This is reply to Ivanpal Singh Grewal’s statement in The Star on Oct 5, 2016.

First of all, I thank you for your statement in reply to my article about Gerakan’s sudden reappearance in Penang.

Second of all, I believe it is an insult to the legacy of the late Dr Lim Chong Eu if you compare the Gerakan of today to the Gerakan of the past.

One only has to look at KomtarAR, which was the homebase of the Penang state government when the Pakatan Harapan state government first took over in 2008. Komtar was left in such a dilapidated condition that federal agencies were already moving out to the Bangunan Persekutuan on Anson Road. If the ruling party cannot even take care of their own home, then how could they handle the entire Penang?

The current administration has been on a campaign of rehabilitation and improvement of Penang since 2008. Our slogan in 2008 was to make Penang dynamic again and that’s what we have set out to do. Come and take a tour of Komtar today and see the changes as we work hard to bring Komtar back to its glory days.

You even have the nerve of mentioning about the reclamation of Gurney Drive allegedly destroying marine life and having a long-term adverse effect on the environment, when Gurney Drive as it is today is full of mudflats. Yes, the same mudflats that were already in existence when Gerakan was leading the Penang state government. You can say that the mud is the legacy of what your party left behind for Penang.

It is also interesting to note that between 2008 and 2015, the Pakatan Harapan Penang state government had built 8,092 affordable housing units priced at RM42,000 and 8,107 units priced at RM72,500. You can compare that to the Gerakan-led BN state government which only built 4,355 units priced at RM42,000 and 769 units priced at RM72,500 between 2001 and 2007.

The Pakatan Harapan Penang state government under the leadership of YAB Lim Guan Eng had also established the Public Housing Fund and Affordable Homes Fund, the largest by a state government in Malaysian history, worth RM500 million, to build 22,545 public housing units (less than RM72,500) and affordable housing units (less than RM400,000).

At the end of the day, you dare to criticise the Pakatan Harapan Penang state government but you will not dare to criticise your political masters in Umno for BN’s various failures in both Penang and at the federal level, will you? The fact that the exchange rate is now RM3 to 1 Singapore dollar says enough on whether this country is headed in the right direction.

You said that the people of Penang had denied Gerakan a single seat in the Penang state legislative assembly for a myriad of reasons. I think there was only one big reason, your party ran the administration into the ground and we are now here to pull it back up and achieve new heights.

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