GUAN ENG MAKES HIMSELF SCARCE

SOME blokes up north may still be feeling hot under the collar, fire spewing out but I'm stoked with what's been happening to the unregistered Pakatan Rakyat coalition.

People say there's no smoke without fire but the decision by the Kedah Dap to abandon the Pakatan government there comes as a surprise because if there had been problems there, these were not highlighted by the press. With only one seat from a total of 36 and with Pas in control due to its 16 seats, this breakaway will not rock the state administration but it's bound to have an effect on the Pakatan alliance as a whole. And don't forget that it has not been that rosy either just across the border down south in Penang.

That's where a settlement not widely known outside of the island amongst the non-Indians has been very much in the news since recent days. It looks like there's not much the state government can do to to help the residents because the Federal Court has ruled against them but what irks those who live there and would like to continue living there apparently is a result of the firm promises made during the election campaign last year by Pakatan candidates vowing to put their bodies on the line to ensure the settlement would not be touched.

God knows why the settlement in Glugor is called High Chaparral after the popular American TV soap opera of many years ago because a ranch the area is not but it is said to be the only surviving Indian settlement in Penang dating back over 100 years. But this alone cannot be a good enough reason why it should not be demolished, a decision which only the land owner can make and the residents do not own the land.

The residents and their supporters are asking that the state government stop any planned eviction and demolition and to also offer an alternative site to the owner/developer. The first is out of the state's control while the second is not going to be easy. Even if there's an alternative site it must be acceptable to the owner. The second issue involves money and is not going to be any easier either.

But what caught my attention today was not so much the issue itself and what the residents had done in Penang but rather how Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng chose to deal with the problem. That was to send his aide to face the residents who did not mince their words and made known what they thought of the aide!

The Pakatan leaders, be they from Pas, Dap or PKR, used to be very vocal about the shortcomings of Umno and the Barisan Nasional especially on issues that directly affected the people. The slightest sign of any Umno politician avoiding irate constituents was a matter to be taken to town. I hope Guan Eng is humbled by this experience -- the fact that he could not meet the residents because he supposedly had other matters to attend to. Or was it because he knew he would be facing a group of very angry prople who were capable of saying the worst in his face?

And just minutes ago I heard on TV3 news how one bloke from there suggested that Guan Eng should desert Penang and return to his home state of Malacca. What a scene.....

There have been other differences too in Penang, notably between the Dap and PKR. The latest concerns the position of PKR man Johari Kassim who was ousted by the state exco from being a councillor with the Seberang Prai Municipal Council, an appointment recommended by his party. Questions will surely be asked as to the "legality" of his ouster by the state government.

What could be read from the problems in Penang confronting the two parties is that the feelings on the ground, amongst the rank and file members so to speak, does not necessarily gel with what the leadership has agreed upon. In this respect the PKR grassroots do not seem to share the same affinity their leaders with the Dap.

Are they heading for more stormy weather? Looks like it.