Azhar, Dream, Dream, Dream Away!

ARCHIVES 2010

By admin-s On Jun 12, 2010

In two years, what has the PR ruled Penang state government achieved?

By Masterwordsmith

Free Malaysia Today reported HERE that UMNO secretary Azhar Ibrahim expressed his belief that the state Umno believes Barisan Nasional can win back the Penang government from Pakatan Rakyat in the next general election. He is confident that Umno in particular could win more than the current 11 seats it won in the 2008 general election because of grassroot strength and the return of many rural Malay and Indian voters to the BN fold. Azhar also emphasized that Umno is still going strong because he opines that many Malays are abandoning PKR and PAS and returning to Umno because they realised they have been deceived by the Pakatan state government.

The report said that internal problems in MCA and Gerakan were the main reason the parties lost all the seats they contested in 2008. Azhar said that “since both parties have put their houses in order, MCA and Gerakan should be able to carry out a stronger campaign to win back some seats in the next election.”

While it is always good to have dreams that can propel us forward to achieve our ambition, sometimes, dreams can stem from delusional thinking whereby we blot out parts of reality to create a false sense of security.

Did you know that the Penang government has issued its ‘report card’ on work and initiatives carried out over the first two years of Pakatan Rakyat’s rule in the state? The report card is in the form of a foldable, 10-sided pamphlet can can be downloaded at THIS SITE. Copies of the pamphlet would be distributed to the public over the next year.

In two years, what has the PR ruled Penang state government achieved?

The state-wide WiFi initiative
The establishment of the Penang Science Council
The Senior Citizens’ Appreciation Programme where those who registered are given 100rm annually
The holding of open tenders for all government contracts
Initiatives towards making Penang a green state
The increase of the annual allocation for Islamic religious activities from RM12.5mil in 2008 to RM24.3mil in 2010
A huge amount of $ saved because the Penang govt now travel by Air Asia instead of other airlines
and other achievements…

I would encourage readers, especially Penangites to download the report or get your hands on a copy of the pamphlet so that we can see and feel the changes brought by the Pakatan government over the last two years. We do not need to wait till the campaign period of the next election to hear it from the PR government. Their development plan for Penang has been an ONGOING one from Day 1 when they took over. Of course, they are not perfect – who is? Also, they faced many obstacles in their path – some natural whilst others are man-made.

I have lived in Penang for a few decades now and never saw any such ‘report card’ from the BN ruled government in the past except for that of the record of individuals standing for the elections. That speaks a lot about the efficiency of the previous government.