Sustainable Development and Worldviews

The Penang South Reclamation (PSR) and Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP) have received much attention in the past week. Penangites, as well as those who are not from Penang, have voiced their concern as well as support for these two projects. Personally, I believe the PSR and PTMP hold the key to unlocking Penang’s sustainable future. When I use the word “sustainable”, I don’t mean it as ecological or environmental preservation, as how it is used by some civil society bodies. I understand “sustainable development” as the progression from the interactions of the economy, society and physical environment (Jeffrey Sachs, The Age of Sustainable Development , 2015). The key word is “interactions”. A meaningful interaction involves exchanges, not stagnation or status quo. In other words, the economy, society and environment cannot remain the same in the process of achieving sustainable development. Sole focus on any of the three without the other two is not sustainable developm

There are two ways to look at the new departure levy . One is to see it as a burden for our own personal overseas trip, which is the cause of complaints about the levy. The other way is to see it as a strategic policy. Currently, our airport taxes (now known as passenger service charges - PSC) are RM11 per pax travelling domestic, RM35 per pax travelling Asean countries, and RM73 per pax travelling other countries. The new departure levy will see additional charges of RM20 per pax traveling to Asean countries, and RM40 per pax traveling to other countries. The purpose of the new departure levy is to promote domestic tourism, that is to boost the local economy by keeping the circulation of capital within the country instead of flowing out to other countries. The fact is that capital is limited - do we want it to stay within the country or flow out? Those who want to have overseas trip can still do so while at the same time contribute back to the country via the new levy. Each count