BN, more so Umno, once made plenteous promises to the people of Penang. It was no lesser than the prime minister himself who announced in Penang, his homeground, that his government will built the Second Bridge, Penang Outer Ring Road (PORR) and the monorail among others. The Northern Corridor is already on.

Regretfully, immediately after election, Abdullah got his state Umno leaders to openly call upon on the federal government to cancel all the projects promised before election. Obediently, his deputy, the second finance minister, also from Penang, decided to announce the cancellations or the delay of the very ambitious projects that they had pledged to the Penang people. It was the projects that Penangites had been wanting for ages and were really looking forward to.

The majority believe that Umno decided to cancel the projects because they lost the state government to Pakatan and they will not be able to ‘milk the sacred cow’ as they have always been used to.

It is public knowledge that only a 40 percent maximum of the financial allocation goes to the project and the rest goes into some very deep pockets. That’s why these projects were not awarded in open tender and what ever amount dictated by UEM, now increasing by the day, is considered final.

Some belief that the real reason is that Umno does not want the Pakatan government to get the credit for these projects. But the real reason almost everyone is so sure of is that the people of Penang are being punished for voting out the BN state government in the recent elections.

We all know that when the appeal resolution asking the federal government to reconsider the vital project cancellations was put to vote recently in the state sssembly, all Umno members decided to vote against it, saying the people of Penang do not need these projects or do not deserve them. Notably vocal among those was Arif Shah, now selected by the BN to go against Anwar Ibrahim to wrest the Permatang Pauh constituency out of PKR hands.

Hence the people of Penang are all asking: why is BN even standing for election in the first place? What has Arif Shah to offer? He, and all Umno leaders are against development. The are against Porr, the Second Bridge and the monorail. Indeed, they are against any new development projects coming to Penang. So is Umno the champion of the Penang people or are they really traitors?

Some people in Penang think if Arif is elected for Permatang Pauh, that would be the saddest day for the state because he will go to parliament and campaign harder at the federal level that ‘people projects’ are not given to Penang.

Isn’t that consistent with Umno’s struggle since the March 2008 elections? Why are Umno or other BN leaders now speaking with a forked tongue? They have shown their true colours. They actually wish to continue punishing the people of Penang for not voting for them. Most Permatang Pauh voters feel the same. For them, BN is gone for good.

Now BN politicians from all over the country will come and shower Permatang Pauh folk with all kinds of offers and promises. Can we believe them this time around? If we can, what has changed? Can the people of Penang realy trust Umno leaders?

What have the non-Malay BN leaders to say about the forced obliteration of the very important discussion at the Bar Council recently? How are they going to convince voters that they are earnest to the consequence of the vital issues of the other races? Won’t putting another Umno MP into parliament make fairness and justice to their own faith and race even more difficult?

Malaysia needs a change. Malaysia needs a new government. Umno or Barisan has proven that they will not be honourable to the other sections of our society. And if this is the case, Anwar must be elected to parliament and an alternative government must be allowed to take shape. Only this can save Malaysians from Umno tyranny.

Either way, Permatang Pauh voters must do this great favour to Malaysia by voting out the sure devil. That will probably activate a lead to a new Merdeka for all multiracial Malaysians. We have had enough of racist politicians and intimidation tactics.