September 10, 2011
Revitalising as well as Transforming Penang
The mainstream media did not inform upon this debate by Penangs Chief Minister, Lim Guan Eng which was delivered during a Foreign Correspondents Club , Singapore August,12, 2011. The reason is flattering viewable to all of us. Penang is governed by Pakatan Rakyat, not be a Gerakan Party, a component celebration in a Barisan Nasional coalition, which was resoundingly deserted by a people of Penang in March, 2008.
That Penang has been transformed cannot be disputed. Just take a outing there as well as experience for yourself a transformation which has been receiving place over a last 3 years underneath a Pakatan government. A great story needs to be told, as well as we sincerely consider which a debate by Chief Minister deserves to be read. In times of gloom as well as doom, we need to listen to of successes so which a sagging spirits can be resuscitated. The mood there is lovely as well as a lot has to do with great governance by a group of immature as well as honest leaders.
The Penang Story is inspirational. Basically, it is about a People-centric supervision which is founded upon a element of Justice for All as well as a single which grasp formula by competency, burden as well as transparency. This state government, led by a energetic as well as tough operative Chief Minister, Lim Guan Eng. is revitalising Penang. Din Merican
Transforming Penang in a Changing World
by Lim Guan Eng, Chief Minister of Penang
I am extremely proud to be given a event to oversee a beautiful colourful state of Penang as well as am delighted to have a event to speak to you. we idea by a finish of my remarks we will consider entrance to revisit as well as deposit in Penang , as it continues to be an attractive place for blurb operation as well as instruct alike.
It is smashing to be in Singapore. We have so most in common; usual story as well as people. Our bonds have been deeply intertwined, culturally, politically as well as economically.I would similar to to prominence a little of a usual features. We have been both small states which have punched above a weight economically by a tough work as well as creativity of a people. We have both been successes notwithstanding a distance as well as obstacles we share.
Today, more than 25% of Malaysias exports in terms of worth as well as volume come from Penang some-more than half of a countrys wiring have been constructed there as well as we have been in in between a tip traveller destinations in Malaysia with a jot down numbers of visitors. Like Singapore , we conclude a importance of planning, a auspicious marketplace sourroundings for investors as well as fiscal responsibility. We both have worked tough to put ourselves upon a map internationally, as well as have done so successfully. We both know which in order to progress, we need to conform as well as transform.
I have long dignified Singapores adaptability, how it has managed to respond to monetary crises such as those in 2003 as well as 2008 as well as continues to be a purpose indication for promoting mercantile expansion in Southeast ! Asia . w e am additionally deeply meddlesome in a reforms which Singapore will introduce to address a social concerns which were brought to light in a brand brand brand brand brand brand brand brand brand brand new May election, as a hurdles Singapore faces in addressing inequaliti! es as well as p romoting integration have been usual opposite a region. we am looking brazen to learning some-more from Singapore as well as deepening ties here. Penang has not long ago re-branded itself as a place of preference for investors as well as end of preference for tourists.
Penang: Top Tourist Destination as well as Investment Center for Malaysia
We have been a single of a tip 3 traveller destinations in Malaysia . We have been a tip investment state in Malaysia in 2010 sketch investments from all over together with Singapore . Penang contributes towards 36 % of Malaysias FDI notwithstanding carrying usually 6 % of a countrys population.
There have been 7 pass factors which account for a success as a place of preference for investors :
1. Ready availability of tellurian talent;
2. Effective as well as fit supply sequence management;
3. Competent as well as reliable logistics as well as communications hub;
4. Strong Intellectual Property protection;
5. Good, non-corrupt, governance as well as effective leadership;
6. Building creativity as well as innovation in scholarship as well as technology; and
7. Livable as well as protected city environment
For these reasons, in a query to be a smart shop of a Software Valley knowledge-based economy, we have been aware of being a bearable city as well as formulating a colourful urban environment. ECA International listed Penang as a most bearable city in Malaysia upon standard with KL. Penang is world-famous for a travel food as well as CNN not long ago placed a Penang asam laksa as a 7th most appropriate food in a world. KPMG International listed us as a sing! le of 30 tellurian Business Process Outsourcing Centre for a future.
