SUNDAY INTERVIEW: ‘I have a vision for developing Penang’

MAN ON A MISSION: Gerakan secretary-general Teng Chang Yeow has been given the task of leading the Barisan Nasional charge to penetrate fortress DAP in Penang. The mission may be tough, many think it may be impossible. But Teng tells Sharanjit Singh how Penang under Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng is being administered aimlessly

Question:  How tough is it for Barisan Nasional to win back the hearts and minds of the people of Penang?

Answer:  Public perception of BN has not changed much since we lost the state in 2008.

However, I believe we will be able to convince the people that we are a better team. We will put up a good, sincere plan and make a concerted effort to explain in detail what we have in store for Penang.

Question: The thing is, people have a perception that everything that has gone wrong for Penang was caused by the previous state government. How are you tackling this?

Answer: That is the kind of accusation and perception that Pakatan Rakyat leaders have created in the minds of the people.

However, you have to realise that the leaders of the past are no longer in our new team. It is a new ball game now and we have a new approach.

We have a committed team that is looking into Penang development from a whole new perspective compared with the previous leadership. The previous leadership has laid the foundation and we will build on it.

Question: Whatever you say, people are still talking about how previous chief minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon messed up. What is your take on this?

Answer: People were angry with Koh’s leadership style. It was not about his development vision and projects for the state. The record of the number of projects that he brought in is there for everyone to see.

It is not my intention to protect him by saying this but I have to state the facts. Yes, people are critical and disappointed with his leadership style, but he built the foundation for Penang. He was the one who came up with the concept of low- and middle-cost housing, which was then something new for the whole country as well. Developers were not willing to build RM25,000 homes but he overcame that.

He was also responsible for connecting the whole of Penang to a central sewage treatment plant. This has created a cleaner discharge into the sea.

Koh was also responsible for the two national parks that we have in land-scarce Penang.

Question: People are angry with Koh’s leadership style as he was seen as too accommodative. How is your leadership going to be different?

Answer: In a leadership situation, you can be accommodative and you must be accommodative. Otherwise you will be accused of being too authoritarian.

However, one cannot be seen as too accommodative to the extent that one is seen as giving in to every demand. My style is that I am willing to listen but I will put my foot down when I have to.

I am prepared to listen and alter my decision but once it’s made, we have to implement it and get things moving.

Question: Immediately after your appointment as the state BN chief, DAP jumped and accused you of being an Umno stooge. What do you have to say about that?

Answer: It is the DAP game. They do it to weaken the image and standing of a particular leader, especially those from Gerakan and MCA, in the eyes of the Chinese.

Lim Guan Eng was heaping praises on Chong Eu (the late former Penang chief minister Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu) after becoming the chief minister. His father (Lim Kit Siang) on the other hand condemned Chong Eu to kingdom come when he contested in the 1990 general election.

Now is the son slapping the father or did Kit Siang make a grave mistake by doing a disfavour to Chong Eu back in 1990? Let us not forget this part of history.

Of course, there is no shortage of the negative things they said about Koh Tsu Koon. So, whoever is appointed to this position in their eyes, is a stooge of Umno.

Question: Lim Guan Eng continues to play the blame game. The latest is on the issue of hillslope development, where he has washed his hands and said it was all approved by the previous state government. You are the former state executive councillor for environmental protection. Is this true?

Answer: The state government should declassify all the files and minutes of exco meetings to see what decisions were taken and the basis of us making the decisions.

I may be wrong, but I don’t think we approved those projects in question at that point in time. The best thing for him to do is declassify the files and show people what we had approved and what has been approved after 2008.

The thing is, they are in power now and they can do something about it. Remember how the approvals for four high-rise projects in the heritage zone were revoked? Why is the state government not doing the same thing for hillside projects?

Question: Lim has accused the BN of being the darling of developers.

Answer: Yes, he said developers found it easier to work with us than him.

Why don’t you ask any developer in town who they prefer to work with? The answer is they prefer to work with the DAP government now because he (Lim Guan Eng) has allowed the increase in density anywhere in Penang.

In our case, we never allowed that and developers were unhappy with us. The best example is how the Low Yatt group packed their bags and left Penang. Now they are coming back and so are many other developers from Kuala Lumpur.

So, what is the basis of his claim? It has never been easier for developers in Penang. We were blamed by developers of taking too long to approve a plan.

It took three or four years during our time but today plans are approved much faster. It would be crazy for developers to prefer us over the present government.

Question: The state government is citing the increase in stop work orders to show how tough it has become for developers.Answer: What is the use of a stop work order issued today and lifted tomorrow? Have we seen any developer blacklisted or charged in court? The Gurney Paragon developer was slapped with a stop work order, but for how long? The project has been completed well within schedule.

Question: There seems to be confusion on your announcement on the free port status for Penang. Is it for the whole island or is it a plan to have a duty free area on the mainland?

Answer: It is the whole island. The duty free area on 3,000 acres of land by Penang Port Sdn Bhd on the mainland will complement the duty free status of the island.

We need both or we will be accused of having one state with two systems — a free port on the island and nothing on the mainland. What is there for them (the state government) to jump on?

They are just trying to confuse the people by saying that the free port proposal is no more and that I have compromised it for a duty free area on the mainland.

Question: You have a tough task ahead to fight Pakatan in Penang. How do you plan to do it?

Answer: It is a battle that we need to fight with competence, good strategy and a detailed war plan.

No one will go into battle without thinking of winning. Any general who has led a war will have this in mind.

I am leading a team of BN candidates into battle hoping to win. I don’t want to rate the chances but we must have a positive mindset.

When the DAP was badly beaten in the 1995, 1999 and 2004 general elections, Lim Kit Siang still had the fighting spirit. We may disagree with his style but he had the fighting spirit.

Question: Penang DAP leaders are saying that you are all thunder but no rain. How do you respond to that?

Answer: I thank them for paying so much attention to what I want to do but it is about time they start working on their own plans.

It shows how concerned they have become with what I want to do for Penang that they are having almost daily press conferences attacking me.

All I have done so far is to reveal plans that are implementable and they are already sweating.

Question: Are you saying they are rattled?

Answer: I don’t know but obviously they have not come up with anything after four years.

The direction of the state is actually aimless. They don’t have any policy or blueprint for Penang.

Lim shelved their own blueprint and adopted what Pemandu (Performance Management and Delivery Unit) planned for Penang.

How can you say you have a vision but allow others to spearhead their plans?

If we are the ones in this position we will tell Pemandu, “You have to adjust or modify your ideas for Penang to suit our plans. It is not we who will suit your plan. We are the ones who call the shots here not you Pemandu”.

On other fronts, we are also seeing a decline in sports. We have not seen the state team performing well in Sukma. What has gone wrong?

Everything is politicised and you just don’t see any social development programmes being undertaken by the current administration. – (NST)