MAIDEN SPEECH BY THE HONOURABLE WONG MUN HOE, STATE ASSEMBLYMAN FOR PANTAI JEREJAK AT THE PENANG STATE ASSEMBLY ON 17^TH MAY 2004

First of all, I wish to thank Dato’ Speaker for giving me an opportunity to participate in the Thank You debate on the TYT’s speech. The TYT’s speech has given a very clear picture of the development and progress of the State and her future directions.

I also wish to say that I am indeed honoured today to come into this chamber as the elected representative of Pantai Jerejak and wish to thank the people for their confidence and support. I promise that I shall not disappoint them and will serve to the best of my ability.

In 1974, Jimmy Carter talked of first reading Tolstoy's War and Peace, noting:

‘the course of human events, even the greatest historical events, is not determined by the leaders of a nation or a state, like presidents or governors or senators. They are controlled by the combined wisdom and courage and commitment and discernment and unselfishness and compassion and love and idealism of the common ordinary people’

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Indeed, the ‘ordinary people’ of Pantai Jerejak - the modest, hardworking and generous people who have shown me unqualified support are the people who have helped me to be here and I would like to thank them profusely. To them, I owe a debt of gratitude, particularly their commitment, unstinting generosity and toil in ensuring that I get elected. They are people who treasure democracy, who understand the need for vigilance and who are prepared to accept some responsibility for making this a better country.

It is indeed a privilege to represent the electorate, which is rich in diversity and overflowing with ideas, energy and talent. It is also the site of many problems and many issues and I am conscious of the fact that throughout the term, I will be judged in my role as the member for Pantai Jerejak in this House according to how I represent the interests of the local community.

I turn now accordingly to focus on several themes, which I intend to make prominent in my contribution in this place. The first of these themes is the need for greater employment and initiatives in industry policy to ensure that we have a more competitive and more vibrant manufacturing sector. This is to ensure continuing economic growth and prosperity to Penang and Malaysia.

The competitive advantage of nations comes from industrial upgrading to the new investment technology and managerial capacity which give companies an edge on world markets. Firms which remain static are imitated by competitors and soon lose their market advantage. Ultimately, nations succeed in certain environments because their corporate environment is dynamic and challenging, pressuring firms to upgrade and widen their advantages on domestic and international markets. Competition of any kind is, however, never static — not between firms and not between nations. In an isolated and closed economy, international comparisons count for little while in an open and competitive economy, they are the only test of national success. Malaysia and Penang, can have no room or reason for complacency. If we wish to trade successfully in our region, amongst the fastest growing and changing economies in the world, our pace of adjustment must be just as rapid. Quite simply, nations with competitive weaknesses cannot move fast enough to rejuvenate and restructure their economies. The focus of national policy must centre on structural efficiency — securing for Malaysia the best international practice in our transport, communications, human resources, education and research systems. Structural problems require structural solutions and that, of course, is the agenda of our national government.

Indeed, the debate should not be about public versus private ownership but about the huge differences in productivity between competitive and monopoly markets. In this debate, however, it is essential to recognise that governments cannot control the competitive advantage of nations, they can only influence it. There is too little questioning in Malaysia of the pace of reform by the private sector. Indeed, if companies reform their own performance as quickly as they expect governments to change policy, Malaysia would be in a much stronger economic position today. As such, there is the need to revisit the issue of government assistance. Independent academic analyses have shown that strategic government assistance is critical in ensuring successful export manufacturing, particularly in areas such as research and development, market development forecasting and planning and the development of new technology.

A couple of examples illustrate this point. The Japanese Government pays half the cost of about 185 testing and research centres across the country. Small companies go to these centres, use the equipment and get specialist consultation with specialised staff in a national network of technology extension services. The thriving Emilia Romagna region of Italy, which is a manufacturing centre of quite extraordinary vibrancy, has similar centres which are partly government funded. They engage in forecasting, research and development, and provide access to new technology for smaller firms that otherwise would be unable to obtain it. Even in the United States, with bodies such as the Michigan Modernisation Service and the National Institute of Standards and Technologies, the same type of thing is occurring.

A prominent academician, Professor Michael Porter has suggested that this type of approach to industry policy has many advantages. It is more cost effective than indiscriminate assistance such as tax breaks. It guarantees that jobs are created in key areas such as science and technology. It ensures that large sums are not lost when an individual business fails. It allows the government to influence, but not to direct, business policy and approach. It provides enormous potential for regional development through clustering of businesses in strategic locations. Some of the overseas centres that I have referred to have in fact already left the government funded area and are self funding. It offers a method for better articulation between our research institutions and business. It offers small and medium sized businesses access to economies of scale - an issue that I think we need to keep in mind and is critical for the economic well-being of Penang. Indeed, contemporary experiences are inundated with such examples – flexible production technologies and the efficacy of smaller business units. It is precisely this type of company that has led the re- invigoration of manufacturing globally that is occurring already in the export area.

