Once again Penang has come under the spotlight of the nation and again for the wrong reasons. It seems that every so often, just as the Barisan Nasional government comes under pressure - either from economic or political reasons - minority communities become targets for criticism.

Almost like clockwork, Singapore also gets into the fray. It may be tongue-in-cheek to say that perhaps Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew is really helping the BN stay in power by always saying the 'wrong' things at the right time.

But to come back to my original premise - Penang, my island-state - is once again given national prominence. This time Dr Koh Tsu Koon, its chief minister, is asked to be a chief minister for 'all races'.

This is baffling as I always thought that the CM was a leader from a multi-racial party heading a multi-ethnic political partnership. Since when is he not a 'leader for all the races'?

Perhaps, the unhappiness with Koh's leadership goes beyond ethnicity. I believe many link Penang's lustre-less business and tourism development to the way it is being treated by the federal government. Yes, comparatively, it is doing better than other Malaysian states but its real comparison is Singapore. If any state in the federation has been marginalised, it is Penang. Now that we have a PM from the state, we are wondering whether the scenario will change?

The answer, based on the last three years, is 'no' for the island and 'yes' for the mainland. The island is literally left to its own devices. Development is moving to the mainland. Tun Lim Chong Eu, the former chief minister, acknowledged this in a speech last year. Basically, Lim felt that the nexus for Penang's development is the mainland. So, within the state itself, an entire community - the islanders - have been left out.

Now, within the island itself, there have been many different types of marginalisations. People who do not own cars or who do not drive are left to their own devices. Public transport is almost non-existent. Taxi drivers continue to charge unreasonable rates and get away with it. The urban community have been systematically driven out of the inner city. So, if Umno Tanjong feels that Malays have been driven out of George Town, they are quite right but so are other communities.

This is the effect of the lifting of Rent Control as well as the moving away of administration and economic activities outside George Town. Urban Malays have another battle - wakaf land (Islamic endownment lands) can be developed in tandem with the city's heritage status but for some other reasons this is not being carried out.

Do we blame the state government for this? Is there a level-playing field for the Penang state government? Absolutely not if we take into account the great powers of the federal government. Koh is lucky that he can still take the lift up Komtar without having to get the permission of several ministers and the council head. So, one of the most marginalised state governments in the country resides in a 65-storey soon to be a 'white elephant'.

So, where do Penangites go from here? There is much dissatisfaction on the ground that is springing from so many pockets of marginalised communities regardless of ethnicity or religion. Even the rich people of Jesselton Heights have complaints about the condition of their roads!

What the federal and state governments have to realise is that whilst the rest of the country may not be ready for direct participation in public governance, urban communities are ready for it. The city councils have to be accountable to the people but more importantly, have to be elected to represent the needs of the people who live in the area.

Pak Lah has to make deeper changes to the way Malaysia is governed. The current mechanisms of governance have been mangled to fit the needs of a strongmen at the helm and they do not work with a man of consensus.

So, to the Penang and Malaysian governments, re-invent yourselves otherwise we may soon need to adopt Lee Kuan Yew as our minister mentor.