As we all know, with the exception of University Science Malaysia, all the other universities in Penang do not provide student hostels. There are more than 10 universities in Penang. As a result, there is a serious shortage of student accommodation in Penang because all the business men are only interested to build the university buildings to make money. Investing in student hostels is not so lucrative.
About 2 years ago, I offered Rm 50 million to the Penang State Government to build a student hostel without any profit incentive for myself. The Penang Government appreciated my donation and immediately allocated a piece of 1.5 acres of land diagonally opposite USM for me to build my student hostel.
YB Lim Hock Seng who is a Penang executive councillor assisted in the approval of all my architecture design drawings. In fact, tender for the piling work has been called and I have selected the piling contractor.
As the piling contractor was about to start piling, former Butterworth MCA leader Dato Tan Swee Heng claimed that he has the right to own the land. The lawyers from both sides have been exchanging letters for almost a year. Finally, the case will go to arbitration in February 2018. No one can predict the conclusion of the arbitration and its final decision.
This case reminds me of my Rm 30 million offer to the MCA to build student hostel within the UTAR campus about 6 years ago. In spite of the fact that I clearly stated that I did not want any profit derived from my donation, the MCA leaders rejected my offer because they and their cronies who owned all the land outside the university campus, did not want me to disrupt their lucrative business. As a result, more than 20,000 students are desperately looking for suitable accommodation outside UTAR Kampar campus.
Whatever I said, no newspaper would want to publish my plea because all the newspapers are controlled by the MCA and BN supporters. Nevertheless, this news went viral through the internet. As a result, the MCA lost almost all the seats they contested in the last general election.
I believe this article will also cause serious damage to the MCA in the coming general election.
