I refer to Malaysiakini report Lim: It’s tough going in Penang .

The candid remarks by Lim Guan Eng that he faces problems running the government of Penang are to be expected. DAP has never tasted power before. Being on the other side of the fence criticising BN government on their own shortcomings is easier rather than being in the driver’s seat.

With world economy on the verge of recession, one would expect the Pearl of the Orient to suffer much unemployment due to foreign companies shutting down production. Penang, which has a lot of multinational companies operating, will hard hit by the economic meltdown and workers will be laid off when factories close shop.

On top of that, the federal government would be stopping funding to the states controlled by the opposition front in order to punish voters who dared to make a change. They have yet to recover from the winds of change which blow through the last polls and caused the BN government to lose their majority in parliament.

The DAP reaped voter dissatisfaction and gave Gerakan, the former state adminstration, the boot.

After helming the state for the past several months, local voters are anxious for the new government in Penang to deliver what they promised during the last polls but if federal funds are curtailed, how is the new chief minister of Penang going to deliver his promises to the voters?

To be fair , most states controlled by the opposition parties suffer such discrimination by the federal government and the opposition front is practically in dire straits due to a lack of federal funds for developments.

So much so the Kedah government has threatened to log the vast forest reserves in the state if the federal government does not keep its promise to pay RM100 million a year to the state in lieu of the state forgoing logging in that area.

For the outgoing prime minister, who hails from Penang, it is unbecoming of him to withhold development projects and grants. The prime minister of the country should cast aside partial politics and be the prime minister of all Malaysians regardless of the voters’ party affiliations.

As voters are also taxpayers in this country so federal grants and development should be spread out to cover to all regardless of whether the area is controlled by BN or an opposition party.

Our democratic system should be more matured like in other modern nations. In the US, president-elect Obama has deemed it fit to elect his rivals both from the Democratic and Republican parties to join his cabinet.

Obama must have followed his mentor Abraham Lincoln who did the same when the former was the president of the US during the civil war. Lincoln was one of the best presidents the US has ever produced and his wise words, ‘Malice towards none and charity to all’ should be drummed into the heads of our leaders here who practice selective favoritism to the hilt.

But although Lim Guan Eng has manage to entice a few of Gerakan stalwarts to join his government, those who jumped ship have been ostracised by their party and expelled. Such is the state of our political situation here where the Bush mantra rules: ‘Either you are with us or against us’.

The present government should realise that by punishing voters who did not support them, it would only embolden them to reject BN again in the next polls. Most of the rural and urban areas have already been developed since independence and the voters are more aware about leaders who work for the people or those who only line their pockets while they are in office.

Lim Guan Eng and other state chief ministers who are in the oppositions fronts must not depend on federal funds to improve their states’ infrastructure. Kelantan, which has been ruled since the 90s by PAS should be a good role model for them to follow.

Although the state is poor and their leaders live very fugal lifestyles, their people are happy as material development comes hand-in-hand with their spiritual development.

The most important thing to remember is that BN was nearly booted out in the last polls because the people were fed up with the gross abuse of power by the political elite who thought that their high posts gave them the green light to raid public coffers.

Don’t follow their mistakes and the people will support you in the next polls regardless of whether development occurs in their district or not.

Lim Guan Eng is only beholden to the people who elected his party to win in the last polls and he should remember that he is the chief minister for all the people of Penang, regardless of their party affiliation. He should not discriminate against anybody.

Hopefully, if and when the federal government falls, the new federal government will discard the old ways of doing things in order to win the hearts and minds of those who oppose then now.