theSun: When the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) took over the state government in March 2008, there were questions about PR's capability to administer and there were big expectations for reforms. Looking back, how has the PR administration changed/evolved since March 2008?
Questions about our capability and ability, I do not deny. Because we are seen to have no experience. That is true. We have no experience. I concede that but somehow, despite our inexperience, we are confident we will do a better job than BN. I think we work hard; it was a steep learning curve but we were able to master our brief, able to administer, able to gain confidence of civil servants by appointing the best whether they are male or female. I think the reforms made, not only a clean government but also a competent one, has helped transform Penang to be cleaner, greener, safer and healthier.
Another important aspect is building institutions like open competitive tenders which is a very important tool to ensure clean governance and (upholding) the Integrity Pledge to show we are clean, and we declare our assets. We have the public interest at heart so we give full disclosure of government contracts signed with private companies.
Looking back at how the PR government has performed from 2008 to 2013, what and how would PR want to achieve in the next term if it keeps hold of the state government ?
Next term, we will stress on building human talent. I always say we must not only prepare the future for the young but also prepare our young for the future. The first five years we prepare for the future for the young, so the next five years, we must prepare the young for the future. That is human talent, not just hardware but also software. That is where free wi-fi comes in, how to extend the provision and adopt a rising tide effect ... not to focus only on the best and brightest. We need to create a rising tide to lift everybody up, to equip them with tools and skills needed by the marketplace ... to make them not only knowledgeable but also employable.
Looking at the three C's of cleanliness, crime and congestion, we have dealt with cleanliness and crime with full cooperation of the police and the Voluntary Patrol Service (PPP) as well as by installing more street lights and CCTVs. Congestion, we hope to solve if we can win federal power, by solving the public transport problem. We are proud that Penang is the only state to offer free bus services in the inner city and across the bridge from Seberang Jaya to Bayan Lepas.
We want to go green. Penang has the highest recycling rate at 24%. The national target is 20% by 2020. We want to expand our green initiatives, including the "no free plastic bag" programme and build bicycle lanes.
Penang PR is basing its election campaign on the three highway and undersea tunnel projects which have received mixed response. How do you think the electorate will react to these mega projects?
This is just one of our pro-active measures to resolve traffic congestion. Before we took over, 60,000 vehicles per day were using the Penang Bridge, but now the volume has increased to 80,000.
The federal government wants to sabotage us by not providing public transport ... they want to choke us to death with traffic congestion. Do we sit down to wait to die? I refuse to wait to die. I want to be proactive. We need to look for alternatives, need some road improvements, not only the tunnel but also three highways, (are) all done without paying cash.
The Tanjung Pinang land deal can help resolve the traffic problems and get us the highways we won't normally get.
There is no choice for us because the previous administration had signed away the rights to build bridges. We cannot build bridges, but they forgot about the tunnel, so we have no choice but to use the loophole.
If you win a parliament seat, and PR wins the federal government, would you take on a federal minister's post?
Given a choice I want to stay back as CM.
Why should the people vote for a PR state government again?
I think it's time for the people to build institutions and have a people-centric government. Three reasons ... Number one you want a people-centric government, not a crony-centric one, we are that. Number two, we want a government which fights corruption not condones it. Number three, we want a government that stresses on human talents, not drive away human talents, stresses brain gain not brain drain.
We must have a government that fears the people not where people fear the government. Finally we need a government that unites everybody, that treats people with respect, that wants every Penangite to work together to respect each other... one where we see each other as Malaysians ... Malaysian brothers and sisters who face the same problems, share the same hopes and seek the same aspirations.
This is what a government should be and PR has delivered a cleaner, greener, safer, and healthier Penang.
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