Events

CHAIRPERSON

Assoc Prof Maznah Binti Mohamad, Departments of Malay Studies and Southeast Asian Studies, National University of Singapore

ABSTRACT

In recent years Penang has been facing a number of key issues related to its development trends. The issues that are increasingly become more pressing include the provision of affordable housing for its increasing population, and the transportation and traffic congestion. The Pakatan Rakyat that took over power in Penang faces these challenges with constraints of less-than-enthusiastic support and financing from the Barisan National dominated Federal Government, such as for major investment needs into transportation infrastructure. Coupled with the urge to sustain economic growth the state government strives to assure the private sector that it is pro-business and encourages private sector investment into housing and infrastructure development, with loosening of development control guidelines and delay in gazetting local plans. Invariably various problems began to surface that are symptomatic of development without proper planning, control and adequate enforcement. This seminar examines the main problems being faced particularly those impacting the natural environment, ecology and heritage of Penang. These include encroachment of residential development into hilly areas resulting in soil erosion, landslides and flash floods that paralyze the already congested roads. The on-going exercise of developing a transport master plan for Penang is another major issue at hand, whereby private sector investment brought in to build road and transportation infrastructure in return for increasing land bank by land reclamation will have impacts on the sea around the island and state. When civil society groups – NGOs and a number of residents’ associations affected by such development – raised concerns over the development and overdevelopment, they are then singled out for attack and labeled as elitist groups by the state government. This stems from conflicting ideology and visions of development despite the claim of the state government for a cleaner, greener Penang.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Kam Suan Pheng’s expertise in soil science and geographical information systems (GIS) has turned her into one of the most passionate campaigners of Penang’s Save the Hills Movement. She has been a frequent speaker in fora and workshops organized by civil society movements dedicated to the development of a more environmentally sustainable Penang. With an Msc and a Phd from Cornell University Dr Kam started her career as a lecturer and Associate Professor at the Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang. She subsequently joined the International Rice Research Institute based in the Philippines (1994-2004) and the World Fish Center based in Malaysia (Nov 2004 – Dec 2015) as a Senior Scientist specializing in GIS. She had been a consultant to numerous international organizations, including the Food and Agricultural Organization in 2016 and the International Plant Nutrition Institute Southeast Asia Office from 2013 till the present. Currently, she serves as a board member of the Institute for Research and Innovation of Wawasan Open University, Penang. She was also a member of the Consortium for Spatial Information from 2000 to 2011, as well as a member of the International Steering Committee of GIS for Developing Countries (GISDECO) from 2000 to 2012. She was also a member of the Editorial Board of International Journal on Paddy and Water Environment (2002 to 2012). Her published articles have appeared in the journals, Land Use Policy (2007), Applied Geography (2005), International Journal of Sustainable Development and World Ecology (2002) and IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing (1998).

REGISTRATION

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