MPPP & JKR, Please clear fallen trees

Some of the trees at the outskirts of Bukit Awana Condo, Jalan Kukus at Paya Terubong, Penang had fallen due to a storm recently. The trees damaged the compound fences and luckily no one was injured due to this incident.

We hope MPPP or JKR can help to remove the fallen trees and at the same repair the fences damaged.

The trees along the road leading to Bukit Awana Condo also need some trimming too. The roots are actually invading the hill side and may cause land fall. Please look into these matters for the safety of the residents there.

Pintas No 0912-2181

Danger and Slow Down signs

Danger signs or slow down signs should be indicated at less 500 ~ 800 metres away from the road repair area in front of the new Eastin Hotel. The road leading to the Bayan Lepas Industrial Zone has cars speeding at 70km/hr. The repairs have created a bottleneck at that section of the fork road and will cause accident if no visible warning devices are deployed.

I used this section of the road everyday and I know for a fact that there will be accidents if drivers are not properly informed. Act now before it is too late.

MPPP Ensures Frequent Maintenance On Heritage Cemetery

CJs Jimmy Leow and Chan Lilian met up with MPPP President YDP Tan Cheng Chui at the historical Protestant Cemetery in Penang to discuss on ways to maintain this heritage site. Recently, both CJs made a short video indicating the needs to keep this place in good condition to attract tourists and also for the future generation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_Ob6H...

Together with the CJs were Penang Heritage Trust's President, Dr. Choong Sim Poey and Magdalene Ng who were delighted that MPPP is taking positive steps to maintain the Protestant Cemetery. Both CJs also witnessed the clearing up of rubbish at the entrance of the cemetery by MPPP personnel after Tan's instruction.

Penangites Breathing Ashes

CJ Jimmy Leow asked hikers at Youth Park, Penang what they think about the haze "season" which was set upon them again by the open burning from neighbouring country. It seems to be a yearly affair since the 90's, will we ever see a stop to this irresponsible act from the related parties. Or are we going to continue to choke on ashes year after year..

Where is Sir Francis Light's Grave?

CJ Chan Lilian and Jimmy Leow visited the Protestant Cemetery in Penang to find out where Captain Francis Light, the founder of Penang was laid to rest. The atmosphere in the cemetery was spooky and the place was not properly taken care of. Both citizen journalists requested the state government and related organizations to take up the challenge to beautify this heritage site for visitors and the generations to come. If left alone, it will definitely be another piece of waste land.

Help us preserve the heritage of Penang.

Thumbs Up, MPPP

CJ Jimmy Leow returned to PISA, Penang to follow up on the draining of stagnant water from one of its pond which may be a possible breeding ground for Aedes mosquitoes. On the 31 May 2009, Jimmy has produced a video clip which described the need to immediately drain away the stagnant water to deter dengue.

Video : Jimmy Leow (Citizen Journalist)

Organization : CJMY Penang

PISA, A Possible Aedes Breeding Ground

CJ Jimmy Leow reminded MPPP to drain the stagnant water from it's fountain to deter Aedes mosquito breeding. PISA is a popular place for the public and it should be free of Aedes mosquitoes at all cost. 

There are currently more than 18,000 cases of dengue in Malaysia and the government has spent millions of ringgit getting rid of this health problem. We all need to be alert and report such ponds of stagnant water to the related authorities.

PINTAS Ref No : 0906-1346 (01 June 2009)

Stop Polluting The Sea

CJ Jimmy Leow followed the traces of domestic and industrial waste from the heart of Bayan Lepas industrial area which was flushed out to the open sea via several channels. Imagine the poison going out to sea and the effects to marine life and fauna.

PINTAS ref no : 0905-8760

Illegal Dumping at Hillside

CJ Jimmy Leow stumbled on four huge illegal dumping sites located at the hillside of Bayan Baru, Penang. The worst part is, there is this beautiful stream located at the bottom of the hill and it will be destroyed if such illegal dumping continues. Citizen Journalism Malaysia hopes that the related government agencies with take the necessary actions to save this stream and put those involved in this act behind bars.

PINTAS ref no : 0905-9485

Balik Pulau Abandoned Highway

Will we ever see further progress to this abandoned highway? Who is to restart this project? When will the project complete?

PINTAS Complaint Number : 0905-7969 (11 May 2009)

Fire Hydrant Weak Water Pressure during Rescue

The fire hydrant in the video has weak water pressure. A car caught fire and there was no water pressure to rescue as you can see in the video. Who is responsible for this issue? PBA? Please assist to solve this problem. 

