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• Penang Umno wants road signs in Chinese removed

©The Edge (Used by permission)
by Regina William

PENANG: Road signs in Chinese that were put up in several city streets this week will be removed because they are unauthorised. Gerakan Youth members who had erected the signs on Monday will be sent notices by the Penang Island Municipal Council (MPPP), said Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng yesterday.

Lim said that they had “jumped the gun”, as the state government was waiting for instructions from the federal government on the matter. There was an allocation from the federal government to put up road signs and signages in several languages at locations where there were buildings of historical and heritage value. However, this would depend on the uniqueness of the sites.

He said this would enable tourists to understand the history and background of the respective sites.

George Town was recently listed as a World Heritage site by Unesco for its outstanding universal values of a living heritage, religious buildings and unique shophouse architectures.

“We are still waiting for the federal government to get back to us as we are also governed by regulations pertaining to roadsigns.

“We cannot just put up such road signs or signages at our whim or fancies.

“The roadsigns will be put up in four languages, namely Bahasa Malaysia, Mandarin, Tamil and English. On its own, the state government is also including Arabic and Japanese” Lim said at a press conference on the sidelines of the Penang state legislative assembly sitting.

He said the state government preferred the usage of Arabic instead of Jawi as it was more widely understood, especially so since Penang was also a popular destination for Arab tourists.

Lim said the matter should not be politicised.

The road sign feud is a tit-for-tat battle between Gerakan Youth and DAP Youth, which put up similar signs last June to draw attention to Penang’s heritage.

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