Lim Guan Eng Losing The Kg Buah Pala Battle Because He Is Not Thinking

ARCHIVES 2009

By admin-s On Jul 8, 2009

By Simon Templar

Lim Guan Eng is a breath of fresh air for Malaysia. But I cannot help but wonder why he screwed up on the Kampung Buah Pala issue. Yes, you read it right, he screwed up.

He is not exactly the typical leader Malaysia has seen in the recent past; well none has been as humble and down to earth as this Chief Minister of Penang. I respect this chap – for his principals and sacrifices made for the people of Malaysia. And of course actions such as his insistence of flying budget airlines or economy only, minimal renovation to his official residence (although some may argue otherwise on his 'new' abode), and his simplicity in having meals among the rakyat, among others, go to show a man who is in touch with the ground.

But I cannot help but wonder why he screwed up on the Kampung Buah Pala issue. Yes, you read it right, he screwed up. He can come up with a thousand reasoning on how the previous BN government is the cause of the issue but that does not matter to the rakyat involved. His duty as the CM is to solve the rakyat's problems and not explain to the rakyat that the problem is that of his predecessor or that of the central government. The Kampung Buah Pala folks are not interested in the truth. They are not interested to be a party of a land scam or whatever it may be. For crying out loud, they just want their lives back – together with the roof they had over their heads all these years.

(By the way, going to the Prime Minister to solve the problem is plain silly. Yes, Lim Guan Eng wants to show that Najib couldn't give a damn but what is he trying to achieve anyway. We already know that BN is bad. Making Najib look "more bad"? Bad is bad la. Period. The episode only got twisted into an "incompetent CM running and crying after the PM for help". I hope Lim Guan Eng is not so naive as to expect Najib to actually resolve the issue.)

How true is the RM200,000 compensation I do not know. But again, that is not the problem. These guys do not want to move and maybe they should not have to. (Actually what's with not accepting the RM200,000? That is a lot of money eh.) Sentimental values maybe. Or maybe they are used to the amenities near the area. Maybe their kids have settled at the nearby schools. Maybe the graves of their ancestors are at the backyard. The list of 'maybe's goes on. The bottom line is – it is their homes.

Lim Guan Eng is a good man. But he is not very savvy. And I don't think that he is very creative is solving problems too. So far, he has definitely not been thinking out of the box. This Kampung Buah Pala issue can be solved and turned into a mega advertisement for Pakatan Rakyat.