I never intended my piece to be turned into a news item let alone to be twisted along racial lines. The headline hardly reflected the contents of what I said.
In fact, the flow of the contents was intended to show that the airport is not feasible from the financial viewpoint or on the grounds of necessity.
Of course, in pursuing my argument, I drew from history to illustrate the point that during the Barisan Nasional’s administration, Penang being a non-Malay majority state was a sore point of those in Putrajaya. There had been attempts in the past to move projects away from Penang.
I never intended in my piece to say that because Penang is a Chinese majority state, the proposed Kulim airport was intended to punish Penang on racial or ethnic grounds.
I am unhappy that my well argued article on the need for consultation with the federal government on the airport project was rendered into a controversial and racial piece. The headline did the real damage.
I hope you can publish my letter which is intended to show my unhappiness about how my article that was intended to throw some light on Penang’s position was reduced to nothing by a racial twist.
P Ramasamy is deputy chief minister II of Penang.
The views expressed here are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.