Penang Watch

Nutmeg for sales-by who?

The Penang CM is setting condition for meeting up with the Kg Buah Pala's residents: No lawyers-no outsiders! These 2 conditions flies in the face of many past practices by DAP itself and recognised rights of citizens around the world. Firstly all marginalised groups are entitled to get help whichever way it can. And legal help is one which they can legitimately and reasonalby get for itself so that at least they are guided by law in their demands. The State Government should even supply a lawyer to them if the residents don't have one! While even a suspected criminalcannot be denied the right to legal counsel the CM of Penang want the residents to negotiate their rights to land/house away without any legalsupport. The CM is not showcasing his `level playing field' by any chance!

To insist that the residents meet him without a lawyer but the state government avail itself of the country's best lawyers make a chicken out of the proud CM of Penang! Guess what: this may well be the good advice coming from the best lawyers around the CM. Guess what: the lawyer is seen around the CM ....

The DAP lawyers were famous in the past as representing folks in trouble-but now they deny folks in trouble the rights to be repressented by lawyers. The new DAP slapping the old DAP?

Then the idea that  `outsiders' should not be involved. Is the CM himself an `outsider' to Kg Buah Pala? Even an `outsider' to Penang? He may argue that the Penang voters choosed him to lead Penang state government. So did the residents who choose their own lawyer. Who is the CM to dispute their choice? Using the word `outsider' suggest that the CM is not willing to have a round table meeting involving all sides-only those whom he can impose him views on. The CM himself may become an `outsider' one day. Watch out. He should stop such tags before the tag is thrown back at him!

The issue at Kg Buah Pala was started by politicians-not by the residents who started to stay there over a hundred years ago. By using the emotive tag of `outsider' the CM is trying to divert attention away from the real source of the problems: the politicians who work hand in hand with developers to get some quick bucks! 

Ong BK