Utusan Malaysia 's front-page report today which said Malays in Penang were being ignored by the Gerakan state government was described as a 'retaliation' to the party's opposition towards the government's proposal to teach Science and Maths in English.

Political observers said the Umno-owned daily's report was aimed at pressuring the Barisan Nasional component party into supporting the proposal.

The language switch, mooted by Prime Minister and Umno president Dr Mahathir Mohamad, has met with strong opposition from various quarters, namely vernacular education movements.

Chinese-based BN parties such as MCA and Gerakan have also expressed reservations over the proposal and held several meetings to discuss the matter.

Last week, leaders of the Chinese-based parties reportedly met Mahathir and presented their consensus on the matter. However, no details about the consensus were revealed.

In its report, Utusan quoted Umno Tanjung division chief, Ahmad Inbni Hajar, as saying that Malays in Penang would eventually suffer a similar fate to those in Singapore if the state government continues to sideline them.

Describing them as 'most unfortunate', he said the rapid development in Penang the state with the highest per capita income does not reflect the real condition of the Malays.

According to the Umno leader, Malays in the northern state are lagging behind those in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Melaka and Johor.

Proposals rejected

Ahmad accused the state government of being more interested in developing areas which are Chinese predominated.

He claimed the state government also rejected several proposals to uplift the standard of living of the Malays within the township perimeter. This included a proposal to develop a market in Lebuh Campbell, to provide more opportunity to Malay traders.

Ahmad said although the project received the endorsement of the Penang bumiputeras' participation steering committee (JKP), it was later shot down by the local municipality council, which owns the land.

He added that the Second Penang Development Strategic Plan 2001-2010 (PSDP2) also did not consider Malay interests hence prompting 25 Umno branches in Tanjung to oppose the plan.

Responding to the accusations, Gerakan president Lim Keng Yaik said the Umno leader has always complained about everything the state government does.

"Even at the time when Tun Lim Chong Eu was the chief minister, and until the present one (Dr Koh Tsu Khoon), he always has something to complain," he stressed when asked to comment on the matter during a press conference in Kuala Lumpur this morning.