Pulau Tikus residents are no stranger to unwelcome development and yesterday’s protest to stop the ‘stubborn elephant’ is the latest in a culture of protests in Penang.

PULAU Tikus assemblyman Koay Teng Hai made news a few months ago for going missing in action when a crucial State Legislative Assembly was in session.

DAP leaders were furious with him and his party suspended him for a month.

Koay was missing again yesterday, although this time it was in connection to a burning issue in his constituency.

The local residents had hoped he would join the protest against a high-rise development project near the Pulau Tikus market but he was a no-show.

“This is happening in his constituency. He should be here, he must respond. He is elected and if he cannot help us, he should just say so. He cannot just keep quiet and avoid us,” said a spritely 76-year-old retiree who brings his rather stylish-looking wife to the market a few times a week.

The object of their dissatisfaction is a high-rise commercial development called Moulmein Rise but which the angry residents called “stubborn elephant”.

The site used to be an open carpark used by those who frequent the market and shops in the area.

The project to build 17 storeys of mixed development had actually been rejected by the Barisan Nasional government following objections from residents.

They thought they had won the fight but last year, they learnt that the Pakatan Rakyat government had given the developer the green light.

The local authority had not only granted the approval but was allowing the Belleview Group developer to build up to 27 storeys of what has been advertised as lifestyle suites with “five-star luxury features” and “state-of-the-art security system”.

The residents had taken their cause to Koay, but they said he has not come back to them since their meeting last year.

Shortly after Chinese New Year, the site was hoarded up for piling works.

That was when the reality sunk in and the result was the protest of about 100 residents and supporters yesterday.

Even newsmaker Jho Lo, whose grandmother lives in nearby Scott Road, joined the protest.

“My right to object was taken away from me. Then they rub salt into the injury and let the developer build even higher than the plan that was rejected.

“It’s just crazy,” said resident C.K. Tan who was probably the angriest-looking man at the protest.

Apparently, the scheme is being built too close to the main road and does not have a service road.

According to lawyer and Gerakan politician Rowena Yam who has a service centre in Pulau Tikus, the developer has said that all regulations have been complied with.

“How did they get approval? I am not against development but it must not affect public interest and it should go with the needs of the community,” said Yam.

The new development has also been redefined as “commercial” thus freeing the developer from having to meet requirements like open space and a surau.

The Belleview Group is actually an established developer that has been responsible for much of the new commercial buildings in the Pulau Tikus area.

The Belleview boss Datuk Sonny Ho, who resides in the neighbourhood, is a well-known figure.

Ho has given an assurance that the project would provide ample carparks and that it would be one of the best carparks in Penang.

But the protesters are not convinced.

Pulau Tikus is a very middle-class neighbourhood, filled with people who are very conscious about preserving their way of life. In fact, people like Tan are demanding that the local authority rescinds the approval.

“We were denied our legal right to object, it is in clear breach of the law,” he said.

The Pulau Tikus protest was organised by the Citizens Awareness Chant Group which had successfully opposed another development in an area known for heritage homes.

They are the new generation of civil society groups who are fed-up with the more established NGOs who have lost their credibility because they have grown too cosy with the ruling coalition.

These groups are basically concerned about the state government being too developer-friendly.

Pulau Tikus is a choice neighbourhood and the development pressure there has worsened over the years.

When Koay won the Pulau Tikus seat in 2008, people in his party told him he was lucky and that he had his work cut out for him.

They said the constituency was the type of seat that DAP thrives on – it is middleclass, majority Chinese and has most of the requisite amenities.

But the trouble with the Penang Chinese middle class is that they are also conscious of their rights and are not afraid to make their demands as Koay has learnt to his detriment.

The angry residents of Pulau Tikus cannot suspend Koay like what DAP did but they can take their votes elsewhere.

• Cyclone takes the heat for hot weather
• AirAsia X offers free tickets to any destination for initial public offering to retail investors
• If you want to go far work early and hard on personal branding
• Doc held for posing as cop to extort businessman
• Allianz aims for RM150mil in new premiums
• Couple upset over baby’s death
• Malaysia's I-Bhd and Thailand's CPN in mall joint venture with GDV of RM580mil
• From tomorrow, city cabbies can pick up passengers from KLIA
• Najib wants Chinese in Cabinet
• Todd was under treatment for depression, public inquiry told