For the past few weeks, we have watched events surrounding Kg Buah Pala unfold in front of our eyes. Villagers were enraged by the previous government under Koh Tsu Koon having betrayed the people for the benefit of a few, particularly those connected to one particular party. We saw the gradual shift in the position of some of the villagers, from attacking the previous government to criticising the current one, partly because of constant needling by third parties, including P Uthayakumar. Uthayakumar has ceased criticising Umno since his release from ISA detention. He openly demonstrated his ignorance of the law by claiming that the chief minister can solve the villagers problem with a stroke of a pen. Then again, some suspect it’s not ignorance but deliberate provocation to recruit members to his new political party, Paham, by causing disillusionment amongst the pro-Pakatan Rakyat Indians. His brother, P Waythamoorthy, is still finding courage to return to Malaysia to fight his battle. In the meantime, he sends his wife and child instead to hand a memorandum to the chief minister, realising his threat to mobilise 10,000 Malaysian Indians to demonstrate in front of DAP offices backfired and caused him embarrassment. However, some of the villagers themselves are no angels. They have successfully twisted this issue into a racial one, believing it may intimidate the Penang Pakatan government. When elected representatives and government leaders entered the village to ascertain villagers sentiments and opinions, they were taunted for the wrongdoing of the previous government. They ignored the fact that none of the previous elected representatives even visited their village once. When the chief minister suggested that he will force the developer to compensate them with RM200,000, and not the RM90,000 that the previous DCM I Rashid Abdullah thought was too much (from the declassified documents), they returned the favour by asking him to resign and return to Malacca. The chief minister invited the villagers for a heart-to-heart discussion in his office. And how did the villagers respond? They came with placards and when the chief minister didn’t want any third parties involved, they left. When the village residents association chairman M Sugumaran later met and apologised to the chief minister, several arrogant villagers notably C Tharmaraj and J Steven abused him. They refused to accept a second invitation to meet the chief minister. I think its high time for this nonsense to stop. In the spirit of justice, a large portion of the innocent villagers, should be compensated with a piece of land nearby, including land sufficient enough for cattle herding, and if possible try to preserve some characteristics of an Indian village to satisfy them. For those who are unwilling to meet the chief minister and who don’t care less if the state has to spend over RM300 million to acquire the land at the expense of other over two million Penangites, let Umno-linked Nusmetro bulldoze their homes and teach them a lesson. This group of arrogant villagers have no concern for their Penangite brothers or sisters, nor for their state government’s welfare by trying to force the state to go against federal court ruling, a move which will most likely result in contempt of court and federal suspension of government. The 87 percent of respondents to the Penang DAP website survey on whether the state should acquire the land at a high price will support on this issue.