We have been proudly a UNESCO World Heritage City for a superb universal worth of informative farrago as well as living heritage. But what afterwards for a future. As we thought about my outing to Singapore, we realized it was critical to prominence a need for adaptation, to adjust to brand brand brand brand brand brand brand brand brand brand new circumstances. Events over a last week in a marketplace place prominence how vulnerable we have been to remarkable ch! anges in mercantile fortunes as well as developments in a tellurian economy. To tarry as well as thrive, we need to adapt.
Singapore did this in 2003, some-more not long ago after a 2008 monetary predicament as well as continues to do so in response to a capricious evolving tellurian economy. We hold which in order to be tolerable as well as flower it is required to balance mercantile expansion with larger equitable growth for all. We know Penang contingency find a own niche as an ubiquitous as well as smart city.
Branding for Penang is critical which is synonymous with quality, reliability, safety, sustainability as well as integrity. Equally critical is social cohesion as well as inclusion towards a usual society which allows approved participation, apply oneself for farrago as well as particular dignity, subsequent to event as well as prohibition of discrimination. But most crucial of all is subsequent to opportunities for a immature as well as talented to grow as well as perform their potential.
A Changed World
I would similar to to take a pen of 2003 as a usual a single to begin a discussion, over eight years ago. For Singapore this was a formidable year, a single in which SARS as well as a region slack acutely affected your manage to buy as well as brought home a little of a vulnerabilities of a closer tellurian links with China as well as a slack of a US economy. This year was additional! ly poign ant in Malaysia, in which it noted a year which former premier Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamed stepped down from office. New leaders have come into bureau given then, with brand brand brand brand brand brand brand brand brand brand new ideas. we am partial of a brand brand brand brand brand brand brand brand brand brand new generation of leaders. We share an appreciation of a need to reform as well as adapt.
Gone have been a days when hardware brand brand brand brand brand brand brand brand brand brand new HDB flats, brand brand brand brand brand brand brand brand brand brand new roads as well as clinics can satisfactorily encounter a needs of a people. We face a usual charge of bringing a some-more formidable program to a citizens, a tangible yet unsubstantial concerns with peculiarity of life, while simultaneously strengthening institutions to bring about these changes.
Need to Plan for Un! certaint y
This brings me to a first categorical indicate about todays becoming different universe a appearance of crisis. In a region we have right away seen dual major monetary crises as well as a array of healthy disasters, most not long ago with pictures by a tragic Mar 2011 earthquake as well as tsunami in Japan. We do not nonetheless know a stroke of a developments in a monetary markets over a last week. It has right away turn normal to expect a unknown. None of us have been fully ready for a crisis, yet we have learned which we have to put in place conditions for preparedness.We need to plan for uncertainty.
In Penang we have adopted measures to help a state to be prepared for a different inside of a proportions which a Chief Minister can implement. We have softened a states monetary in front of with three years of uninterrupted jot down surpluses as well as rescuing a internal locale council, which lost RM230 million, from bankruptcy. I hold strongly in monetary responsibility. A monetary base is not enough, howeve! r. It is critical to have firm a domestic institutions. Professionalising a polite service, establishing a little of a institutions of polite society such as sourroundings up a first Speakers Corner in Malaysia as well as enacting a Freedom of Information Act.
This brand brand brand brand brand brand brand brand brand brand new indication of governance which is tied to a approval of a need to consider toward a futureis a critical step not usually today, yet for which stormy day when conditions change. If anything we have learnt in a past decade or so is which shift is inevitable, as well as we contingency be as ready as we can to face a brand brand brand brand brand brand brand brand brand brand new horizon.
