Mak Khuin Weng

Criticism has been mounting on the Penang government’s land reclamation initiative, with many pundits analysing how the politicians voted and what it means for the Pakatan Harapan coalition.

There has been a lot of talk about how Barisan Nasional is weak but a weaker opposition meant that this weakness could not be taken advantage of.

The spat between DAP’s Tony Pua and PKR’s Sivarasa Rasiah over a seemingly ‘small’ issue involving temporary stalls for the upcoming Deepavali celebrations has been quite an attention grabber, with numerous press statements given by both parties.

To many, Bersih 4 remains an image of a jubilant crowd coming together in solidarity to fight against corruption and to demand for the ouster of an unpopular prime minister.

I am making this statement as a Petaling Jaya resident to condemn the Ampang Jaya Municipal Council’s (MPAJ) recent approval of the East Klang Valley Expressway (EKVE) project.

Our embattled Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s move to transfer key persons within the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has been reversed following a public outcry and it would appear that negative perception once again played a role in how our government reacts.

Everything in Malaysia is going haywire, with the smallest of provocations threatening to erupt into a full-blown racial issue.

Paying off the developer to avoid being sued is not an acceptable solution.

Malaysia is a hotbed of controversies these days. Over at the Barisan Nasional camp, controversies include the goods and services tax (GST), dubious accounting and business practices (1Malaysia Development Berhad or 1MDB) and the arbitrary unilateral subjugation via the Sedition Act.

When the Works Minister, Fadillah Yusof, was quoted as saying he would ask the Selangor government for alternative solutions due to the cancellation of the Kinrara-Damansara Expressway (Kidex), I initially wanted to propose setting up a residents’ committee to explore and propose that alternative solution.

I refer to the statement yesterday by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Abdul Wahid Omar about the controversial Kinrara-Damansara Expressway (Kidex) project that it is for Selangor to give the project the green light because land acquisition comes directly under the state.