A Carpetbegger's Woes

A Carpetbegger's Woes

Hantu Laut



Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng is in the throes of alienation.It happened to most politicians that have no grassroots support and Lim Guan Eng hasn't got any in Penang.He is the classic carpetbegger that won his seat not on his own popularity but that of his party.As the political romance wears out he is now seen as an outsider meddling in the affairs of Penang.

This is just the beginning of more serious things to come.He,not unlike his father, is seen as communalistic, chauvinistic and lack altruism, in another word his self-aggrandisement hampered him from being fair in the administration of the state.

The High Chapparal debacle in Penang was one of his withering ways of doing things.On spur of the moment, he encouraged the villagers to demonstrate and not to budge because he said the problem was created by the previous government.When help was not coming from him the villagers backed by Hindraf turned the table and accused him of not living up to his election promises.

Lim, knowing fully well there was nothing he could do to fulfill his promise to ease the tension, benign neglect the villagers and kept on harping on the faults of BN government to save his own skin. Below are some of the statements he made at the height of the crisis.

"Hindraf Must Wake Up And Realise That Kampung Buah Pala Is Still Standing Today Because The Penang Pakatan Rakyat State Government Had Successfully Prevented Them From Being Evicted In The Middle Of Last Year."

"Koh Tsu Koon Owes The Public A Full Explanation Why He Sold The Kampung Buah Pala At A Cheap Price Of Only RM10 Per Square Feet In 2007 And Without consulting the residents".

"The Penang State Government Should Not Be Unfairly Victimised And Targeted By Hindraf For Helping The Kampung Buah Pala Residents".

"It is BN, Gerakan, MIC, UMNO & MCA that are the main culprits for causing, abandoning and even selling out Kampung Buah Pala residents" he says.

That's how Lim runs the state, taking no responsibility when the chips are down.Blame everyone else except himself.

Penangites will see more of his arrogant ways of administering the state.The Chinese leaders in Penang are waking up to Lim's kind of politics and they are not getting happier by the way he runs their state.The alienation of Lim would intensify.

The villagers, mostly Malaysian Indians, knew the land was given away during BN time.They were not interested in that.They wanted to know what happened to the election promise that made them voted for DAP and other Pakatan's coalition partners in the hope that their problems would be taken care of by the party they voted in as government.They were angry because they felt cheated.Again, the BN particularly UMNO was blamed for the villagers turning against Lim and the state government.

In October 2009 Lim admitted turning down FDI worth US$3 billion because he could not guarantee the investors 1000 engineers they needed to employ.That's Mr Lim Guan Eng for you.Maybe, he should also blame the BN for his incompetence.

Lim rise to the top echelon in DAP was through currying favour and cronyism.DAP is like a personal fiefdom of the Lims.Father,son,wife and daughter-in-law have all been or still is in very powerful positions in the party.Except for Tengku Aziz and few others most Malays see DAP as a chauvinistic Chinese party.

Lim's tenure as Penang's CM is losing its lustre and not only grievances were openly aired by PKR's Bayan Baru MP Zahrain Mohd Hashim and PKR's Nibong Tebal MP Tan Tee Beng, even former DAP strongman in Penang Them Weng Fatt claimed Lim sidelined veteran leaders in Penang.

Lim's chief of staff Ooi Chuan Aun dismissed claims of his boss feuding with assemblymen and grassroots leaders here.If four to five people expressed the same dissatisfaction how could these people be wrong and Lim is right.Both Zahrian and Tan have called for Lim's ouster.More hard-hitting is the irascible Zulkifli Nordin, a thorn in Pakatan's neck, calling for DAP to be kicked out of Pakatan Rakyat.

At the moment, Penangites wouldn't be able to get rid of Lim.With DAP strong presence and stranglehold on the state assembly Lim is not likely to lose his job.DAP holds 19 out of 40 seats in the assembly.

With his position highly secured Penangites would have to live with his ways of doing things.