Impressed with Penang's cleanliness these days
Two trips we have made to Penang in December 2017 and recently in September 2022, I must say I am impressed with Penang's transformation as a state. (You have to read this as well to compare with Selangor)
As you know I have been whacking DAP's Tony Pua and PKR's Elizabeth Wong, and especially the two councillors from Tony Pua's group, so no one can now say that I am pro-DAP. Pua and Wong should now read this blogpost with an open mind instead of being defensive.
The same I would like to communicate to the Menteri Besar Amiruddin Shaari and State Exco in charge of local government, Ng Sze Han as well.
I made my own observations and personally experienced the lack of service by people appointed to key positions in Selangor. I even set up to write a series of 10-15 letters two years ago to the local council, and gradually going through the due process, before I decided to start this campaign.
Despite my open letter posted in this blog warning that PH in Selangor may collapse under their lack of leadership, issues raised two years ago through a series of official letters to the local council remain unresolved. Except for a few senior people in PH who wanted to know what happened, the issues remain unsolved.
Such a Big Contrast
Ng, for example, would not even respond to Whatsapp messages sent to him. Photographs showing people's houses were flooded fell on deaf ears. All the pictures in this blog would have been viewed by him, or maybe, he did not even bother to look at them.
Ng must be so busy, but if the Minister of Works, Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof was humble enough to respond to the messages from this one ordinary citizen, without titles or wealth, there is no reason why Ng should remain silent. Silence is not golden.
Even the Menteri Besar responded, but when he started calling a fellow state assemblyman a "loose cannon," I gave a piece of my mind. I told him that he should be grateful when there are voices of dissent within the state assembly since this is a democratic nation.
Personally, I also do not think that incinerator is the way to go with garbage management when the state had not even tried on separating the rubbish at household level.
It is an unfortunate observation that most PH leaders are poor with their two-way communication. Although I have known Dato' Sri Fadillah since around 2006 or 2007 he has been very consistent with his responses, sometimes, even past midnight when I had to teasingly said, "Aduh, belum tidur lagi?" Same with Dato' Sri Anifah Aman, former Foreign Minister and a number of other BN ministers.
Even when I wrote an email to Kak Wan's office after going through different levels including former education deputy minister Teo Nie Ching and education minister, Maszlee Malek, Kak Wan's special officer made attempt to resolve the problems faced by some parents at my son's former school. Not a single word from Maszlee, not a single meeting despite seeking to meet and let him know the issues faced by parents.
Back to the Works Minister. Just last Sunday evening on September 11, 2022, when I told Dato' Sri Fadillah about a particular junction in Sungai Buloh, before I could even write to the Public Works Department (JKR), he already told me that he would check with JKR. I find him to be consistently good with his two-way communication, although I had to ask him to slow down and allow me to follow the due process.
Several years ago, after my visit to Sg Palas Boh Tea plantation, where my car was caught in a massive traffic jam and nearly rolled down the ravine, and after follow up correspondence with JKR office at Cameron Highlands and the state JKR office, I finally messaged Datuk Fadillah about it.
Two of his officials from JKR immediately contacted me to make arrangement to visit the Camerons together. Eventually, it was Boh Tea plantation's management that decided that they would do something themselves by excavating the slopes and expanding the road themselves. Bravo to Boh Tea! We also felt a lot safer when we returned to this favourite tourist spot.
A lot of my 'complaints' are in fact, for the good of others, not my own complaints although my personal experiences add to the drive to get problems solved.
As a non-party person, I maintain my rights to speak up if I find something not right. I will give credit to whom credit is due, but when politicians fail to deliver their job, or pretend to do their jobs on the ground, I would not hesitate to crack the whip even if they belong to Pakatan Harapan.
In my earlier blog post, I have already said that the most people would give to PH in Selangor is 2+1 terms. It's two terms to clean up the mess in Selangor, before the state would take off to the next level.
This, being the third term, PH in Selangor has gone from bad to worse. The performance of the state government has started to deteriorate since Azmin Ali's time, and it is now getting worse. Penang, on the other hand, appears to be getting words of commendation from the people.
A Lot Cleaner than Before
I remember our last visit in around 2010, we avoided Komtar because it was dark, smelly and stinking with all sorts of rubbish in and around the bins. That reminded me of my younger days when I visited Komtar as a teenager. I remember telling InvestPenang CEO, Lee Kah Choon who met my wife and I to bring us out for a meal together around Sunway Hotel that we would stay away from Komtar.
But, after about 7-8 years, in 2017 when my family and I visited Komtar, we were pleasantly surprised with the transformation at Komtar. It had turned into an important tourist destination. My kids were able to enjoy the Jurassic Park. We were equally impressed when we visited the Top. We decided to return for another visit to Penang.
It just occurred to me during this recent trip (Sept 2-9, 2022) that I hardly noticed any illegal dump compared to the earlier years. Just this evening, I decided to send a message to all the people we met in Penang:
Hi, during my visit to Penang recently, I noticed one thing about the places we visited. Whether it is in Georgetown or the housing areas, I do not think I saw any illegal dumps. As you are all local, can you confirm that Penang is a lot cleaner now than before? I remember more than 10 years ago, when we were staying at Sunway Hotel, as we walked towards Komtar, we even avoided the place as it was stinky just like some 40 years ago when I visited Penang in my teens.
