The 11th Malaysia Plan recognizes the critical role played by cities in the overall national economy that a new city competitiveness master plan has been introduced. The four cities that will benefit from this plan are KL, JB, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu.
I hear you whispering:"Is this right? Is there a mistake? Did you forget to mention certain city? Did you accidentally miss out Penang?" The sad truth is I did not make a mistake, Penang was not included in the city competitiveness master plan.
DAP's Zairil Khir Johari described Penang's exclusion from the master plan as "nothing short of a travesty," accusing that its exclusion could only be attributed to BN's "petty and narrow-minded politics."
Zairil's protest was echoed by his rival counterpart, Gerakan Youth Chief Tan Keng Liang who described Penang's exclusion as defying logic. He went on to tweet: "I also want to finish off DAP in Penang...but please do it properly. Excluding Penang as growth catalyst cities under RMK11 going to backfire!"
The four cities which were chosen based on their population size, GDP contribution, existing infrastructure, concentration of higher learning institutions and geographical advantage. People who read this criteria would certainly scratch their head now and ask - Penang doesn't have all these-meh?!!
To be sidelined in terms of federal funding is nothing new to Penang. Penang's greatest assets are its people, culture and geography. Penang is already a very competitive city with unique characteristics that cannot be find elsewhere in Malaysia. Our food, colourful festivals and architecture are irreplaceable. Penang will come out stronger despite being placed in such a disadvantage position.
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