As a state representative, I would like to see such initiatives intensified and promoted assiduously as I believe many of our SMEs are already well-equipped and already performing such tasks. Of course, having the ‘hardware’ alone is inadequate – there is the need to create and ensure that the ‘software’ is readily available and here, human resources are critical refining ‘software’. They add value and are transformative. The role of the PSDC is therefore critical in these calculations and needs to be further evaluated and further extended, including the possibility of transforming it into a Caltech or German-type form of technical and vocational institute. I believe that these measures when strategically implemented and relentlessly pursued, will help to ensure that Penang develop its capacities and capabilities, enabling it to realise its ‘I-land’ vision in a timely fashion.

It is clear by now that the information sector will be the world's definitive industry. Those nations that develop the infrastructure necessary for this industry to flourish are the nations that will prosper into the next millennium. Infrastructure is not just about cable and microwave dishes; it also includes an education and training regime which can increase people's skills in developing software and creating useful content. Already in Penang, information and information related activities employ a large percentage of the work force as well as contribute an equally high percent to the Gross Domestic Product, and this can only improve.

High quality communications, widespread computer usage and literacy, and a willingness to use modern engineering technologies will be essential ingredients in our economic well-being. However, I am not yet convinced that we have sufficiently analysed and discussed the societal and community effects of this shift in our economic base. We need only to look to Putra Jaya and our neighbouring countries such as Bangalore in India and Singapore, to see the rewards that come from investing in information technology and what it brings to a government administration and the economy. There is no doubt that this investment in technology has been a major contributor to the increases in efficiency achieved by both the public and private sectors.

I shall now like to touch on two important local issues which need to be highlighted.

The first of the two issues is the construction of the Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah flyover. While generally acceptable by the people to be a good project, nevertheless, the project has created substantial dissatisfaction and unhappiness amongst the people, in particular the implementation process. Simply put, the project has taken too long to complete. As it is, today, almost 4 years since the project began, the flyover has yet to see the light of the day. When questioned, the standard answer received is “It shall be completed by such and such a date, by such and such a date and such a such a date.” Today, we are still searching for the elusive date. Worse still, there is very little monitoring on the project and the common people will tell you that it is as if the project is done on an ad-hoc basis. In the process, it has become an eye-sore and has resulted in a lot of valuable time loss for the people, in particular those who use Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah to go to and fro their work place in the Bayan Lepas industrial zone.

More shocking is that for a project of this nature, there is inadequate research work done. For instance, the decision to use “spun-piling” for Phase 2 of the project which begins from the Bayan Baru roundabout to the KOMAG factory shows clearly the lack of professionalism. From a dialogue session held recently which I attended, it is disturbing that the monitoring Government department seems to be not even aware that certain buildings very adjacent to the road involved have a case history of tilting problems. If they are, surely they would not have recommended spun piling which is likely to cause great damage to the properties and may even result in the loss of lives. I wish to thank the EXCO concerned YB Sri Delima who has since directed the construction work to stop pending a decision to review the piling method.

The second issue is regarding the proposal by PDC to construct 10 units of double-storey houses in Medan Mayangpasir, Bayan Baru on a piece of land which has been used as an open space by residents over the last 30 years. Technically, the land has never been gazetted as an open space. As such legally speaking, the PDC can continue to carry out the project. However, on both social and moral grounds, this proposal should not have taken place. We have already seen such similar instances in a recent case involving a private development in Sungai Gelugor when a proposed development project on an open field triggered off such strong protest and objection by the local populace that the State Government had to step in.

The only differences between the two examples are firstly, while the case in Sungai Gelugor involves a private company, the case in Bandar Bayan Baru involves a Government agency. Isn’t it ironic that in the case of Sungai Gelugor, the Government has to come in and try to resolve the problem, while in the case of Bandar Bayan Baru, it is the other way round where a Government agency is trying to implement the project! Secondly, the case in Sungai Gelugor involves a proposal for a much bigger-size development whereas the Bandar Bayan Baru development only involves the construction of a mere 10 units of houses. The question is: Is there a real need for PDC to develop an area which has been used by residents all these 30 years as an open space for just 10 units of houses? I am sorry that in this instance, the PDC cannot convince the people the justification for such a project to take place and I hope that the PDC will seriously reconsider going ahead with this hugely unpopular project.

These two issues have demonstrated that there need to be changes made too in the mindset of Government agencies. Indeed just 2 days ago at this Dewan, YAB Ketua Menteri mentioned about PIN and what integrity is all about. According to the Oxford Dictionary, integrity means moral uprightness whereas the Cambridge International Dictionary of English explained integrity as “the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles.” The key word here is “moral”. Government departments must always consider their moral obligation to the people very seriously. Therefore, projects carried out by the Government must be implemented with the interest of the people all the time. Here, leaders and Government agencies must show a good example so that the people can follow otherwise there is no meaning in the principle of Leadership by Example.

With this, I wish to conclude by supporting the Speech by the TYT.