Cynix’s World :: January

January 9, 2006

Penang

It has been a long time since I went back to my hometown, Penang. I heard that a lot has changed & Penang Island is becoming heavily populated. Recently, there has been a spring of websites & blogs involving news about SJK(C) Sin Chung in Kepala Batas which was partly demolished.

As The Star pointed out: At about 11am, two excavators started pulling down structures soon after the court dismissed the school’s application to seek non-enforcement of a March 25, 2003, court order to surrender the school property to Motif Era Sdn Bhd, which is also the landowner. Two hours later, at about 1pm, the developer halted the demolition work after receiving the High Court order & the school was given an indefinite stay of execution to the 2003 order pending a judicial review.

All the pupils, including Bumiputras that studied there was devasted by this incident. It is indeed the result of poor management of the goverment. Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon is quick to give his views & give an explanation regarding the demolition & reprieve. He stated that: “We are very disappointed with the developer’s action although they had received the court order but at the least they should have shown some concern for the students’safety in the classrooms.” DAP did not waste time to grab people’s attention by sharing videoclips of this topic.

Temporary Reprieve: pupils during recess

It would seem that the goverment has came up with something to solve this problem temporaily. Headmistress Sze Too Yu Ching said arrangements were being made for all the pupils to be relocated to SJK (C) Aik Keow in Penaga, about 7km away from Sin Chung. Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon also appealed to the public not to view the demolition from a racial or ethnic angle as the state government strongly condemns the rough and hasty behaviour of the developer in tearing down part of the school building on Thursday. He also urged the school to expedite construction of its new building, noting that the Government would allocate RM300,000 for the project.

For pictures & mandarin blog entry regarding this, please visit here. There are ways to help available here as well.

On a different story, Pulau Jerejak which is an island quite near to my Penang house, is to developed as an eco-tourism destination and with no casino in mind. That island used to be a leper colony and later became a penal colony. Sincerely hoped that the situation there has changed for the better.