Penang 2018 New Year Day Message By Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng In Komtar, George Town On 1.1.2018.
The “never say die” spirit of the Penang people will let us bounce back from setbacks to allow Penang to be on course to be a developed economy and the first green state in Malaysia in 5 years. This spirit is evident from the worst natural disaster in history on 4-5 November 2017, when a heavy rainstorm lashed Penang with 40 mph winds that lifted a ferry up from the sea and pushed it inland, and 372 mm or one and a half months of rain fell in a mere 15 hours.
In only 10 days, Penang bounced back and was cleaned up. Yesterday the Penang Hill train resumed service after being out for 51 days because of the rainstorm that caused 194 landslides and cut off roads to the Hill. Taking only 51 days to repair is a remarkable success, when many had expected the repair works to take 12-18 months.
The quality of Penang talent is evident amongst the private sector that has transformed Penang into a global world-class cluster for manufacturing, especially electronics and medical devices industry. This is evident when Penang came out tops in Malaysia in manufacturing investment for the first 6 months of 2017, with RM7.7 billion whilst Kelantan came out last with RM4.2 million.
However the quality of Penang talent now extends to the civil service. 10 years of CAT governance of competency, accountability and transparency have the desired effect of turning Penang into a cleaner, greener, healthier and safer state. CAT governance has also improved our financial health with annual budget surpluses, doubling of asset reserves and reduction of our state debts by a record 90%. The UNESCO World Heritage city of George Town is recognised as one of the best in Asia under our management to preserve, protect and promote our heritage sites.
These successes have attracted global attention until they have head-hunted and taken our Penang City Council Mayor Dato Maimunah bt Mohd Sharif to be the new Executive Director of the UN Habitat organisation. Dato Maimunah is the first Asian and woman to head the UN Habitat, a major achievement that has brought pride not only to Penang but also to Malaysia.
There are always greater challenges awaiting us just as they are only higher mountains to climb. However, if Penangites persevere and adopt the attitude of “when the going gets tough, the tough will always get going”, we will not only overcome the challenges but can scale greater heights to be the habitat of choice for those desiring sustainable living, destination of choice for tourists and location of choice for investors.
LIM GUAN ENG
槟州首席部长林冠英于2018年1月1日在乔治市光大发表槟州新年献词：
槟城人“永不言败”的精神将让我们从谷底反弹，使槟州在五年内成为发达经济体以及全马第一个绿色州属。
槟城人“永不言败”的精神将让我们从谷底反弹，使槟州在五年内成为发达经济体以及全马第一个绿色州属。这种“永不言败”的精神从2017年11月4日至5日期间，槟州遭遇史上最严重的天灾来袭一事上，得到验证。那场严重的暴风雨，于15小时内带来了372毫米的雨水，或等同一个月半的雨量。而狂风更以时速40英里的速度袭击槟城，强大的风势甚至将渡轮吹上岸边。
即便如此，槟州仅仅用了10天就清理完毕，重新站起。连之前发生194处土崩导致被迫封山的升旗山，也在历经51天后，缆车已在日前恢复行驶。原本升旗山预计需要12至18个月来恢复正常，现在只用了51天，不能不说这是一个非凡的成就。
槟城人才的质量在私领域中是显而易见的，这使槟城晋身成为世界级的制造业集群，特别是电子和医疗器材产业。2017年首6个月，槟城更成为了制造业投资商的首选，跃身成为马来西亚第一，共吸引77亿令吉的投资，而吉兰丹以420万令吉的投资，排在各州最后。
可喜的是，槟城人才的素质现在也延伸到公务员队伍了。在为期10年的CAT治理之下，我们强调能力、问责以及透明度，使槟城变成更干净，更绿化，更健康，更安全的州属。 CAT治理也提高了我们的财务健康水平，这些年来我们的年度预算盈余、资产储备增加一倍，债务减少90％。而乔治市作为联合国教科文组织世界遗产城，在我们的管理、保存及推广之下，已被公认为亚洲最佳之一。
凡此种种，引起了国际的注意，甚至是猎头单位也伸手进来，把我们的槟岛市政厅市长拿督麥穆娜带到联合国去，成为联合国人居署的最新执行总监。拿督麥穆娜也是第一位领导联合国人居署的亚洲人以及女性。这个成就，让槟城以致整个马来西亚人都感到骄傲。
前方总会有更多的挑战等着我们，而且一山比一山高，但是，只要我们槟城人秉持着“越挫越勇”的精神与态度，我们不仅将能够克服重重的困难与挑战，更能登峰造极，让我们这里成为可持續生活的好地方，同时為遊客和投資者的首選。
林冠英