We didn’t start the fire

ARCHIVES 2012

By MT Webmaster On Oct 24, 2012

Be careful what you wish for. The Malays get angry very easily. The Malays suffer from what we call the Amok Syndrome. But just because the Malays are emotional this does not mean they are stupid as well. They know who to get angry with. They know who these people who ‘rampas’ all the land in the cities are. And this was precisely one of the reasons (I said ‘one of the reasons’) why the Malays ‘mengamok’ in May 1969.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Properties in Penang only for the rich, says Chua

(The Star) – The Penang Government has come under fire for depriving more than 100,000 local families of the chance to own houses on the island.

MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek said the properties on Penang island were now beyond the reach of those earning below RM7,000.

“It seems that Penang island is now only meant for the rich.”

Dr Chua said this in response to the drastic increase in the price of condominiums/apartments (by 411%), flats (339%), low-cost flats (157%) and detached units (103%) within the span of a year.

According to the Valuation and Property Services Department statistics, the price of a detached unit, which was RM1.72mil during the first quarter of last year, has soared as high as RM3.5mil during the corresponding period this year.

The price of condominiums/apartments rose from RM528,000 to RM2.7mil, low-cost flats from RM68,000 to RM175,000 and flats from RM132,000 to as high as RM580,000 during the corresponding period.

Chua also lambasted Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng for misleading the public into thinking that the state was doing well based on the size of its coffers.

“They (the DAP-led state government) go around proudly showing how much they have collected. But generating revenue from the sale of land is not sustainable, especially in a land-scarce state like Penang.”

“Income from sale of land should be regarded as extraordinary gain, as it is certainly not recurrent, sustainable or long term,” he said.

Dr Chua said the claims by some quarters that people in Penang were happy with the state government was a mere illusion.

“Reality will hit them when the majority start pushing for decent, affordable homes,” he said.

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“It seems that Penang island is now only meant for the rich,” said Chua Soi Lek today. Actually, that was what we in the Malay Chamber of Commerce have been lamenting about for over 30 years since the early 1980s when Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad first became Prime Minister.

Not only was this a complaint about Penang. Syed Ali Alattas, the then Chairman of the Johor Malay Chamber of Commerce, also complained about the same thing regarding Johor Baru.

“Do you know only 3% of the land in Johor Baru belongs to the Malays?” asked Syed Ali.

We laughed when someone asked him, “3% of the land in Johor Baru belongs to the Malays or 3% of the land belongs to the Arabs?”

Syed Ali did not find it amusing. “At least 3% belongs to the Arabs. If not because of the Arabs then it would be zero!”

You see, in Johor, Arabs are not considered Malays (they can’t buy Malay Reservation land) so that ‘joke’ was actually a sore point for Syed Ali.

Anyway, the point is, this is a 30-year old grouse amongst the Malays regarding Penang, Johor Baru, Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh, etc. And that was why UDA was formed — to solve this problem of the ‘de-urbanisation’ of the Malays in the main cities.

However, along the way, UDA lost its way and deviated from its charted course. And this was one of the bones of contention of the then Federal Territory Malay Chamber of Commerce Chairman, Izat Emir, who whacked UDA kau kau.

Today, 30 years on, 30 years after the Malay Chamber of Commerce raised the issue, MCA is talking about it. The only thing is MCA is making it appear like this happened only over the last four years since Pakatan Rakyat took over Penang.

This is NOT something that happened only over the last four years since Pakatan Rakyat took over Penang. And this is NOT happening only in Penang. This has been going on (slowly and silently) over the last 55 years. And 51 of those 55 years were under a Barisan Nasional (Alliance Party earlier) government.

Kuala Lumpur has always been under the Alliance Party/Barisan Nasional since the beginning (even now when they hold only 1 of the 11 seats). Johor has always been under Barisan Nasional since the beginning. And the ‘de-urbanisation’ of the Malays in Johor Baru, Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh, etc., is as bad or worse than in Penang.

If MCA wants to talk about this then let’s talk about it. We in the Malay Chamber of Commerce have been talking about it for 30 years since Dr Mahathir first became the Prime Minister of Malaysia. And it has not improved. In fact, it has become even worse. (Even Dr Mahathir tried to solve it but failed, as he admitted).

This has nothing to do with Lim Guan Eng, DAP or Pakatan Rakyat. Maybe they are guilty of not addressing the problem since they took over Penang four years ago. But the culprit is not Lim Guan Eng, DAP or Pakatan Rakyat. The culprit is CAPITALISM.

Yes, that’s right. When property prices go up, only the rich can afford to buy them. And those who happen to own property in areas where prices have spiralled will sell their property when the price is good. That is called CAPITALISM.

So how to avoid this? How to avoid the ‘de-urbanisation’ of the Malays (and poor Indians and Chinese as well) in the big/main cities of Malaysia?

One way would be to not develop these places. Do like what you do in Kampong Baru in Kuala Lumpur. ‘Gazette’ the land and leave the place poor like an urban slum. Then the land will have no value and the Malays would remain living there because their land has no value. Once it has value and they can get millions if they sell their land then they would sell their land. I would! So I don’t know why the others wouldn’t.

Chua Soi Lek and MCA are trying to get the Malays to become angry with Lim Guan Eng and DAP/Pakatan Rakyat. That, I agree, is what politics is all about. I would do the same if I were a politician.

But this strategy can backfire. The Malays, in particular those from the Malay Chamber of Commerce, have been angry that the Malays are being slowly ‘ousted’ from the city centres. And we have been angry about it since way back 30 years ago. But 30 years ago it was Barisan Nasional that we blamed, not the opposition.

Hello, Mister Chua, this did not happen since only four years ago. This has been going on since 55 years ago. And we blame Umno, the Alliance Party and Barisan Nasional for this.

Actually, I am no longer in the Malay Chamber of Commerce. So, many of us have given up talking about this matter. Yes, we no longer talk about it. But now that you have resurrected something long ‘dead’ and have reminded us about something we talked about 30 years ago but have now forgotten, you have just opened a Pandora’s box.

So now I do want to talk about it. You have just reminded me about a matter we talked about 30 years ago but have since forgotten about it. And that matter is the Chinese have kicked the Malays out of the city centres.

And those Chinese who kicked the Malays out of the city centres are the rich Chinese, the capitalist Chinese, the crony Chinese, the Chinese aligned to the ruling party — Barisan Nasional, Umno and MCA.

So let’s get angry. Let the Malays rise up in anger about being kicked out of the city centres. Let’s see the Malays outraged about the Chinese taking over all the expensive property in the cities. And when that happens they will hate the government and the rich Chinese from MCA for this ‘injustice’.

These MCA people are so stupid. They start a fire and end up burning their own house down. Just remember: we didn’t start the fire!

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SEE VIDEO ON YOUTUBE HERE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AXGIl1yHWA