Social ills, housing woes and flash floods are just some of the problems that plague those living in the predominantly-Malay area of Tanjong Tokong, Penang.

Yesterday, about 100 residents demonstrated along Jalan Tanjong Tokong Lama, carrying posters with messages like 'Stop empty promises', 'Malays in Tanjong Tokong neglected' and 'Stop the people's suffering'.

The group claims to have collected some 3,000 signatures protesting the lack of development in the area and demanding solutions to their socio-economic difficulties.

The demonstrators, who call themselves Suara Rakyat Tanjong Tokong (Tanjong Tokong People's Voice), will follow up with a memorandum to Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and his deputy, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. ( photo )

The pro-tem committee, which comprises 35 members, will submit a blueprint dubbed 'Construction and Development Plan' to the two leaders in the next 10 days.

Pro-tem chairperson Azli Othman said the group was initiated after Mahathir, on an official visit to Penang on May 24, had commented that the development of the state's Malay community had been neglected.

Mahathir had remarked that he saw "houses which were not so comfortable to live in, old and wooden houses which I had seen when visiting Penang in the 1950s...It is clearly evident that, while there are economic achievements, many Penangites were left behind. They are still living in conditions before World War Two".

Survey findings

Azli said the residents' group comprises Malays with different political leanings - they support Umno, PAS or Keadilan respectively - and that, therefore, their actions do not have a political motive.

The group recently conducted a survey of the 732 households in the area, which is surrounded by many high-rise condominiums and shopping complexes.

Azli said the findings were shocking. These revealed that about 10 percent of the households were headed by single mothers - either widows or those abandoned by their husbands - and that most families survive on a monthly income of RM648.

"This income is totally inappropriate, and also indicates that poverty among urban Malays is at a critical level," he said.

Pro-tem secretary Mohd Wazeer Seni Mohamad, elaborating on the survey findings, said the Tanjong Tokong residents mainly live in a one-room flats. The whole area is also crowded and densely populated.

Mohd Wazeer said unsustainable development in the vicinity of Tanjong Tokong has created problems of drug addiction, illegal racing and loafing among the youth.

"The debate in the media about the plight of Penang Malays is based on fact...this is why support for our group is growing by the day," he claimed.

Appalling conditions

Resident Ropiah Hashim, 39, among the volunteers who conducted the survey, said she was "overcome by tears" when she saw the appalling living conditions of some of her neighbours.

"I visited a family with nine children who live in a one-room flat. It was pitiful. The mother has to rely on the children's income. If they do not have money, the whole family does not get to eat," said Ropiah, who works as a trainer in a local factory.

"We hope the pro-tem committee will bring about changes in our community. We support the movement. It is not meant, as some people allege, to create a split in society."

"We know who we are supporting...we are not blind and we are educated. We just need our problems to be highlighted and resolved after so many years of complaining about them."

However, Keadilan Bukit Bendera Wanita chief Aminah Abdullah, who was present at the demonstration, was sceptical about the group's intentions.

While commending the residents' effort to set up a committee, she questioned the basis on which it was formed.

"They say it has nothing to do with politics, but the demonstrators were carrying placards with messages like 'Long live Mahathir and Umno' said Aminah, who is also Keadilan Penang deputy Wanita chief.

"We wonder if this has anything to do with Umno. We do not want someone from this group to betray us one day."

She also asked what Umno has done for the Penang Malays considering that Barisan Nasional has held the state leadership since Independence.