Forging links as well as networks regionally
Part of todays becoming different universe involves a need to forge links as well as networks regionally together with with China . We contingency give approval of a special attribute with these countries together with Singapore where we have been bonded by blood, tested by time as well as driven by usual values of excellence, competitiveness as well as integrity. From early on! , as standard t of a Straits Settlements, Singapore as well as Penang have usual strong bonds. Many a Penangite has migrated to or works in Singapore, as well as most a Singaporean visits Penang. The scarcely 20 flights each day to as well as fro in in between a dual islands have been full.
Need to Diversify
Thirdly, we should never put a eggs in a single basket.We need to diversify. Despite a close linkages with a traditional investors in electronic industry from Japan , Europe as well as US, we have been deeply engaged in operative with China as well as India as well as a regional neighbors Singapore , Indonesia as well as Thailand as well. The concentration is not just upon investment, yet broadening tourism as well as informative exchanges.
Our MYPenang debate featured in J! une-July in Dhoby Ghaut with pictures graphically usual chronological as well as personal ties. It highlighted a most traveller attractions of a state. This initiative, along with a alternative outreach efforts, reflects a rebranding of a state, a single in which we enthuse those who have not visited Penang for most years to return or come for a first time.
I cannot stress sufficient which we have been in law a brand brand brand brand brand brand brand brand brand brand new Penang , as well as aim to have firm a ubiquitous form in this each becoming different tellurian context. The tellurian changes in a universe have been not additionally receiving place inside of in Asia. In a last six months we have seen what scholars have been already labeling a fourth call of democracy, a absolute domestic revolutions which others have labeled a Arab open in a Middle East.
From Tahril Square in Cairo to a some-more unfortunate brand brand brand brand brand brand brand brand brand brand new confrontations in Syria as well as Yemen, a demands for domestic shift prominence a actuality which people wish fairer improved domestic systems. Even in Singapore a call for shift had larger inflection in May.
Be People-Centric
This brings me to a fourth point: a need to anchor what we do in a people to be people-centric. Everything we do as leaders should be driven by a desire to offer a people. I! n a Mi ddle East as well as elsewhere, corruption, fervour as well as self-interest have eroded open certainty as well as broken open conviction in leadership.
Political institutions from a judiciary to a military have been enervated by vested interests aiming to protect a few, a elite, rsther than than a people during large. The lessons from a Middle East have been clear which elites which do not offer a people as well as have been some-more meddlesome in power as well as their own slot book will be opposed. Malaysias contemporary Bersih transformati! on draws from most of a same concerns in todays Middle East. We wish stronger domestic institutions, fairer opportunities for all as well as clean governments.
Transparency as well as Accountability in Governance
Penangs mantra from a day we took bureau has been a same positively no corruption. None. The large investments in Penang for infrastructure is by open tender, committed to great governance, as well as open to all. Penang is proud to be a usually state in Malaysian story to be praised by Transparency International. We contingency emanate opportunities for everyone. The people contingency be served by carrying a supervision which protects their interests, rsther than than a single which is self-interested.
My last indicate yet viewable is crucial for small states dependent upon a universe manage to buy similar to Penang , a need to effectively manage globalization. Rising oil prices as well as rising incomes in China have contributed to inflationary pressures which have been being felt throughout Asia . Partisan politicking in a US as well as an unwillingness to have tough decisions upon a Euro debt predicament in Europe have been right away carrying their affects. It is thus a shortcoming as leaders to minimize these disastrous goods upon a people.
Changing a World
I am a immature personality in this brand brand brand brand brand brand brand brand brand brand new severe as well as becoming different world. Our success as todays leaders will be judged by how we renovate a countries as well as have have use of of a most critical resource to develop a people. To have have use of of an! economi c analogy, a success depends upon a people moving up a worth chain, a context where a needs physical as well as mental a people have been being met as well as maximized.
This brings me to a second territory of my remarks, a steps needed to shift a world, a universe here in Asia, yet gener! ally my universe in Penang as well as Malaysia . In this day as well as age where monetary interest as well as materialism is a driver in a economy, as well as alas sadly infrequently for others in politics, we cannot importance sufficient a need to have a dignified core as well as set of ideals which guide a actions in government.
