Penang is feeling good

Understandably, Penangites are feeling a bit elated - maybe a bit smug - these days. Why shouldn't we be? Ever since the General Elections in March 2008, people in Penang are sensing that we have a new future to look forward to. Never mind that the relationship between the Pakatan Rakyat state government and the Barisan Nasional federal government will continue to be rocky. The Penang people will survive.

Two recent developments have borne me out on this observation.

One was the declaration two days ago by Lim Guan Eng that the Penang Global City Centre (PGCC) project was as good as dead. What this has shown up was the concerted effort of the people to protest civilly against an underhanded greed by a few individuals to profit from an unpopular project.

The second was the announcement yesterday that Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) has been granted apex (accelerated programme for excellence) status. Although nine universities had applied for this status, everyone expected it would eventually reduce to a two-horse race between the USM and the University of Malaya (UM), with USM being very much the under-dog. So it does come as a BIG surprise that USM got the nod from the Higher Education Ministry. With this status, USM can expect additional funding of a few hundred million ringgit to transform it into Malaysia's first world-class university.

According to The Star, a selection committee headed by former Universiti Malaysia Sarawak vice-chancellor Prof Emeritus Datuk Dr Mohamad Zawawi Ismail had short-listed USM, UM, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and Universiti Pertanian Malaysia. But after a thorough evaluation, the committee decided that only USM truly met all the requirements required for apex status. USM had submitted a transformation plan entitled “Transforming Higher Education for a Sustainable Tomorrow” which focussed, among other things, on diagnostics, medical biotechnology, waste management, pharmaceuticals, nano-technology, membrane technology and vaccines.

So I will say to the USM: kudos to you. It gladens my heart to know that you will no longer live in the shadows of UM. Let USM and inter alia, Penang, show the way forward.

As a Penangite, although long transplanted across the channel to the mainland, I still maintain a close emotional tie with George Town, the city of my birth, the city of my youth and now a World Heritage city. A long time ago, I was blogging about the transport system in the inner city, how there used to be tramcars plying the streets of George Town. Yesterday, I heard from a friend that the possibility of tramcars being re-introduced has become very real, possibly within the next 12 months. Also, you can read Anil Netto's perspective from his blog.

Of course, a tramcar system will be excellent for our World Heritage status. But what sort of system will the state government be thinking of? Considering that in the past, George Town used to have a tramcar system on rails, can we re-use those rails or at least part of them? The uncovering of a short stretch of the old rails along Penang Road is about all I have seen but I know that the old rail system was quite extensive. It used to stretch all the way along Dato Kramat Road, past Tramway Road (opposite the Penang Gaol) beyond to Ayer Itam village. Is there any chance of recovering more tracks or do we have to lay new lines? Or is the government planning on introducing electric buses with overhead cables? We used to have that too, you know.

But I believe whatever the system, the government must look seriously into an integrated transport system that can resolve the traffic congestion problem on the island and the transportation woes of the commuters. There's no point in saying that a new tramcar system will be re-introduced if the problem of traffic congestion is not addressed properly. Look long-term and come out with a multi-pronged approach to make this tramcar system viable.