GEORGE TOWN: Major plans are in the pipeline for Pulau Tikus.
Among other things, there will be more green spaces for a healthier lifestyle, more opportunities for business and employment and a greater emphasis on culture and the arts.
Efforts are already under way to ease the daily traffic gridlock, all part of a plan to make the constituency the most liveable in the country.
Pulau Tikus assemblyman Chris Lee Chun Kit has reached out to state government officials and the Penang Island City Council to help him achieve those objectives.
Pulau Tikus is one of the smaller state constituencies in Penang, but it is also one of the most vibrant.
The constituency stretches from the administrative district of George Town across the Fettes Park area to parts of Tanjong Tokong and the tourist belt of Batu Ferringhi.
It also includes Gurney Drive, a favourite haunt for joggers and tourists.
The suburb, also called Pulau Tikus and located along Jalan Burmah, is home to several hotels, schools, colleges, private hospitals and commercial areas.
It is home to the Penang Chinese Girls’ High School, one of the premier schools in the state.
Two of the city’s major shopping malls – Gurney Plaza and Gurney Paragon – are also in the constituency.
There is more to come when the Gurney Wharf reclamation project is completed later this year.
The project is part of the RM30 billion Penang Transport Master Plan that will roll out next year.
The wharf is designed to become the new waterfront destination in Penang.
On it will be a 24ha park with a beachfront, coastal grove, water garden, retail outlets and eateries.
Lee said there would not be any high-rises in the reclaimed stretch of land to prevent congestion.
The ultimate objective, he said, is to make Pulau Tikus a residential and workplace of choice for the locals so they will not head for the Klang Valley or abroad in search of the proverbial greener pastures.
“We need to do everything possible to help the state not only retain talent but draw new ones as well,” Lee told theSun.
The earliest settlers, the Eurasians, named the area after an island off Penang that resembled a mouse.
It was once home to the Catholic seminary but the religious institution has since been relocated to nearby Fettes Park.
Lee plans to continue the work begun by his predecessor Yap Soo Huey and one of his many plans is to ensure full access to the various facilities for the disabled and elderly.
He hopes to see more efforts by the state government to create jobs in the constituency.
This, he said, would be much easier now with better connectivity that workers and businesses could take full advantage of, and part of this plan is to set up more office sharing spaces for the young.
The Pulau Tikus constituency, now held by the DAP, a component of Pakatan Harapan, has 18,423 registered voters as of May, 2018.
Chinese make up 76.82% of the voters, followed by Malays with 13.12%, Indians with 8.39%, other bumiputras (0.35%) and the smaller minorities (1.32%).