Malaysias opposition of Pakatan Rakyat either it is my celebration a Democratic Action Party, a Islamic Party of Malaysia, PAS, or Anwar Ibrahims celebration Parti Keadilan Rakyat is guided by a set of usual ideals broader democracy, fairness, tellurian dignity, tough work as well as mutual respect. We have been firm together by a usual goal, to have Malaysia a stronger as well as fairer nation for all of a adults of each community as well as background.
I am really proud to be a Malaysian, as well as everything we do is directed during creation a nation stronger as well as better. we have personally witnessed a struggle of typical Malaysians to have ends encounter in these formidable capricious times as well as a hardship which a little family groups endure. My own family comes from usual means as well as we assimilate each day hurdles to find a unvaried for your child, to yield a most appropriate education for your children, to know which we have sufficient income to yield for your desired ones, as well as importantly, to be means to live a hold up with grace as well as security.
When a governing body in my nation is full of personal attacks, most built by newspapers which engage in storytelling of hatred, we pull strength from my believe which what we do is for Malaysia , for all Malaysians. we pull impulse from a most people opposite secular communities who walked a streets last month in a call for Bersih, a cleanser electoral complement as well as improved Malaysia .
As a people-cen! tric gov ernment, a most critical idea is to yield subsequent to opportunities for all generally a event for a young kids to comprehend their potential. No! thing ca n be sadder than to fall short a certainty of a kid with archaic as well as dangerous extremist ideology which ones kid is never great sufficient as well as contingency be perpetually dependant upon a tongkat or a wheelchair, as well as they will never be rewarded for their great performances no matter how honourable they are. To achieve peace Malaysians contingency mount joined as well as reject those who instruct to order us by preaching secular as well as eremite hatred.
Stop Extremists
If we wish to benefit from subsequent to opportunities as well as comprehend a tellurian intensity we contingency stop extremists from ceaselessly spiritless others as inferiors so as to uplift ourselves. We can usually grasp harmony together. Despite a differences as well as diversity, Malaysians can have a usual aspirations of freedom, justice, democracy as well as law come true if we remember pass values. That it is not who we have been which is important, yet what we have been which is important; not a colour of a skin which is critical yet a content of a character; as well as not a past stock which is critical yet how we bond with a present as well as with each alternative to face a future. We cannot be locked in a past as well as allow a past to close off possibilities of a improved future.
Here in Singapore , when a 2003 SARS predicament happened, we embraced a brand brand brand brand brand brand brand brand brand brand new destiny together. No matter a domestic differences in a brand brand brand brand brand brand brand brand brand brand new May ubiquitous elections, Singaporeans were one in wanting a improved nation as well as a improved destiny for Singaporeans. In 2008, in Penang as well as alternative Pakatan Rakyat-run governments, we additionally embraced a destiny as well as we go upon to do so. Change is an ongoing process, a single in which as leaders we contingency nurture.
To be honest, infrequently it can be utterly frustrating, as well as often we am overtired in my loyalty to creation formula happens! as soon as possible. We know which a time has come to leave behind policies which have been not operative as well as adopt brand brand brand brand brand brand brand brand brand brand new initiatives. We know which we cannot let a anguish as well as harm of a past blind us to a brand brand brand brand brand brand brand brand brand brand new future. Our nation is strong since of a secular as well as eremite diversity, where all communities can practice their conviction as well as know which they have a secure place in a nations future. We know which we have to embrace a young, as well as sense from a believe of a old.Our Policy Direction
I wanted to take a moment to share with we a little of a petrify routine frameworks we have been taking advantage of in Penang.This foreshadows a little of a ideas in a forthcoming Penang Blueprint from 2011 to 2015. This blueprint was drafted by a states consider tank Socio-Economic as well as Environmental Research Institute (to be renamed Penang Institute this year) as well as is a outcome of dialogues opposite a state. From a onset, we have recognized a need to consider of brand brand brand brand brand brand brand brand brand brand new innovative approaches as well as ideas to move Penang as well as Malaysia forward, as well as acquire further inputs.