The location is :-

Pearl Garden

Jalan Dato Ismail Hashim,

11900 Penang.

Complaint Number : 0904-2764 (dated 27 Apr 2009)

Troubled Person at Jalan Dato Ismail Hashim

This man has been in vicinity of Jalan Dato Ismail Hashim (postcode 11900) and Jalan Kenari. As you can see, he is improperly dressed and sometimes he flashes his private part to the public. The shop owners had to give him money or cigarettes in order to "persuade" him leave their shop entrance. If not, he would "do his business" right in front of the shop lot.

I have also seen him taking away food from table while people were still eating. It is really frightening.

As there is a school (Sekolah Menengah Sungai Ara) near by, I am afraid he might "harm" these students. I believe Jabatan Kebajikan Masyarakat can help this person and put him into the proper environment or institution.

Complaint Number : 0904-0220 (dated 26 Apr 2009)

Where is CM's photo?

I have noticed that several government offices are not putting up YAB Lim Guan Eng's photo on the wall. I took this shot at Bayan Baru Klinik Kesihatan last week. Ok, Pak Lah's photo was still there and probably will be changed to our new PM's photo soon.

I bet the new PM's photo will be put sooner than Lim Guan Eng's. I also noticed that some of the Nasi Kandar shops are not putting Lim Guan Eng's photo too.

I believe it is a matter of respect that we have our current leaders' (whether we like them or not) photos hung on the wall of offices and establishments. 

I am not sure which department in the state government is responsible for this, but can some one look into this issue? 

Complaint ref no : 0904-0220 (dated 13th April 2009)

Who is working on the Penang Bridge?

If you are going to the Prai from Penang Island via Penang Bridge, you are probably as pissed as I am. The traffic jam at the entrance to the bridge from Bayan Lepas and from Tesco is murderous and yet no one was seen to be working on the problem. First of all, where are the workers during the day? Who is supervising this job? 

Ok, maybe they work during the night, but if it is not productive enough, change the shift.  It is causing traffic congestions even during weekends, can some one from the state government and the related parties look into this. Seriously, I think you guys are sleeping on your job. Move your heavy butts and solve this problem immediately.

Just imagine, from 4 lanes cramped into 1 lane. How long will be continue and what is the time frame to complete this less than 300 metre job?

Complaint Ref No : 0904-0217 (dated 6 Apr 2009)

 

Zero Hardcore Poverty Status for Penang

Penang was declared as the first state in Malaysia to achieve Zero Hardcore Poverty status.

Our Citizen Journalism Malaysia team in Penang, was there to cover the event.

Zero Hardcore Poverty Press Conference

Zero Hardcore Poverty press conference on the 30th March 2009. Our Citizen Journalism Malaysia team in Penang, CJs Chan Lilian and Jimmy Leow asked some tough questions with regards to the homeless and funds for the poor.

Reels of Danger at Penang Bridge

These photos are taken at the middle of the Penang Bridge yesterday.

The cable with reel could be at least 500kgs to 1000kgs in total. Just imagine if one of those reels gets dislodged from the stopper (which is just a piece of wood wedged against the reel) and starts to roll down from the center of the bridge. Once one starts to roll, the others will follow and snowball. I tell you, it will be disastrous and deadly. It will probably destroy everything along its path, including the workers on the bridge and crush some unlucky motorcyclists out of the lives.

Let's not be careless. Act now and find a preventive measure to ensure the safety of the workers on the bridge and the users too. 

"Learn from mistakes", well, this is not a mistake you want to make. 

Complaint Ref. No : 0903-0216

The Trees of Tai Yee Long?

With the economic situation getting bad to worse as days goes by, more and more people will be out of job. Many will be forced to tie their belts tighter to survive and for those without choice may have to try thier luck to borrow money from the banks. Without a job or a steady income, which bank will lend you money? Only Ah Long. Look at their advertisements! Free advertisement at every tree you can find.

Not all the blame goes to the Ah Long who uses the tree trucks as their bill board, you have tuition ad, rent a lorry ad, plumbing ad, marriage invitation card ad, this ad and that ad glued onto traffic lights, below the road signages, lamp posts, you name it, they have it.

Can the MPPP do something about this problem?

Traffic Lights Down Again !!!!

This traffic light was knocked down by some careless driver last week and yesterday when I tookthis photo, all the casing, lights and wires were not there, only the traffic light beam remained. I hope no one stole them but taken by the related authorities.

This is located at the junction of Jalan Dato Ismail Hashim, postcode 11900, Penang.

By the way, this traffic light has been replaced many times in a year due to careless drivers who took reckless cornering stunts. 

First, we need to replace the traffic lights and some one from the traffic section must study how such incident can be eliminated. I believe the traffic lights cost a lot too, well, it is also our money right?

Where?

Danger : Trees with heavy branches

Now that is raining these days, trees are getting greener and provides good shades for the cars below. This is located at the inner lane of Pearl Garden, Jalan Dato Ismail Hashim, 11900 Penang. Just bear in mind that the branches may not be able to take the weight of the rain and the storms that may come in the evenings. 

