by Karpal Singh
Aliran Monthly Vol 25 (2005): Issue 3

	The Prime Minister should also restore to Penang its traditional free-port status. Karpal Singh

On August 11, 1786 Captain Francis Light, a trader of the East India Company, acquired Penang Island from the Sultan of Kedah. Penang Island was strategically located on the north east coast of Malaya in between the India-China trade route affording merchants a safe and sheltered anchorage point. Penang was named the Prince of Wales Island and was universally acknowledged as the Pearl of the Orient thereafter.

Penang was made a free port in 1872 with the free port status being removed in 1967. What are the reasons for the decay setting in with Penang losing its shine which once was the solace of many a tourist not only from all over the world, but also locals who prided in Penang as the leading state in the country blessed with beauty and splendour.

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, a Penangite himself, should take the lead in restoring to Penang its lost splendour and significance. The Federal and State Governments should not look at the symptoms, but at the cause for Penang to have degenerated into one of the dirtiest states in the country.

In my view, it is the abolishing of local council elections in 1964 which led to the sorry state of affairs.

The Local Government Act, 1976 provides for appointed councillors. Both the Majlis Perbandaran Pulau Pinang (MPPP) and the Majlis Perbandaran Seberang Perai (MPSP) are ineffective because their councillors are not elected by the people, but appointed by the State Government.

To compound the position, these councillors do not have any constituency to serve. They are paid allowances for no work! Those appointed do not have the backing of the people who pay rates and expect the day-to-day administration, in the form of removal of garbage and other services, to be effectively in the hands of elected municipal councils which was the position until local council elections in the country were abolished.

The Government abolished local council elections on account of political expediency as most of the local councils were controlled by the Opposition in towns throughout the country.

At that time, there were designated wards instead of constituencies and it was direct elections which were conducted towards the setting up of local councils. The people must of necessity, have a say as to who their representatives should be in local councils. This would certainly be a check on councillors who do not effectively carry out their duties. They would meet their fate in the next municipal council elections.

The abolition of local council elections is the main cause for the decay which has assailed Penang. Let us not allow this decay to take on proportions which will result in the ultimate destruction of what was once the pride of the country.

It is not the �Save Penang from decay� campaign which is the answer to the malady. It is the restoration to Penang of its past glory which is the solution to that malady.

The Prime Minister should be pragmatic and immediately cause a return to elected local councils. After all, in the last general elections at the Federal level the Barisan Nasional was given a 9/10 majority in Parliament. What is the Barisan Nasional afraid of after having acquired that majority in March last year in the general elections?

In Britain, local council elections have been the order of the day from time immemorial. It is elected local councils which are the bedrock and foundation of the democratic system, and not parliamentary or state elections.

The Prime Minister should also restore to Penang its traditional free-port status. This is essential to stem the tide against Penang�s recession and degeneration into oblivion. I cannot see the logic of depriving Penang of its free-port status and according Pulau Langkawi of this free-port status.

Of course, it was Tun Mahathir Mohamed, a Kedahan, who as Prime Minister initiated that move to make Pulau Langkawi a free-port. Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi should now do the needful as a Penangite to restore Penang�s free-port status.

It is these steps which ought to be taken to effectively restore to Penang its lost glory.

Karpal Singh is the Member of Parliament for Bukit Gelugor, Penang

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