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Has Gerakan learned their lesson since 2008?

It is no secret to many Penangites that after their 2008 defeat, Gerakan struggled to find themselves and basically only showed up again to contest the 13th general election, where they were defeated with an even bigger majority.

Prior to the 13th general election itself, Penang BN chief Teng Chang Yeow made many promises including the return of Penang’s free port status, the only problem was that the concept of the free port no longer exists, according to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak. This showed that Gerakan’s views and opinions were merely their own and would have no influence on the overall BN agenda led by Umno.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about Gerakan’s sudden reappearance in Penang as the 14th general election draws nearer. Penang Gerakan and BN chief Teng Chang Yeow himself has also been issuing statements to the press, desperate to make political inroads as the elections approaches.

Most of his statements are targeted at running down the current Pakatan Harapan Penang state government led by DAP secretary-general and Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, while taking credit for whatever success the current administration has achieved. Is it because that it is that time again to play their game of hoodwinking the public with mistruths and make promises that they have no intentions to keep?

It is as though they have the mentality of ‘say first, think later’ which is totally irresponsible for party running to capture the Penang state government.

Teng Chang Yeow recently claimed that the BN administration had recorded better growth than the current Pakatan Harapan administration.

Even after the Penang Institute had refuted Teng’s allegations with the latest available data from the Department of Statistics which showed that in 2006-2007, Penang under the BN had recorded the lowest percentage growth in GDP per capita and the Pakatan Harapan administration had achieved the highest percentage growth in GDP per capita, Teng refuses to give up and keeps on insisting that the BN did better.

Teng then went on to talk about ‘fish farming’ in Penang and claimed to be clarifying ‘lies’ when he said that the BN started fish farming in 1999 and proceeded to show data from the Fisheries Department to prove his point that the success of the fish farm industry today were attributed to the BN. I then wondered whether to laugh or to cry at the ridiculousness of Teng’s allegations.

First of all, let us look at Teng’s own data for it had showed that in 2001, there were 355 breeders producing 2,093,25 mt and by 2007, that number had plunged to 173 breeders while the highest productivity recorded within those years was 3,039.24 mt .

Based on the same data, after the current administration under DAP secretary-general and Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng took over in 2008, the numbers began to rise again and by 2015, there were 309 breeders producing 28,964.95 mt which was a 853 percent increase. Yes, Teng, your own data source had shown the success of the Pakatan Harapan Penang state government.

Guan Eng explains his formula

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng himself had explained his formula during his speech at Oxford University, England in October 2015 that: “Much as I would love to claim credit, this amazing transformation was done without spending a single penny but merely dependent on reinventing government.

“The previous government benefitted its cronies with one or two chosen individuals being given thousands of hectares of sea, which they then sub-let to genuine operators under the classic rentier system. This is described by some as predatory capitalism.

“We stopped this crony capitalistic practice and gave permits only to owner-operated fish farms measuring up to a maximum of 8,000sqm each. Rental was fixed at RM3,600 annually. Furthermore, we instituted a checklist system where approval must be given if all the boxes are ticked. The approval must be given within three months.

“This was how a billion-ringgit fish farm industry was born out of nothing at all. We merely enabled the fish farming industry by giving the licences to genuine owner operators; we empowered them by making the permit approval process much more transparent, and the result was the enrichment of these firm farm operators and their employees.”

So the Penang chief minister was right when he said that this industry grew from basically nothing in 2008 to a RM1.2 billion (180 million pounds) industry seven years later. It is very simple and straightforward to understand unless you have a problem understanding the English language.

If the BN genuinely did well during their administration of Penang, why did they lose power in 2008? And if the success of the current administration is due to the policies set by the previous BN one, it is curious that their successes only came after Penangites had rejected them and voted them out. Are you saying that Penangites lack the ability to judge for themselves?

So to answer the earlier question, no, the Gerakan and by extension, the BN as a whole has not learned their lesson. The many scandals of their administration and the plunging value of the Ringgit has shown that instead of reform, they are merely obsessed with regaining ground that they have lost in the previous elections. In their desperate bid to stay relevant, the Gerakan has resorted to creating outrageous drama that would even give Donald Trump a run for his money.


CHRIS LEE CHUN KIT is a city councillor with the Penang Island City Council (Majlis Bandaraya Pulau Pinang) representing the DAP.

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