Here are the responses I received and quoted verbatim:
- "Ya, it was the dirtiest state. It is now cleaner in terms of physical and politics 😀"
- "The (state) gov(nment) has maintained the areas to be clean."
- "You are right about that, Penang is trying to shed off its "Darul sampah" moniker." This same gentleman immediately shared an article about Penang being awarded ASEAN Clean City for the third time in a row."https://penangfoodie.com/penang-is-awarded-asean-clean-tourist-city-for-the-third-time-in-a-row/ And, he told me this is what even the civil society is doing to clean up Penang.
- "This is true. It is a lot cleaner and developed since DAP took over." A Sarawkian who is currently living in Penang made this comment.
- "Things have change after DAP rule the state compare to BN."
- "Yes it is much cleaner under DAP. It is a well known fact that Penang is much cleaner. Not only that. Roads are wider. Drains are cleaned. So less flooding in flood prone areas. I google this. U could find this useful: https://www.quora.com/Is-Pulau-Pinang-better-under-the-DAP."
- "It's a lot cleaner compared to years ago.....can still be better if efforts also directed to other always-dirty areas."
- "Every household must have a bin. (First one given free by the state govt.) Those caught with illegal dumping can be fined. Just like a fine for littering. After some time, people do not litter anymore. Becomes a habit. At the beginning of the anti-littering campaign, enforcement was thorough. First year. Once habit is set, very little enforcement nowadays."
- "Also Penang emphasises on using eco bag. Our car is always ready with eco bag when we fo to Giant, Tesco, Mercanto, Jaya, Village. This was started (quite) immediately DAP took over."
- "Many years ago, each hse is given a green bin, a designated bin to pull out of the house if u want your rubbish be collected by the garbage collector. Newspaper also reported that the state appreciates those who are cleaning the road. Without fail, you can see the hardworking street cleaner doing their work everyday."
It is easy for PH supporters in Selangor to claim that their state has been sabotaged by Umno. In fact, if it is found out that Umno is sabotaging the cleanliness of Penang State, do you think Penangites will ever vote Umno? I think they would hate Umno men such as Jamal for sabotaging the state that they have all learnt to love!
Politics aside. I am told that in Selangor, when the statewide contract was signed, it did not even include the cleaning up of illegal dumps. I could not believe this but this word was told to me by a state assemblyman himself!
PH has been in power for the nearly 14 years since 2008 and it cannot even provide a bin for every home in Selangor! Not to mention, the entire island is managed by only one council whereas in Selangor we have so many local councils. Every time we ask for certain public amenities, the answer would be 'Tiada bajet.' Where did our money go?
Hence, a lot of times, when people in my chat group took pictures to show how dirty a place is, KDEB would just clean up immediately. They have been very consistent with their efforts, but there is no money in cleaning up the illegal dump. Honestly, it is the local councils and the councillors that they have appointed by the elected representatives, who failed to carry out their jobs. It is also the failure of the state government and the Local Government department @Ministry of Housing & Local Government which have failed to monitor this third tier of government.
Despite helping to set up a chat group with concerned residents to help them keep an eye on the public amenities and cleanliness, as an example that they can duplicate elsewhere, they are no longer proactive like the first batch of councillors.
It is the presidents of these councils that should first take the blame; and if complaints go to the local elected representatives (like in my case, both Tony Pua and Elizabeth Wong), and to the State Exco and Menteri Besar, via both official correspondence and Personal Whatsapp Messages, the fault also lies with these people.
There is simply no political will to improve the state of Selangor from Menteri Besar all the way to the local state assemblyman.
If Penang can do it, why can't Selangor? Penang used to be one of the dirtiest states in the country, but today, it is surprisingly one of the cleanest. For this, I wish to give the thumbs-up to Penangites, their local councils, elected representatives, and the state government.
So, what is wrong? Why is Selangor still so dirty? I have tried to put my thoughts together after hearing from a number of people.
Whether Penangites or Selangorians, we are all from the same stock. Both are now under Pakatan Harapan for the third term. People blame Barisan Nasional in the past for not doing a good job at the local council level, but today, Selangor is no difference!
Look at Penang now!
At one point, Singaporeans were also fond of spitting, but if you go to any lift in Singapore, you will find warning signs that you have to pay a hefty penalty if you are caught spitting in the lift.
Today, people do not need to look to Singapore anymore. They only have to look at Penang and see how these Penangites did it.
There is something for both PH and BN to learn from Penang. Instead of becoming jealous of Penang's success, or claim that Penang Island and its population is smaller, we should attempt to be better than Penang! We should make Malaysia the best place to live in for all Malaysians.
So, now, you understand why I am cracking the whip on Selangor? I may be intensive in my campaign until problems are solved, but not aggressive. Would now Anwar Ibrahim, Lim Kit Siang and Mat Sabu hear some of my personal encounters with the current batch of PH people in Selangor? They have remained quiet all this weeks despite all the photographic evidences.
Throughout the past two years, I had used the soft approach, diplomacy and correct channels to raise some of the age-old complaints that I was already aware of, just to prove that the local council in my area is underperforming. I have said of all three local councils, the one managing my area has ranked the worst after DBKL based on my 25 years of experience both as a stringer with the Malay Mail and Star Metro.
(After this recent trip, I am starting two simple blogs to talk about Penang places to visit and places where locals go to for their favourite street food).
https://explorebeautifulpenang.blogspot.com/2022/09/what-transformation-penang-hill-has.html?m=1
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