We refer to the letter Penang's FDI free fall due to poor leadership .

The writer’s latest diatribe against Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng in his letter merely exposes his continuous attempts to undermine the Penang state government by deliberately distorting facts.

The Penang chief minister had urged the federal government to take urgent steps to train more professionals in short supply especially as Penang had lost a US$3 billion investment project in 2008 because the state government could not guarantee 1,000 electrical and electronic engineers.

Even the multinational electronic companies mentioned by the writer like Intel, Altera, Renesas, AMD, Spansion, Osram, Bosch, Lumiled, Agilent and Motorola are looking for electrical and electronic engineers.

Of course, if they are paid at international rates, the companies can hire from overseas. But what these companies are searching for are electrical and electronic engineers at Penang wage scales. Further, no multinational company would just recruit electrical and electronic engineers unless they are from established or ‘acceptable’ universities.

To mix fiction with fantasy that there is no shortage of electrical and electronic engineers in Penang is typical of a serial spin messenger who only sees what he wants to see.

For this reason, the writer’s contention that the state government is ‘irresponsible’ for not guaranteeing 1,000 electrical and electronic engineers even though it knows it can not deliver, cannot go un-rebutted.

The writer’s final call for Lim to resign echoes his real motivations and agenda. If this serial spin messenger is indeed from Penang, has he spoken to the world-brand names to rate the performance of the Penang chief minister who broke all records to secure RM10.2 billion in investments in 2008?

Any government with credibility cannot give guarantees that it can not deliver as this will not only damage its reputation and trust but may also attract compensatory damages.

If the Penang state government guarantees 1,000 electrical and electronic engineers when there is a huge shortage in the market, then this is irresponsible and untrustworthy not only to that investor but other investors as well. Further, such letters of guarantees can result in expensive compensatory payments if not fulfilled.

One should not forget that it is the irresponsible granting of such letters of guarantees by the previous transport minister Chan Kong Choy and other officials of the Port Klang Transport Authority that caused the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Trade Zone scandal.

Penang will not fall into the same trap or scandals of irresponsible granting of letter of guarantees leading to billions of ringgit in possible damages.

The writer is Special Investment Officer to Penang Chief Minister, Lim Guan Eng.