“We must uphold rule of law that is colour-blind and reject racists who try to look at every action through the racial lens of being either anti-Chinese, anti-Malay or anti-Indian.
“Enforcement action taken against a Chinese or a Muslim, does not make the state government anti-Chinese or anti-Muslim,” Lim said in a statement here today.
He said another big must for his government was to not allow any unilateral conversions of minors and at the same time safeguard Islam’s role as the official religion of the country.
“We must uphold Islam as the religion of the Federation without jeopardising freedom of religion.
“The state government shall not allow unilateral conversion of religion by any one parent but preserve the present situation where both parents must agree before allowing the changing of the religion of their child,” Lim said.
He also reminded the Federal Government that Malaysia must prioritise education and health, but budget cuts to these sectors would not bode well in the long run.
Lim said the Penang government had done its bit by giving aid to vernacular and religious schools, with a yearly stipend which had not reduced for a long time.
“Is the Federal Government so ‘poor’ that for the second year running, it can not even find RM50 million development funds promised for Chinese primary schools this year?
“The Penang state government repeats its offer to lend RM50 million to the Federal government to help them meet their promise to give RM50 million for Chinese primary schools,” he said.
Lim said Penang under the Pakatan leadership had done better than BN’s near four-decade rule.
He said that in the past eight years, Penang’s budget surpluses totalled RM574 million.
“This is more than what BN achieved over the last 50 years they ruled Penang from 1957-2007.”
Lim said Penang received revenue of nearly RM5 billion since 2008, with revenue of land sales during the same period hitting RM658 million.
“The state government had allocated RM500 million out of the land sales revenue for the Public and Affordable Housing Fund.”
Lim said Penang’s green credentials had also improved vastly, being the highest recycling state in Malaysia.
He said dedicated cycling lanes and a bike sharing system across the state had also given it points for being green.
“Not a single square inch of forest reserves have been cut down and 271,000 new trees have been planted since 2008.
“No high-rise development is permitted beyond 250 feet. Protecting our forests and hills has resulted in our water dams being full and no water rationing being imposed in Penang, unlike in other states,” Lim said.