The way it was in George Town transport wise

Penang had a history of experimentations in modes of transports -we had horse drawn trams, electric trams, trolley buses, steam engine driven buses etc, before diesel buses took over under Lim Kean Siew's directive. The story by STAR should inspire Penangites to think boldly about reforming and updating our transport system. The change currently embarked upon is too little too late: complaints come from overly `manja' bus operators -who complained of having to follow same vehicles regulations as all others,and the public who are not fully informed of where the improvements are eg are there more routes coverage compared to before? Would there be timetables ? Would the buses be refurbished ? It does not look like the State Government is fully prepared -as are the bus operators, to push through the revamp of the bus system. Then how could it succeed after the oil hike protests are bulldozed off the streets by the State apparatus @police@FRU ?

It's time !

The landscaping projects had become a big money spinner in many Malaysian states -in Penang, Perak, Kedah etc. They share common features : big bills (running into hundreds of thousands each), low aesthetic value, and in many instances, non-functional. All these features are there in the Sg Petani decorative clock towers -which break down and get stolen ! So you can't even tell the time with it. But that doesn't mean time is not important : in fact it is so notorious that time has caught up with them ! The ACA finally think it is time to zero in on these `beautification' projects -so called :

PKR : Bantah Cukai Pintu Naik Lagi !

The popular opposition to rate hikes in Penang seems set to repeat itself ! Last year when rates hiked closed to 100 000 lodged complaints -and forced the Council on both sides of Penang state to reduce assessments for thousands of residents. But the success seems short lived -due to a great extent to the lavish spending of the Councils -who just spent RM350 000.00 on a giantic Pinang fruit sculpture for Merdeka ! Not too long ago MPSP was caught out for spending RM4mil for some flowers from KL ! So where is the limit for the rate payers' patience with such unelected and unaccountable councils ? Time to kick them out ! No tax without representation !

Ex-Councilor Goh Ban Lee : MPPP must rein in spendthrift ways

Ex-Councilor Goh Ban Lee found the extravagance of the MPPP to be the reason behind the 2nd round of rates hike which Penangites face next year. He found that Penang unelected City Council has been running deficit budgets and spend on non-core activities besides keeping its audit report away from the public. The report which all Penangites must read, in full : 

Beautiful wastages 2 : public outcries spread to more cities !

The issue of wasteful spending on beautification projects turned uglier by the day : with each state digging out its `good/bad' examples ! The newest to join the examples is from Melaka Bendahara Rd where 60 Rm800.00 flower pots -located at dangerous positions, are found out by NST. To add insult to injury :100 more of such flower pots are planned to go around the whole city ! Compare to the wastages in Kuala Kangsar, Penang and Melaka councils one cannot help but ask : why the councils want the FREE creation of one Ayah Pin in Terengganu destroyed while it attracted no negative complaints and caused no wastages for the locals ?

Ong: Councils still have a say

From next year onwards the notoriously corrupt local councils will lose their power to issue Ocupancy Certificates to all housing projects in Malaysia ! While this may come as a great relief by those who are inconvenienced by the corrupt officials in the local councils there are concern also that the other parties who will then be entrusted to certify the houses' completion are no more trustworthy than the local councils: the building professionals who are invariably in the pay of developers are not known for their professional independence either.So from a menacing tiger the house buyers are running straight into a waiting shark ! Consumers and house buyer groups are justified in expressing their fear of the worst. Could the Government address this fear in time ahead of the implementation of the new system ? Let's see ...and think of responses as well !

RM4m job: Penang begins probe : Another `jobs for the boys' ?

The MPSP was found to have spent RM1.5 mil to order flowers to be put at its front door for 4 years -with supply coming all the ways from KL. Now it has been found to have contracted another KL agent to do a RM4mil revaluation of Seberang Prai properties which resulted in huge hike in assessment rates for many residents, and attracting an unprecedented 13 000 objections from the affected residents. Why the obsession with KL agencies ? Some serious explanations seems in place here ...we'll definitly hear more from Sebrang soon ! Watch out !

Poor Services Come Back to Haunt Council !

Unsolved and persistent flash floods, poor garbage disposals, parking woes, bad road conditions etc cited to object to rate increases proposed by the MPSP. With such problems the rate payers have a good case to object to the increase in property values as assessed by the Council -that being the excuse to hike rate contributions. Despite the way the following report is written it is clear that the objections by `several' rate payers actually number in the hundreds and that the rate hike is not only `Rm1.00' :

Where's the pearl? Conclusion

Conclusion: The Only Solution for Penang is Local Election

The previous 13 charts highlighted general stagnation, even a long-term decline inthe outlooks for Penang's income, private vehicle, air transport, tourism, and manufacturing investment. They show that:

• Penangites are poorer than the national average by 12% [2004 Sep 30 correction: SERI has since corrected this data to show GDP/cap of about 36% above national level. See Chart 1 article]
• Private vehicles registrations are doubled the density of the country, while taxis are old and rare
• Air craft movements and passenger arrivals, both indicators of tourism and manufacturing activities, are in a decade-old slump
• Tourist arrivals: International tourists are down, hotel occupancies are down, Penang increasingly rely on less lucrative domestic tourists
• Approved projects: Total investments, project size, jobs per project, total potential jobs are all down.
• Penang's approved manufacturing investments growth was one of the worst in Malaysia during 2000

No way out? There is no solution except political solution.

Where's the pearl? (Chart 13)

13. Penang One of the Worst States In Malaysia For Approved Projects

This chart shows not all states suffer the fate of falling approved manufacturing projects between 2000 and 2003. But Penang is one of the worst states in Malaysia.

