BN Penang chairperson Teng Chang Yeow has indicated that he will be more assertive in his leadership style compared to his predecessor Koh Tsu Koon who was also former Penang chief minister.

Teng said in an interview with New Sunday Times today that even though Koh had brought development to Penang, people were upset with his leadership style.

NONE Koh ( right ) who led BN in the 2008 general election saw Gerakan losing every state and parliamentary seats contested in Penang, virtually wiped out of its home state.

"In a leadership situation, you can be accommodative and you must be accommodative, otherwise you will be accused of being too authoritarian.

"However, one cannot be seen as too accommodative to the extent that one is seen as giving in to every demand, my style is that I am willing to listen but I will put my foot down when I have to," he was quoted as saying.

Slippery slope projects

Acknowledging that Pakatan Rakyat had "created" a perception that all the wrongs in Penang was the previous Gerakan-led state government's fault, Teng stressed that Gerakan, and by extension BN, now has a new leadership.

"You have to realise that the leaders of the past are no longer in our team. It is a new ball game now and we have a new approach," he was quoted as saying.

Responding to the current Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng's claim that all hill slope development which has been said to endanger public safety were approved by the then BN state government, Teng said Lim should make public the related documents.

"The state government should declassify all the files and minutes of exco meetings to see what decisions were taken and the basis of us making the decisions.

"I may be wrong, but I don't think we approved those projects in question at that point in time," he was quoted as saying.

He added that it is Pakatan Rakyat that is in power in Penang now and that they can "do something" about the hill slope projects.