The Launch of “When the Christmas Toys Comes Alive at Gurney Plaza”

Speech by Chief Minister of Penang
At The Launch of “When the Christmas Toys Comes Alive at Gurney Plaza” 
Wednesday, 06 Dec 2017 (7.00pm)

Good evening

Penang Bounced Back And Back In Business – Fully Recovered From The Worst And Natural Disaster

Penang has bounced back and is back in business – fully recovered from the worst rainstorm and flood natural disaster. Welcome all to Penang. If 10,000 tourists from China is confident to come to Penang, why not domestic tourists from other states? This is why we are celebrating Christmas as before like last year.

I want to thank the management of Gurney Plaza for inviting me to officiate the launch of Christmas Celebration at Gurney Plaza.

Christmas is a season of joy not only because it encourages forgiveness but also goodwill, good deeds and harmony with everyone. This was captured during the worst natural disaster on 4-5 November when non-Muslims opened up their temples to Muslim families and Muslims opened up their mosques to non-Muslims families. Penang made not only the people proud but all of Malaysia proud of our spirit of brotherhood and humanity.

The State Government had launched a ”Penang Bounce Back” programme to clean up Penang and give financial assistance of RM105 million which serves to rehabilitate and rebuild the lives of the people who were affected by the worst rainstorm and floods in the history of the state.

Under the ‘Penang Bounce Back’ programme, the state government will be giving one-off RM700 to each household that was affected by the floods.

Furthermore, as the cleaning works for most households will involve a lot of water, the Penang Water Supply Corporation has agreed that for the next water bill cycle of two months, all Water Conservation Surcharge will be exempted. All domestic consumers in Penang will also get a 50 per cent discount on their water bill while commercial consumers will get 25 per cent discount.

Thirdly, the Penang Island City Council (MBPP) and Seberang Prai Municipal Council (MPSP) will be giving a 10% discount on assessment fees for all properties. In 2018, all the house owners of low cost, medium cost and village houses will be given tax exemption for assessment rate. For Seberang Perai, the exemption also applies to 700-square-foot residence (original area) and below with the selling price of RM72,500 and below. At the same time, all lost or damaged documents such as land titles would be replaced without any charges.

For non-Muslim places of worship affected by flood, a maximum of RM50,000 will be available for repair works.

In closing, I wish all of you Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. The State Government is certainly looking forward to more quality events to be organised by Gurney Plaza in the coming years in order to complement the earnest efforts of the State Government in making Penang State a preferred tourist and shopping haven in the region.

Thank you.