State government wasting ratepayers’ money
The DAP-PKR state government is practically jumping in joy over George Town being listed as Unesco’s World Heritage Site along with Melaka. It is like being handed a pot of gold because this listing could translate into tourism money in the near future.
So, in celebration of this wonderful news, the state government announced a RM150,000 three-day celebration next weekend (July 25, 26, 27). I think it is unnecessary to be spending so much to celebrate a listing. It is a total waste of funds.
I thought that the Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng is more prudent with state funds and although this 3-day event will be funded by the council, it is still a waste of money. Why must ratepayers’ money be frittered away in the name of ‘celebration’?
From what I’ve heard, the first day will be a celebration of the multi-religious facet of George Town along our very own Harmony Street (Jalan Mesjid Kapitan Keling / Pitt Street) where there is a mosque, a church, a Hindu temple and a Taoist temple along the stretch. Each place of worship will supposedly have some sort of celebratory event and they will light up their premises in a ‘celebratory’ mood.
The second day will highlight the cultural facet of George Town where all the kongsi in that area will feature cultural shows and demonstration and also light up their premises for a festive mood. The celebration will culminate in an open house event on the third day.
These are merely tentative plans for the three day event which I think is really a total waste of funds. Why celebrate for three days and why RM150,000? Where the heck does the money go to? Okay, so I heard they are spending around RM30,000 for lighting but as far as I remember, there are already existing lights there, so they only need to add a bit more but not much.
Even if the RM30,000 on lightings are justified what about the RM120,000? Where will this money be spent on? The open house event? Do we really need to do that? What purpose will this so-called celebration serve? It sure as hell won’t draw tourists from other countries to come here, especially at such short notice.
Isn’t it better to use the funds to upgrade and upkeep the infrastructure within George Town? Heck, it is even better to use the funds to train up more heritage tour guides, spruce up our trisha men, clean up the streets and prepare for the influx of tourists.
A celebration could be done simply if they know anything about planning. They could even stretch it all out over a few months by encouraging each cultural and religious organisation in the heritage enclave to organise their own events. The street performances by Anak anak Kota is a really good example of culture and arts.
There really is no need for a big scale celebration at all. This 3-day event will probably be forgotten the moment it is over and only litter on the roads left by revelers of the open house event will serve to remind people of it.
Indeed, there is much work for the state government to do now to fulfill the management plan of maintaining George Town in the heritage site listing without worrying about celebrating the listing.
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RM 150k celebration is very minimal imho. If you were to compare to the previous administration..
July 15th, 2008 at 11:27 amI want free makan!!!
July 15th, 2008 at 12:47 pmyalor…it’s very minimal and economical for a three-day celebration. free makan will be an added bonus with that kind of spending…
anyhow, being listed as Unesco’s World Heritage Site along with Melaka is not that easy you know. you gotta loosen up a bit ma friend. all work and no play isn’t fun at all. cheers!
July 15th, 2008 at 1:25 pmKY: dat was the previous government. This one is preaching prudence in spending state funds wor..
lilian: eh, don’t know got free makan or not wor, they still planning it out…
puxape: yes, it is not easy to be listed but it is damn easy to be delisted if they are not careful lor.
July 15th, 2008 at 4:32 pm