Chow Kon Yeow, Chief Minister Lim’s Guan Eng 'natural choice' to replace him as chief minister, was startled when asked, “Why is it necessary to have a Chinese CM for Penang? Why not a Malay or Indian?”

The question came up because since Merdeka, there have been four Penang chief ministers, all of whom were Chinese.

They were Wong Pow Nee (1957 to 1969), Lim Chong Eu (1969 to 1990), Koh Tsu Koon (1990 to 2008) and currently Lim, who took office after the 12th national polls on March 8 in 2008.