Many felt that Koh Tsu Koon’s humble and gentlemanly withdrawal from power was very becoming and commendable. Indeed, in contrast to the former MBs of Perak and Selangor, the conduct of the former MB of Penang gave us all the illusion that Malaysia was maybe… just maybe… almost a first-world democracy. Well done, sir…
… or wait a minute now. Perhaps what we all took to be Dr Koh’s humility was actually a big sigh of relief? Was he actually glad to be put out of his misery? Was he actually relieved to be… relieved of duty?
For it now emerges that Penang may be in quite a shithole of a situation. These are some of the problems that the new administration has inherited from the old:
- “Planning approvals for major development projects in the past have been haphazard at best and irresponsible, dubious and shady at worst.”
- “Land reclamation has also caused severe environmental problems – mud flats in Gurney Drive and siltation. Guan Eng pointed out that, thanks to siltation, the authorities may now have to spend federal funds (public money) to dredge the sea around the port area.”
- “…Penang has to cope with tight financial constraints, with a budget deficit of RM35 million announced last year.”
- “…the state had about RM200-odd million in reserves. But, he added, the government would be reluctant to touch this as it would affect the state’s credit rating.”
- “…there are several court cases coming up involving dubious land deals undertaken during the previous administration that have exposed the state to potential legal damages. In one such case involving a shady land deal in 2003, in which the legal officer acting for the state strangely conceded liability, the state government now could be exposed to RM30 million in damages. “I don’t know where I am going to find RM30 million,” said a worried Guan Eng, an accountant by training.”
The face value of a Monash University Accounting degree could very well skyrocket if Penang could be turned around.
So NO, I haven’t let Koh Tsu Koon off the hook just yet. We may have to draw and quarter the bugger after-all.
I wonder if suing the Penang government is going to emerge as a viable business plan for some companies that, perhaps through no fault of their own, have been caught up in land deals gone bad.
It’s true that the new administration can’t just be let off by blaming everything on the previous chaps, but surely it should be a factor for all level-headed people to take into consideration. Afterall, if Barrack Obama were to become the next President of the USA, would you blame him for a recession and a bloody war in Iraq?
Same goes for all the other new state administrations. Yes, Malaysia voted the right way this time, but bloody hell, you Malaysians ah… slow la… you should have done this two elections ago (or better yet, a Tanjung or two ago!). By now, a lot of damage has been done already.
In the 838 political tsunami, a trained monkey could have won against a BN candidate. Let’s hope at least some of the monkeys are very well trained.
