PETALING JAYA: Penang chief minister Chow Kon Yeow says his independence in filling the top post has been perceived by certain quarters as disobedience, leading to discontent with his leadership.
Without explicitly identifying these parties, Chow said his independence had upset certain groups of people across political, economic, and cultural sectors.
Advertisement (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});However, he maintained that a good leader must be able to make decisions independently, Kwong Wah Yit Poh reported.
“I am not being disobedient. As the chief minister, I must exercise my judgement. For instance, if there is a need to increase water tariffs, it must be done. Such decisions can attract criticism,” he was quoted as saying.
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He said that his successors would have their own ideas and methods for leading Penang, and that it would be crucial that he allow them to act independently.
Advertisement (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});“As a former leader, it is important to respect their independence. They have the freedom and authority to launch their own long-term vision, whether for 2040 or 2050. It is their responsibility to consider and promote this, and we must respect that.”
The four-term Padang Kota assemblyman also said he would be happy to share his insight with his successor after completing his tenure, adding however that he would not act as a “supervisor”.
Advertisement (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});Chow said he would refrain from issuing public statements against future administrations if his successor did not seek his advice.
“I will not criticise their decisions or boast that I would have done better. That is not my style, and I hope I will not resort to such behaviour,” he said.
Chow said several state government assemblymen had become fiercely critical of his administration after receiving just “a few complaints” from their constituents.
The former Penang DAP chief said this reflected poorly on the capabilities of these assemblymen to govern and lead the state.
“Any elected representative must face their constituents and demonstrate their ability to respond to challenges. Some assemblymen become disoriented by a few complaints and end up opposing the government,” he said, adding that the state government had a WhatsApp group where backbenchers could raise issues for the administration to tackle.