A group of working adults today staged a protest in front of the Penang state legislative assembly today to highlight their inability to find or purchase detached houses costing RM415,000.

Six Chinese Malaysians held a silent protest carrying placards with slogans such as ‘Affordable detached units needed', ‘We need 415K detached units' and ‘CM, where to find 415K detached houses?'.

NONE Spokeperson Kenneth Quah said Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng's statement in the media that Penangites are able to purchase such pricey homes did not reflect reality.

Lim had said that according to Valuation and Property Services Department statistics, the median price of a detached unit in Penang had actually gone down , from RM469,000 in the first quarter of last year to RM415,000 in the first quarter of this year.

"I did my own survey in the past five years , but I couldn't find and purchase a detached unit costing lower than RM415,000," said Quah, a 35-year-old sales manager.

Living with family

He said he was currently living in a landed property in Air Itam that belongs to his family.

He was confident, Quah added, that his group represented the voices and feelings of other working adults.

He stressed that the purpose of the protest was to highlight this issue to make the authorities aware of the people's difficulties in purchasing affordable houses.

"We feel like we are cheated by the chief minister," lamented Quah, who was accompanied by about 30 people.

Moments later, state BN leaders approached the group and listened to their grouses.

Acting state Opposition leader Hilmi Yahya assured them that he would raise their grievances during Lim's wrapping up speech in the state assembly tomorrow.

"If there are houses at such prices, I too would like to buy one," Hilmi said.