Penang MCA today staged a protest in Komtar against the Hot Air Balloon Fiesta programme scheduled to be held from at Padang Polo on Feb 4 and 5.

State MCA Youth's Complaints Bureau chief Ooi Teik Liang said this is because the event is to be located too close to the Penang General Hospital.

“I can recall the bad experience last year, where an ambulance on the way to the hospital got stuck in a traffic jam near the venue," Ooi told reporters.

Accompanied by other party colleagues, Ooi also handed over a memorandum of protest to a staff member of Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng's office.

The protesters carried banners which read “Respect the life and rights of patients, stay away from the hospital!” and “Don’t be a government that disregards patients right, please do this fiesta away from the hospital”.

Ooi claimed that the venue of the event, organised by AKA Balloon in collaboration with Tourism Malaysia and endorsed by the state government, has become the subject of protest by NGOs before, but it has fallen on deaf ears.

He has also lodged a police report on the matter last week.

This is the third time the event is going to be held in Penang, after debuting in 2015.