This is going to be the last time I am addressing you as the State chairman of Penang DAP. Today I will be passing the baton to a new leader and team elected by the delegates to lead the Penang DAP into the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As you vote today, you are voting for the future of the party in staying relevant as the party of choice to continue to lead the Penang State government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have had the privilege of serving as state chairman of Penang DAP for the past 25 years. It was after the disastrous Tanjong 3 electoral debacle and the shocked defeat of Saudara Lim Kit Siang and Saudara Karpal Singh at the 1999 general election. I was 41 years old then and the responsibility to continue the DAP\u2019s political struggle rested on my shoulders and my team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We were in the Opposition, and it was most challenging to keep the fighting spirit alive then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I am indeed thankful to the party and delegates for giving me the support and opportunity to lead the state for 25 long years. Prior to that, I also served eight years as state secretary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When I was reappointed as Chief Minister after the 2023 state election, the Secretary General Saudara Loke Siew Fook had directed me to have a succession plan so that the next generation can take over the leadership responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Therefore, I have chosen this State Ordinary Convention to allow delegates to vote for a new leadership to steer Penang DAP to greater heights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The party has undergone great transformation the last 25 years especially after winning power as State government in 2008.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We have grown exponentially from just 20 branches to almost 300 branches now. We have witnessed an influx of young and old, man and woman to join the party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today we have become a much stronger party in terms of organisation, financial resources, publicity and people support. We continue to lead the Penang State government together with our coalition partners for the fourth term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I am glad to report to our national leadership and delegates here that Penang is now an important industrial state and an economic powerhouse of the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite the great global and national political and economic challenges and the Covid-19 pandemic, Penang has achieved impressive results as the top State for foreign direct investments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most of the economic sectors have recovered from the pandemic and poised to grow further.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are seeing the implementation of various infrastructure and development projects, opening up of more industrial land, improving resilience in electricity, water and telecommunications services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We continue to be guided by the Penang2030 vision of a Family-focused, green smart state that inspires the nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile we have been consciously working on welfare of the people, religious harmony, social cohesion, community empowerment and promoting culture, arts and heritage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The party and the state government would not have achieved all the above without the support of the people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As I hand over the leadership baton today, I want to urge all of us to put the interests of the party and the people above our own interests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We have achieved much, and we must continue to persevere with dedication and commitment. We must be guided by the party vision and mission and respect the people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do not take things for granted and stay true to the party\u2019s struggle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I am glad to hand over a party that I believe is much better today than 25 years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once again, my deepest gratitude and appreciation to the party and members for giving me the opportunity to serve and lead Penang DAP the last 25 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chow Kon Yeow <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Outgoing Penang DAP Chairman<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This is going to be the last time I am addressing you as the State chairman of Penang DAP. Today I will be passing the baton to a new leader and team elected by the delegates to lead the Penang DAP into the future. As you vote today, you are voting for the future of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":49516,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"458","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[458,539,211],"tags":[423,3130,263,1272,3129],"class_list":{"0":"post-49513","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-current-affairs","8":"category-weekly-highlights","9":"category-your-community","10":"tag-chow-kon-yeow","11":"tag-dap-pulau-pinang","12":"tag-penang","13":"tag-penang-government","14":"tag-penang-politics"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dapmalaysia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49513","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dapmalaysia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dapmalaysia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dapmalaysia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dapmalaysia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49513"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dapmalaysia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49513\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49517,"href":"https:\/\/dapmalaysia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49513\/revisions\/49517"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dapmalaysia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dapmalaysia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dapmalaysia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dapmalaysia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}