THE PROTEST THAT GOT THEM NOWHERE

THEY'VE got another reprieve alright but this is not exactly the ending the opinion leaders of the Indian community at Kampung Buah Pala in Penang had been hoping for. Neither was the way the impasse was resolved a surprise to anyone.

The settlement said to be between 150 and 200 years old and which had estate labourers brought in from India as its pioneer residents may be the island's poor cousin of American television's High Chapparal but it was almost unknown to others outside of the state until a few weeks ago after the apex court ruled that the remaining 24 families had to move out.

Then came the drama, with the usual political perspective to it. There were claims and counter-claims, different personalities claiming to rightfully represent the families, protests and tantrums thrown. Finger-pointing dominated, with the Dap blaming the previous Barisan Nasional state government led by the Gerakan's Koh Tsu Koon and the other side saying that the present administration under the Dap's Lim Guan Eng could still have blocked the development plans had it wanted to.

Lim and his father Kit Siang instead wanted the federal government to resolve the dispute and talked about compensation. The younger Lim initially was adamant that his administration would not have anything to do with land owner and developer's plan for the area and even proclaimed that his government was prepared to be sued and would pay millions to the developer as a result. Kit Siang maintained that the ball was in Putrajaya's court but alas, all the big talk has come to nothing. Good for the ears but highly impractical and almost impossible to go along with simply because the developer had gone to court and the court had ruled in its favour.

Originally the families were supposed to move out by August 7 but the developer agreed to give them more time. There were also negotiations to get the developer to offer a carrot, which it did in the form of fair-sized double-storey homes. Only four of the 24 accepted and when the offer lapsed a few days ago, the bulldozers were called in. Now the date to evacuate is September 1.

According to one estimate, the houses offered were worth RM500,000 each and were to be built in the vicinity itself. Thrown in was a Hindu temple. It sounded like a reasonable offer because nine other families who had moved out before the general election in March last year were only given between RM40,000 to RM80,000 each.

As in most cases like this, if left entirely and individually to the families concerned I think most would have accepted the offer. The situation only becomes murky and cloudy when politics and a few would-be heroes come into the equation. Whether or not the 20 who initially refused the offer will be given another chance was not made known when the deadline to evacuate was extended.

What this episode should teach green-horn politicians and alter egos is that you hardly win when you take on the authorities when an issue has been decided by the courts. The way to go would be to sound and act humble, hoping that the land owner or developer would be more charitable. If I were the owner or developer why should I give in or show compassion to people who are combative and refuse to deal with me and insist that everyone else is wrong?