PENANG DUN | At the Penang Legislative Assembly last night, the state government was put on the spot when they were asked point blank, “Why are we afraid of NGOs?”.

Posed by Teh Yee Cheu (DAP-Tanjung Bungah), the question arose after DAP representatives blasted the Penang Forum, a coalition of 20 NGOs, for a dialogue organised last month on recent floods and landslide, which were not attended by state leaders.

“The NGOs do not have any bad intention, just let them be, why are we afraid of them?” Teh asked during his turn debating Penang Budget 2018...