Can we have MPPP to trim down those branches to eliminate the danger of falling branches? Our management has contacted MPPP but they say it is JKR's job and we need to wait like 2 to 3 weeks before any thing can be done. What??? 

Where is the road sign?

The tree is blocking the road sign. Now that the rain is back, trees are growing fast and sometimes blocks the road signages. Can MPPP do something about this? Signages are important and being displayed clearly will reduce a lot of confusion and accidents. 

This signage is located near Tesco Penang, I believe the signage is for Jalan Faraday. 

Food in Penang : Ridiculously High

If this sounds like Penang, where can the tourists report such issues? I think the food prices in Penang is getting ridiculously high, and something must be done to stop the price from going up like nobodies' business. 

The fuel price is down, people are without work and yet some hawkers are using this opportunity to hike up the price of food as no one now can afford to spend money in the restaurants. Blood suckers, they are. 

Will the relevant state authorities look into this? Penang is supposed to be a food haven, tasty food and affordable even for the locals.

NST Singapore : SIX Americans who sat down to a seafood dinner at Newton hawker centre (Singapore) on Saturday just about fell off their chairs when they were presented a bill for $491, including $239 for eight tiger prawns.

Mr Michael Rigby, 30, an exhibition specialist from Oregon who comes here regularly for work, said: 'It was more than what it would have cost us at a restaurant in the hotel.'

The food centre was crowded then, so when the helpers from stall 43, Tanglin Best BBQ Seafood, showed them to a table, they felt obliged to order from them.

Besides tiger prawns, they had four crabs, baby squids, half a steamed chicken, four bottles of beer and fruit juices. Mrs Rigby, referring to the price of the prawns, said: 'They were prawns. It was not like we dined on lobsters!'

She added that halfway through the meal, the stallholder even plonked two grilled sting rays on their table.

'We told them that we did not order them and they were quickly taken away. Afraid we would be charged for them, we asked for an itemised bill. When it came, we were shocked,' she said.

Mr Rubio, who is from Arizona, told The Straits Times that the prices seemed comparable to those of an American restaurant and thought nothing of it - until Mr Rigby queried the bill.

CJ On The Move : The Homeless

During the early hours of 15 March 2009, a group of us Citizen Journalists (CJ) roamed the streets of Georgetown, Penang, looking for the homeless. We have been discussing about the fate of the homeless in Penang during one of our Citizen Journalism class and decided to do a documentary about it. With the help of a new friend, Vincent Lim of Lightworks, we gathered courage to approach a few of the homeless who knew Vincent. Vincent has been taking care of these homeless people and he knows them by name, age and even their characters.

The state of Penang has probably done a good job reducing the numbers of beggars and homeless for the past 1 year, but there are still many who are wandering around and sleeping behind Oriental Hotel (opposite Odeon Cinema), the underpass of Prangin Mall and the Komtar bus station. 

My fellow CJ Lucia Lai interviewed an Indian homeless man and asked why he does not seek help from the Welfare Dept, he claimed that the Welfare Dept has sent many of the homeless to Tanjung Rambutan and that was the reason he refused help. 

Another fellow CJ Lilian Chan, interviewed a Chinese man who was more than willing to go with the Welfare Dept. so that he can be taken care of. End of the day, the state is responsible for the welfare of its citizens, especially the poor and the homeless.We are currently editing the video and will send a copy of the video to Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.

Graves by the highway?

With the new government in Penang, expectations are high and the people in Penang intend to ensure that "things" which were overlooked by certain quarters are rectified. I for one, will report all types of issues ranging from rubbish dumps to traffic lights, even untrimmed tree for the matter.

If we want to create the most modern state in Malaysia, everyone has to chip in to move forward like what has been said by Chief Minister of Penang, Lim Guan Eng yesterday.

Therefore, here goes.

The above photo was taken this afternoon as I was driving back from Queensbay Mall. The pile of sand and tar was left at the side of the main road of Lebuhraya Bayan Lepas. It looked like a grave by the road side. This road leads towards Bayan Baru and Georgetown from the industrial park.

I am sure there are many of this little "graves" around.

Can MPPP do something about these? Some of these "graves" are found in front of companies in the industrial park, which I believe to be very bad for "feng shui".

Location : Lebuhraya Bayan Lepas

Earth Hour : Switch Off Your Lights 28 March 2009

Penang will join the rest of the world to flick the switch for Earth Hour!

Part of Penang will soon be going dark to help Mother Nature. On 28th of March 2009, Penangites are urge to participate in WWF movement known as "Earth Hour," to raise awareness regarding climate change and global warming.

If you would like to participate in Earth Hour, just simply turn off all of your lights on March 28, 2009, from 8:30 to 9:30 pm.

Save our Mother Nature by turning off your light for one hour.