee Rubber processing plant in Paya Terubong has caused long-term air pollution in this rapidly growing and densely populated valley, which is surrounded by 600m high hills on its east, west, and south. The smell of smoked rubber is not only strong deep within the valley, but is clearly noticeable in the northern opening of the Paya Terubong valley on humid evenings, for example, at SMK Air Itam in Farlim (3.5km northeast) and Bukit Bendera funicular tram around mid-station level (4km north and 400m above sea level). What is the latest proposal by the State government to provide the carrot (incentive) and stick (regulatory pressure) to induce Lee Rubber to move to a less-populated area, that is more open to moving air currents, and that is closer to the source of its raw materials? What are the key hurdles being discussed now with the owners of Lee Rubber factory?

(26) Rubber Plant Air Pollution: Has the State government offered alternative locations for the rubber processing plant? Has the State government offered to rezone the existing location to allow redevelopment into more valuable commercial or residential area, which the owner can develop or resell? What has been the historical impediment to such a sensible and normal process of converting old agro-industrial land into residential land in a now long-developed residential area?

(27) Plank Walks in Prai Utara: When were the wooden plank walks completed at Tasek Gelugor (Air Hitam) and Pantai Kamloon, both in Prai Utara? What percentage is still functioning now? How much had been spent in the building of the plank walks, hanging bridge, and other facilities so far? Who were the main contractors and subcontractors, as well as their main shareholders?

(28) Youth Park: Why was the simple and cheerful name of "Taman Belia" (Youth Park) changed to Taman Perbandaran (City Admin Park), a more complicated name that smacks of City Council self-glorification and self importance? Will the new State government rename the park back to "Taman Belia" or "Youth Park?"

(29) Youth Park: How much expenses have been spent on the "hanging garden" that now lacks maintenance and appears as "hanging grassland?" Will the City Council dismantle it or plant easier-to-maintain cactus and turn it into a "hanging desert?"

(30) Youth Park: Who are the contractor which supplies and maintains the outdoor exercise furniture at the Youth Park? What are the key terms of the supply and maintenance contracts: Length of contract, value, maintenance and repair, warranty, etc?

(31) Cemetery Grass Burning: What is the State government's stance on the annual or semi annual open burning of grasses (lalang) at Chinese cemeteries throughout the State? (The burnings cause air pollution, ash rain, traffic disruptions, and are threats to houses and schools. They are pre-planned burning, as herbicides are applied weeks before, and fire engines are called to stand by).

(32) Cemeteries as Green Lung: Since Penang population has moved to live densely around cemeteries (previously outskirt areas), will the State government initiate a long-term plan to negotiate with the cemetery trusts to upgrade the cemetery grounds into green lungs that will integrate better into the populated neighborhood? Will the State government consider the regular funding of grass cutting, landscaping, jogging path paving, rain shelter construction, fence improvement, and employing of security guards, etc? At the very least, what departments are responsible for monitoring the environmental implications of cemetery maintenance, and what are any proposal for proactive monitoring the next 20 years?
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