Final chapter: federal housing agency gives houses in northern mainland for last nine families of Kg Buah Pala

Double-storey terrace houses in the northern mainland are to be given to the last nine families of Kampung Buah Pala and nine members of their extended families, left homeless after the village was destroyed two years ago. Kg Buah Pala, near Gelugor on the island, has been home to descendants of estate workers brought to Penang more than 200 years ago by the Brown family. The families were given right of residence under a Brown family trust.

The village was torn down in 2009 after a series of State Government actions from 2004 that resulted in the Senior Government Officers’ Cooperative entering a joint venture with a private developer to build condominiums on the land. Eighteen families have been given houses in compensation by the developer after state intervention, while the nine insisting on fighting on. The new homes for the nine familiesare from Syarikat Perumahan Negara Bhd, the housing agency of the federal government.

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Ghost of Kg Buah Pala haunting Lim

(Free Malaysia Today) Athi Shankar writes:
Has DAP lost its sway over Indians in Penang following its ‘mishandling’ of the Kampung Buah Pala incident? Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s act of kindness in offering the nine Kampung Buah Pala residents new houses, after their homes were demolished by the Penang Government, would have a major impact on ethnic Indian electorates in the next general election. DAP grassroots leaders and political observers here believe that the curse of Kampung Buah Pala will haunt the DAP and Pakatan Rakyat in the 13th general election. READ MORE…

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Mat Jenin pun pengembala lembu juga

(Free Malaysia Today) Nazli Ibrahim writes:
Rakyat wajar merasa lega dan harus bersyukur kerana mujurlah orang seperti Mat Jenin dalam kisah ini tidak wujud di kalangan pemimpin negara kita hari ini. Saya yakin, ramai di antara kita tidak pernah mengetahui di sebalikcerita rakyat, ‘Angan-angan Mat Jenin’ yang digambarkan seseorang yang kuat berangan hingga terjatuh dari pokok kelapa sebenarnya adalah individu yang kaya raya dan mempunyai isteri yang amat berpengaruh. Dalam kisah sebenar kehidupan Mat Jenin juga, beliau bukanlah seorang pemetik buah kelapa seperti yang selalu digambarkan sebelum ini, tetapi beliau adalah seorang pengembala lembu yang terkenal. READ MORE…