THE closure of the Penang Hill Railway for a seven-month upgrade last week (read here) was received with many questions and concerns from various segments:

• Khoo Salma Nasution (President, Penang Heritage Trust):  “The closure of the Penang Hill Railway – the only one of its kind in Southeast Asia – is an event of great sadness in the rich history of Penang. It is claimed that Penang’s historic funicular railway is being closed on 22 February 2010 for ‘upgrading’. The public is generally unaware that the project will irrevocably alter the character of the existing railway as we know it, and entail the destruction of many of its important elements... we would insist that any upgrading be done with a thorough understanding and appreciation of history, heritage and environmental issues. We would also insist that important heritage elements of the original railway are retained. We believe that this is not the case with the present project.”  Read here
• SM Idris (President, Consumers' Association of Penang and Sahabat Alam Malaysia): “We are not sure if there was a consideration for the optimum number of persons at the hill top or if the environment can sustain that number without an unacceptable degree of deterioration of the character and quality of the environment, or the recreation experience that visitors expect of the hill...We are concerned that with increased human traffic, the natural surroundings, tranquillity and passive outdoor recreation would be gravely impacted as this ecologically sensitive area cannot sustain heavy use.” Read here
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THE PENANG Hill Funicular Railway, built in 1923 and whose service had been plagued by a number of problems recently, was closed for upgrading from Sunday, Feb 21. The works are expected to cost RM63mil and take seven months.

THE Penang government, in particular the Chief Minister, faced a series of verbal attacks via the media over a number of issues involving Malay and Muslim matters last week. 

• Prophet Muhammad Birthday procession: While the alleged discrimination against Malay petty traders continued to hog headlines, another allegation – that of cancelling a procession on Prophet Muhammad’s birthday – started another media frenzy. Perkasa chief Ibrahim Ali's outburst about “lies” by an “anti-Malay” CM Lim prompted a stiff reply (read here and here). Joining the fray were personalities such as Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin (read here) and former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Badawi (read here).
• Petty traders and alleged assault threat: The issue of alleged discrimination against Malay petty traders took a dramatic turn. Malay Chamber of Commerce Malaysia secretary-general Datuk Abdul Rahim Abu Bakar made a police report against Penang Malay Chamber of Commerce president Rizal Faris Mohideen for allegedly threatening him and attempting to assault him at the Penang airport. Representatives of the national chamber were in Penang to talk to the state government on the matter of discrimination (read here and here). Meanwhile, the Penang Transport Council (PTC) called the parties involved not to “politicise the issue”. The coordinator of its Task Force on Traffic Decongestion and Management, Ahmad Chik, said among the causes of traffic jams in Penang were illegal parking and illegal hawking (read here)