Interestingly, states controlled by the Opposition parties or have a strong tradition of voter sympathy for the Opposition fared extremely well. Those with perenial governance scandals or were firmly under the ruling coalition's controls were the worst performers. Kelantan was working from a very low base, while Terengganu had a spike up in 2002, not captured in the 2000-2003 comparision.

Not all states see investment fall: Politics matters

Politics appears to matter, but not the way government propaganda would have it:

Where's the pearl? (Chart 12)

12. Fewer Potential Jobs For Penang, Less Capital Intensive Per Worker

Penang's approved manufacturing projects (1) will be creating fewer and fewer new employments (green bars) since 1999, and (2) will apply less investment per employment (purple line) since 1999. Remember projects approved in 2003 will probably impact the job markets in 2005-2006.

Potential job creation for projects approved in 2003 (9,890 jobs), in fact, will be near historical low of 1997 (9,736 potential jobs). Both years are at the lowest levels since data were available in 1987, when each year's approved projects were expected to create 10,000-25,000 potential jobs.

Where's the pearl? (Chart 11)

11. Penang Approved Projects Getting Smaller

The number of Penang's approved manufacturing projects (line chart) has risen from 1999 to 2003. But that is the wrong number to look at: Average project size (pink bars) is getting much smaller by the year in terms of investment value. The previous chart showed that total approved investment value has also fallen.

Where's the pearl? (Chart 10)

10. Penang's Sputtering Engine: Approved Manufacturing Projects In Decline

Penang's approved manufacturing project values have fallen sharply, from RM4.8 bil in 1999 to RM1.9 billion in 2003 (yellow bars). Since they are "approved" projects, some may not even be carried out, may not be fully implemented, or may be dragged out over a longer period of time than planned.

In other words, we haven't seen the full negative impact yet. If and when implemented, the approved projects of 2003 will only be ready to operate 2005 or later. The next charts will show potential job creation to decline to historical low from these projects.

Where's the pearl? (Chart 9)

9. Penang Stucked: Slow Shift To Tertiary Sector

Penang continues to rely heavily on manufacturing. It is failing to expand its low- and high-end services, such as tourism, logistics, research and development, software, and finance. Further shift to services is generally associated with more highly developed economies.

Where's the pearl? (Chart 8)

8. What Pearl? Relying On Less Lucrative Domestic Tourists

This chart shows the long-term trend that Penang increasingly relies on domestic tourists (green area). From 2000 to 2003 especially, the portion of foreign and local tourists reversed from 62%-38% to 38%-62%.

Although domestic tourists are welcomed and bring revenues too,

• Domestic tourists generally spend less, and avoid beach and luxury hotels
• Bring in more cars, traffic jams, and parking problems

Where's the pearl? (Chart 7)

7. What Pearl? International Tourists Down Sharply Before SARS

International visitor arrivals to Penang were down in 1997, and were especially negative during 2000-2003. Penang's total visitor arrival growths were negative, except during 1998-2000, the unsustainable, post-devaluation honeymoon.

• International arrivals fell sharply, by -18% in 2001, -7.3% in 2002, and a shocking and further -35% in 2003.
• Total visitor arrivals fell -8.2% in 2001, then -1.3% in 2002, then -11.6% in 2003
  
• Domestic visitor arrivals rose 2000-2003 (but generally spend less than international tourist). We stay home because the ringgit devaluation made us poorer internationally.

Where's the pearl? (Chart 6)

6. Penang's Hotel Occupancies Down

Penang hotel occupancy trends are down in the long term. The falls started before 911, and long before the SARS-hit 2003

• Overall Penang hotel occupancy rate (blue line) declined from 61.6% in 1996 to 49.8% in 2003 in a steady downtrend. Penang hotels are more than half empty in 2003
• City hotel occupancy (green line) started higher at 65% in 1996, dipped quickly to 52.4% in 1998, and remained generally flat to reach 51.9% in 2003. This line probably reflects business and domestic travelers.
• Beach hotels occupancy (pink line) went through roller coaster, but also sharply down. It went from 59.6% in 1996, seemed to enjoy some buoyancy from ringgit devaluation of 1998, reached 66.7% in 2000, and went all the way downhill to 46.7% in 2003. Between 2000 and 2003, it went from 2/3 occupied (already weak) to 46.7%, below the average.
  

Where's the pearl? (Chart 5)

5. Suffocated: Air Passengers Stagnated and Down

Penang's total air passenders in 2003 (2.43 million) was down to the lowest level since 1992 (orange lline). The upward trend in early 1990's has completely broken down. Long-term domestic arrival was flat: it declined from 1996 (green line), rebound since 2001, but remained lower than 1992, despite total economic growth. International passengers (blue line), despite a brief post-devaluation spike, by 2003 has slided to the low levels of 1991-1992.

Where's the Pearl? (Chart 4)

4. Penang Suffocated: Aircraft Arrivals Down Long-Term

There are 25% fewer airplanes arriving in Penang compared to early 1990's. Aircraft arrivals declined most sharply after 1996. A small rebound in in 2001 was followed by even lower levels by 2003.

Where's the pearl? (Chart 3)

3. Penang Choked: Car/Motorcycle Density Doubled Population Weight in Nation

In terms of vehicle density per person, Penang is 2.2 times the national average for motorcycles, 1.7x for private car, 0.8x for taxi (for a tourist, urban area).

When private cars and motorcycles are combined, Penang has twice the density of the nation (red column). That is, Penang has 0.92 private car or motorcycle per man, woman, senior citizen or baby, while Malaysia has 0.46 private car or motorcycle per person.