I write in response to the letter titled Penang must arrest this alarming decline .

I find the writer's account of his visit to Penang rather strange. My recent experience in Penang was totally different. I am currently living in Selangor and my family and I were in Penang during the Chinese New Year.

Upon our arrival at the airport via a Firefly flight on Feb 13, (Chinese New Year eve), I did not recall seeing ‘images of Lim Guan Eng everywhere’. I do not recall seeing ‘huge billboards’ and promotional videos of him.

What I do recall is an airport that is running smoothly, baggage delivered within a reasonable time frame but also an airport that is congested and badly in need of expansion. I remembered wondering to myself why Malaysia Airports is not doing something about this.

As we walked out of the arrival lounge and into my brother's car and as the car pulled out of the driveway, I remembered seeing Rapid Penang buses! Yes, Rapid Penang buses are running services to the Penang International Airport. The next day, I was at the airport again, this time to pick up another brother of mine arriving from Singapore.

As I sat in the car waiting, I could see Rapid Penang buses delivering passengers by the busloads to the airport with stunning frequency. I could not recall such an efficient and frequent bus service to the airport before. Things have certainly improved in Penang.

We then travelled from the airport to our mother's house in Tanjung Tokong. I could not recall any ‘massive traffic jams’ or ‘road closures’. I took the exit at Bukit Jambul and traversed the hill road through Island Glades area finally ending up at Green Lane. I remembered clearly remarking to my brother how smooth the traffic is.

We reached Tanjung Tokong in about 30-40 minutes. Certainly no ‘ordeal’ there and certainly the smoothest drive I have ever encountered in my many years of visiting Penang during Chinese New Year.

We were downtown near the jetty area for our Chinese New Year reunion dinner. No, I did not see any ‘frenzied construction work going on at the various historical and heritage buildings’, whatever that means. Traffic was remarkably smooth. Parking charges are imposed even on weekends and in some areas, late into the night. This has always been the case in Penang. Penangites are used to it. We understand the rationale for doing so. Nobody is complaining.

What I do notice is that now Rapid Penang buses are seen everywhere and serving every area with a high frequency. This is excellent. Penang people finally have a reliable and efficient public transport service.

I also recalled noticing that everywhere, Penang is so much cleaner than before. The drains and roads are clean, and the trees and shrubs are pruned. I recall my brother from Singapore making a remark that he has never seen the environment in Penang so clean before. In fact, one of us even talked about moving back to Penang!

I also recall my eldest brother who lives in Penang commenting that business is improving and the factories are receiving increasing orders and frantically recruiting workers. In fact, the major issue is not having enough workers to recruit.

Finally, there was the inevitable discussion about politics. We somehow ended up talking about one politician from Bayan Baru who recently quit and somehow everyone I spoke to said ‘good riddance’. Discussions also strayed to one politician in Nibong Tebal who it seems has some problems of his own. Again, they said ‘good riddance’ if he were to quit.

All in all, I did not hear any complaints about the current state government. That's why I'm really puzzled about the experience of the writer and therefore I feel compelled to share my recent experience in Penang.