Charge Non-Penang Cars? Seriously?

AnakPinang reacts strongly and negatively to the suggestion by Kebun Bunga State Assemblyman YB Jason Ong Khan Lee that cars with non-Penang plates be slapped a surcharge for entering Penang, as a move to encourage visitors to use public transport, reports Sinar Harian on 13 November, 2018.

By Timothy Tye

AnakPinang considers this suggestion to be the product of a narrow-minded shoot-first-check-later mentality that will only earn Penang a terrible backlash.

As a state with thousands of hotel rooms to fill every single day, Penang welcomes visitors. We welcome all of them, regardless whether they choose to arrive by plane, train, cars or flying carpet. We should not unnecessarily inconvenient our guests. Mr Ong needs a clear understanding of the difference between public transport for commuters and transport for visitors. We already have taxi, GRAB and hop-on-hop-off tourist buses to cater to their needs. Visitors do not need to take the RapidPenang and Penang CAT buses. They are unlikely to visit our residential neighbourhoods or commute to work. Therefore, the impact of discouraging non-Penang plates will be minimal, but the dent to Penang's reputation, that we are unwelcoming to them, will be severe.

At AnakPinang, we want all visitors to Penang to feel welcome. They provide employment to hundreds of thousands of us, and for their convenience, if they should choose to drive to Penang, they are fully welcome to do so.

Not all the non-Penang cars on the roads in Penang are driven by non-Penangites. Quite a number of Penangites choose to register their vehicles in other states. JPJ allows for that. Some bought second-hand vehicles with non Penang plates. On the other hand, quite a number of people in neighbouring states, from Sungai Petani down to Parit Buntar, choose to drive cars with Penang plates. Implementation of such a suggestion favours non-Penangites driving Penang cars and penalises Penangites with non-Penang cars. It not only smacks of Penang-centric chauvinism, it is also blatantly unfair.

YB Jason Ong's suggestion will invite a tit-for-tat reaction from neighbouring states, where Penang-registered vehicles will be slapped a surcharge as well. We can only imagine what other retaliatory moves our neighbours will take in response. The result is, nobody is happy.

In conclusion, the suggestion by Mr Ong is immature and silly, and therefore should not be taken seriously.