Reviving Penangs Livability
Allow me to share a little of a core ideas in a forthcoming Penang Blueprint. We have grouped them underneath a Rs :The first indicate we wish to stress is Reviving Penangs Livability by being sustainable. Penang is a first immature state in Malaysia. In a past we have been known as a Pearl of a Orient, as well as a policies have been framed around bringing behind a dash of a past.
We have been a living birthright city, a UNESCO World Heritage sit! e, as we ll as we have been operative to foster as well as enhance a birthright monuments. We know which livability is not just about a buildings as well as brand brand brand brand brand brand brand brand brand brand new land developmentsand we have utterly a couple of exciting skill as well as blurb developments entrance yet additionally about a maintaining a peculiarity of a physical sourroundings as well as affordable housing.
In Penang, we led Malaysia in a key of immature initiatives such as a no p! lastic b ag debate as well as we have been actively exploring housing programs for revoke income as well as center class residents. One of a most severe routine areas has been mending trade as well as transportation. We have offering some-more open travel options, such as a giveaway train from a mainland for bureau workers, as well as have been exploring skeleton to variegate road travel options.
We additionally conclude a informative as well as mental dimensions of livability, as well as have actively worked to inspire a humanities as well as emanate open spaces. Last month we held a really successful Georgetown Festival of a humanities highlighting dancing, movie as well as cuisine. Artists know which Penang is a place where creativity is valued as well as showcased.
Revitalizing a states blurb operation environment.
A together R is Revitalizing a states blurb operation environment. We have been streamlining a routine for permits as well as licenses to revoke a red tape. We have removed a greatest barrier of all, a alleged payoff. We have created a special section to await small as well as middle enterprises as well as upgrading infrastructure. A pen of a infrastructural upgrades is Penangs brand brand brand brand brand brand brand brand brand brand new airport, where a substantial renovations have been expected by subsequent year which will allow for some-more upsurge of tourists as well as investors.
Reducing costs to b! lurb ope ration as well as formulating a operative sourroundings which is gainful to success is required for a brighter destiny for Penang as well as Malaysia as a whole. Part of a revitalization routine has been to deposit in a city core of Georgetown , meaningful which a synergies in in between a city as well as alternative tools of Penang have been strong as well as extend outwards.
The 2009 World Bank Report upon Globalization stressed which a city is an mercantile section as well as as such can offer as a lynchpin in promoting multifaceted expansion as well as development. We in Penang hold which office building cities not usually serves national development, it has critical certain spillovers for a state as a whole.
Reclaiming Responsibi! lities.
Let me prominence a third R Reclaiming Responsibilities. The state governments have been overshadowed in Malaysia by a sovereign government. There is a limited operation of areas where we as a chief apportion have jurisdiction. We have been operative to retrieve these responsibilities. We hold which decentralization of decisions as well as resources is positively required to effectively reach communities.
As such, we have been introducing social reserve net policies such as a program for a elderly during a state level. We have additionally empowered as well as energized a internal councils, as well as a formula have been viewable to any visitor. Penang is cleanser as well as safer. We know which as state leaders which a internal is important, as well as which each citizen sees their supervision from their everyday experience.
We have been receiving shortcoming for what a constitution allows us to exercise as well as office building upon a deeper believe of internal conditions. These ideas have been partial of a broader strategy of moving Malaysia out of what a World Bank has labeled a middle-income trap. Livability, mercantile revitalization as well as domestic decentralized! with so me-more fit as well as fairer governance.
Yahoo Travel not long ago listed Penang as a single of a 10 tip islands in a universe we contingency explore before we die. For those who have come to Penang we can all die happy. we have usual with we a little of contemporary Penangs story, how we have been going about transforming Penang in a becoming different world. We ask we to come to Penang , to see for yourself a success where we set up a destiny for a youths as well as a youths for a future.
Speech by The Honourable Lim Guan Eng Chief Minister of Penang At Foreign Correspondents Club , Singapore August,12, 2011
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